If there is any one woman who can articulate the struggle, pain and brutal reality of African Americans with dead-level honesty, humor and love, that woman would have to be Nikki Giovanni.

She was born June 7, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, as Yolande Cornelia Giovanni. In 1968, Giovanni graced us with her first publication "Black Feelings, Black Talk."

But that was just the beginning for this female phenomenon. Giovanni later went on to write more fascinating literary works, including "Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day," "Those Who Ride The Night Winds," and "Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate," to name a few.

Giovanni reminds readers how the blood, sweat and tears of African Americans are the foundation of this great United States of America.

In 1999, we see a more passionate and lyrical Giovanni. In her latest book, "Blues For All The Changes," Giovanni captures an overwhelming sense of frustration, yearning and courage in fifty-two poems. She'll take you on an emotional roller coaster ride with poems like "A Civil Rights Journey." Just look at how this piece starts:

�gEven when I was in high school, I couldn�ft understand why all the studies were of Black people. It seemed to me even then that someone ought to study white people since Black people weren�ft the ones lynching men and women, bombing churches, shooting people because they wanted to vote and I well remember the murder of Emmett Till, which I still think is the defining event of my generation.�h

With wisdom and wit, Giovanni exposes the classic black experience, and reflects on memorable moments of her past generation's senseless, cruel and inhumane treatment, and how it still lingers today in our generation. But now, instead of lynching black people, jails are being built quicker than schools to warehouse our young men.

Now, instead of killing us to prevent us from voting, some whites will destroy voting posts in our neighborhoods, and continue with their power to increase the misery in our communities.

In Giovanni's poems, you're always getting a taste of her personal self. In her piece entitled "2-word poem," (which, by the way, is way more than two words long), one can definitely count on the 56-year-old sensation to remind you of the great influence and contributions African Americans had on America. She also reminds readers how the blood, sweat and tears of African Americans are the foundation of this great United States of America.

Giovanni has a unique way of expressing her feelings and making them universal. In her poem "And How Could I Live On" (dedicated to the late Betty Shabazz), Giovanni takes you through the life of Shabazz so vividly, that one would think she was right there in front of you! She poignantly describes the day Betty Shabazz was burnt, and even the moment she lost her last breath. Her words are so visible, you would swear Sister Shabazz wrote the words herself on her deathbed.

In the end, some people on their journey to success often forget where they came from. Maybe they forget because they're ashamed. But Nikki Giovanni's is not one of those people. Her voice will ring loud and clear for years to come.