Ego Tripping

The political commentary observable in “Ego Tripping” characterizes many of Nikki Giovanni’s contributions to the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 70s. During this period of time in American history, the United States was in turmoil as the Civil Rights Movement gathered momentum. This movement for social justice in the United States had started in the 1950s, but it gained strength over the years as more and more people became aware of the racial injustices that had, until this momentous time, been widely accepted by much of mainstream America.

Inspired and enraged by acts of racist violence like the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Giovanni and other poets and artists committed themselves and their art to the Black Power movement, which was intended to promote pride in Black people as well as a sense of cultural identity. At this time, a uniquely Black aesthetic as a cultural ideology began to develop, and Black artists, musicians and writers began to separate themselves from their white counterparts and form their own identity. This aesthetic opposed the mainstream white aesthetic, and Giovanni’s poem, which contains the use of slang and unconventional capitalization, reflects her subtle subversiveness.