Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Butterfly Viper Bitis nasicornis — Palm Oil Detectives | Barbara Crane Navarro

Although they possess one of the most potent venoms of all snakes in Africa, Butterfly Vipers are surprisingly placid and won’t attack unless provoked or threatened. They are known by several common names: Rhinoceros viper, River Jack, the Rhinoceros horned viper and the Horned puff adder. They are appreciated for their vividly coloured markings that keep them camouflaged on the forest floor.

Butterfly Viper Bitis nasicornis — Palm Oil Detectives

Source: Butterfly Viper Bitis nasicornis — Palm Oil Detectives | Barbara Crane Navarro

Open Thread | Remembering Brilliant Poet Nikki Giovanni , Who Passed Away At the Age of 81 | 3CHICSPOLITICO

We remember the brilliant and superb Nikki Giovanni, who passed away this week at the age of 81.

Your Fave BM, MS. (@TheBigMommaMia) posted at 9:10 PM on Mon, Dec 09, 2024:
“I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure, but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

Rest In Peace Nikki Giovanni ❤️ https://t.co/s8pvHq2XR5
(https://x.com/TheBigMommaMia/status/1866319445003571335?t=yd5ehaxc-2PHgSv2au30hg&s=03)

Virginia Tech professor, acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni dies at 81
By Leslie Johnson
Published: Dec. 9, 2024 at 7:58 PM CST|Updated: 15 hours ago

BLACKSBURG, Va. (WDBJ) – Virginia Tech professor and acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni has died at the age of 81. She died peacefully with her lifelong partner, Virginia Fowler, by her side.

Yolande Cornelia “Nikki” Giovanni, born in Knoxville, Tennessee, June 7, 1943, served as a University Distinguished Professor in the English Department at Virginia Tech. Giovanni, an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., is the recipient of hundreds of awards and honors. She was most recently awarded a 2024 Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking for “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.”

As a prominent figure of the Black Arts and Civil Rights movements, she became friends with Rosa Parks, Aretha Franklin, James Baldwin, Nina Simone, and Muhammad Ali, and inspired generations of students, artists, activists, musicians, scholars and human beings both young and old.

Having battled cancer twice already, Giovanni refused to let a third bout interrupt her art. Just three weeks ago, she performed with saxophonist Javon Jackson at the Louis Armstrong House in New York City. Her forthcoming book of poetry, “The Last Book”, will be published in fall 2025.
“The poet Adrienne Rich wrote ‘…somehow, each of us will help the other live, and somewhere, each of us must help the other die.’ Renée Watson and I sat by her side, with Ginney, along with family and close friends, chatting about how much we learned about living from her, about how lucky we have been to have Nikki guide us, teach us, love us. We will forever be grateful for the unconditional time she gave to us, to all her literary children across the writerly world,” said Kwame Alexander.

Giovanni is survived by her wife, Virginia Fowler, her son Thomas Giovanni, her granddaughter, Kai Giovanni, two cousins, Haynes Ford and Allison (Pat) Ragan, and a nephew Christopher Black.

“We will forever feel blessed to have shared a legacy and love with our dear cousin,” said Allison Ragan on behalf of the family.

philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) posted at 8:51 PM on Mon, Dec 09, 2024:
Virginia Tech professor and poet, Nikki Giovanni, has died at the age of 81.
https://t.co/wJwVtOauQi
(https://x.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1866314893181563268?t=VH3_AwFBKzqaNFHNblwhzw&s=03)

 

Carolyn Hinds 🇧🇧 (@CarrieCnh12) posted at 10:01 PM on Mon, Dec 09, 2024:
This conversation between Nikki and James Baldwin is one of my favourites. It’s a lesson in reading someone and revealing things about themselves they never considered and how the emotional expectations Black women and men have of each other in relationships are very different. https://t.co/lWc7ZLhWFo
(https://x.com/CarrieCnh12/status/1866332274775535953?t=4De0QEO5T2ERQ_6Aa07KOg&s=03)

jill scott heron🪐 (@stillnotziora) posted at 10:32 PM on Mon, Dec 09, 2024:
i don’t think i ever posted it, but i took a video of nikki giovanni’s sorority members singing to her that day https://t.co/DigvvROxLW
(https://x.com/stillnotziora/status/1866340087916572724?t=M5zFB3rR0NixnAUG7HFyUg&s=03)

BLACK GIRLS ROCK! (@BLACKGIRLSROCK) posted at 0:05 AM on Tue, Dec 10, 2024:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of the iconic Ms. Nikki Giovanni, a trailblazing poet and cultural leader who fearlessly spoke truth to power.

At 81, she leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of artistry and activism that will inspire generations to come.

Rest in power. ✊🏿 https://t.co/sZneTyKLk4
(https://x.com/BLACKGIRLSROCK/status/1866363690968346853?t=ami320HanVZe70b5_Go8Sw&s=03)


Source: Open Thread | Remembering Brilliant Poet Nikki Giovanni , Who Passed Away At the Age of 81 | 3CHICSPOLITICO

Daniel Penny’s acquittal reveals ‘double standard’ about white vigilante crime | US crime | The Guardian

On Monday, Daniel Penny, a 26-year-old white man, was acquitted of all charges related to the 1 May 2023 killing of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old unhoused Black man with severe mental illness, on a New York City subway train. Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after he choked Neely for nearly six minutes, causing his death. The Marine veteran claimed self-defense after an unarmed Neely made threats to passengers and complained of being hungry and thirsty, according to witness testimony.

In a police interview following Neely’s death, Penny referred to Neely as “just a crackhead” who was “acting like a lunatic”. Experts say Penny’s acquittal fits into a longstanding pattern of how white vigilante crime is treated in the US, with white killers celebrated and Black victims denigrated…

Source: Daniel Penny’s acquittal reveals ‘double standard’ about white vigilante crime | US crime | The Guardian

Nikki Giovanni | Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better

Nikki Giovanni

“What you want to do is go on with your life because at some point you’re going to find somebody who is [as] lonely as you are, and then you will build your community.”

And her interview (or conversation) with James Baldwin is very much worth reading. I hope to post about it later, when I have more time (scheduling it within this next month of December, ’24…), I hope.

Thank you, Nikki Giovanni.

RIP

-Nia

Source: Nikki Giovanni | Context, Thought, and Learning: ShiraDest Offers Project Do Better