Women in Africa and the Diaspora: “Ego Tripping”
In honor of the upcoming Women’s History Month, I would like to share a piece from a woman that inspires my writing, the revolutionary poet and activist, Nikki Giovanni.
“Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)” is one of my favorite poems by Giovanni. As an African woman, I enjoy reading this poem because of the way she writes about the power of our women. This poem uses figurative language to explore our identity while expressing the beauty and pride found in the women of Africa.
Ego Tripping (there may be a reason why)
I was born in the Congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
that only glows every one hundred years falls
into the center giving divine perfect light
I am badI sat on the throne
drinking nectar with Allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe
to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is Nefertiti
the tears from my birth pains
created the Nile
I am a beautiful womanI gazed on the forest and burned
out the Sahara desert
with a packet of goat’s meat
and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
so swift you can’t catch meFor a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son Hannibal an elephant
He gave me Rome for mother’s day
My strength flows ever onMy son Noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
Jesus
men intone my loving name
All praises All praises
I am the one who would saveI sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
the filings from my fingernails are
semi-precious jewels
On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the Arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
across three continentsI am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permissionI mean…I…can fly
like a bird in the sky…