Centurion

Issue date: 10/6/09 Section: Features

Poet Nikki Giovanni's appearance
at Bucks proved to be a humorous,
touching, and memorable
evening.
The event was the kick-off of
the 2009-2010Wordsmiths Reading
Series. The poet read from her
newest collection of poems "Bicycles:
Love Poems" and gave her
thoughts on several topics, from
politics to love and loss.
Over 200 people attended the
event in the GatewayAuditorium.
Giovanni spoke to an audience of
all ages, from elementary school
children to retired adults.
Before the show started, Giovanni
came into theAuditorium to
talk with friends, unfazed as the
crowd began snapping photographs.
The show began at 7:30 p.m.
with a short speech by Annette
Conn, Dean of Academic Affairs.
She said, "Nikki Giovanni's appearance
is commemorating
Bucks' rededication to the arts."
Next was a performance by
Kim Allen of Sister Sledge, who
opened with a cover of "Good
Time Tonight."
She then got an audience member
in on the action while performing
Sister Sledge's 1979 hit
"He's the Greatest Dancer."
The final song Allen sang was
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."
As she was leaving the stage,
Allen told the audience "Just remember:
we are family."
Elizabeth Luciano, an instructor
in Language & Literature and an
organizer of the Wordsmiths
Reading Series, spoke next. She
said that Giovanni "reminds us
that poetry is meant to have a life
beyond the page - meant to be
heard."
Giovanni took the stage at a
quarter to 8 p.m. "I'm delighted
to be here" she said.
She began the evening by talking
about politics, and included a
reference to her performance at
Barack Obama's inauguration.
Regarding Obama, she said "all he
did was show up and be colored,"
inciting laughter from the audience.
She also discussed the need for
healthcare reform and how, at the
celebration of Abraham Lincoln's
200th birthday, she was criticized
for being too political. She wore
her mink coat to the event at the
Lincoln Memorial because of her
admiration of Marian Anderson
who was one of the most admired
African American women singers
of the 20th century.
Next Giovanni touched on the
importance of community colleges.
She said "we need to put
the money into community colleges"
and "we need to continue
to grow community colleges,"
which earned her applause from
the crowd.

Continued...

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