Zeegers

Samantha Zeegers
Prof. Connolly
ENGL 002
21 October 2015
Ego Tripping (There May Be a Reason Why)

Ego Tripping was written by Nikki Giovanni and was published in a collection of her

poetry titled My House in 1972. Giovanni has been dubbed the Princess of Black Poetry. Most
of her poems are charged with black pride and Ego Tripping (There May Be a Reason Why) is
not the exception. She forgoes the usage of any periods, commas, or any other kind of
punctuation in this poem. This leaves the reader with no time to stop and take a breath. This
fits well with the title Ego Tripping, which suggests an ego so large that they are tripping over
it. However, if one looks deeper into the poems context they can see that it is not about a
person with a large ego, but a woman celebrating her heritage and background. When she uses
the word I she is not referring to herself; she is referring to Africa.

Ego Tripping is full of declarations and simple statements. The poem begins with her

declaring that she was born in the Congo (1). This is a reference to the opinion held by many
anthropologists that modern day homo sapiens originated in Central Africa. Giovanni is saying
that Africa is the birthplace of humanity. She continues with I walked to the fertile crescent
and built the sphinx (2-3). The idea of walking relates back to the origins of human kind where
the original humans began in Africa and slowly migrated to the rest of the world. The fertile
crescent refers to the area around the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile River. This general area is
where many great large civilizations started. Giovanni then references the Pyramids of Giza and

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how on midnight of the autumnal equinox the tip aligns with the star system Alcyone. This gives
even more evidence of Africas greatness. She finishes the stanza with I am bad (7), which is
not to be taken negatively, but in the 1970s connotation of importance or value.

The second stanza continues to declare more facts that glorify Africa. She references in

the throne and Allah (8-9) which supports the theory that the Garden of Eden from Islamic,
Hebraic, and Christian texts was located in Africa. Giovanni further describes Africas greatness
in lines 10 and 11 I got hot and sent an ice age to Europe/ To cool my thirst. The cause of the
Ice Age is still widely debated today by geologists. Here, however, Giovanni suggests that
Africas importance is so great that it could start an ice age all on its own. In the next line she
declares Nefertiti to be her eldest daughter. Nefertiti was an Ancient Egyptian Queen and is
known for her great beauty. She is also a symbol for the general beauty of all Africa. The last
lines of the second stanza give the reader more clues about the speaker. The tears from my
birth pains/ Created the Nile/ I am a beautiful woman (13-15). The Nile River plays a crucial
role in the Egyptian civilization; from spirituality to a food source to the afterlife. Also, until this
point the speaker was sexless. Here the speaker claims that she is a beautiful woman whose
tears during childbirth created the magnificent river.

Africas strength, power, and all around spirituality is addressed in the next two stanzas.

Giovanni talks about the Sahara Desertwhich is about 3000 miles wide and the largest in the
world. The speaker claims to have crossed it in two hours, comparing herself to a swift gazelle
(16-22)one of the fastest animals in the world. This feat seems unbelievable, even for a
gazelle. This requires superior power and strength. She then claims another child: Hannibal.
Hannibal was a great general who is best known for winning almost all of his battles but in the

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end lost the war. Even though he was not ultimately victorious, he is still known to have had
great strength, like that of Africa. The speaker yet again declares herself the mother of a child,
this time it is the savior Noah. Noah is from the biblical story Noahs Ark, where he builds an
Ark to save the animals and repopulate the Earth after God floods the world. In this stanza she
uses a play on words with new/ark (27). Newark is a city in New Jersey which held six days of
racially based rioting. After these riots blacks were given a stronger voice in city politics. In lines
30 and 31 she again references the bible, I turned myself into myself and was Jesus. These
connections to biblical icons symbolize the divinity of Africa.

The second to last stanza mentions all the great wonders that come from Africa. The

speaker tells about diamonds, uranium, semi-precious jewels, and oilall of which can be
found in Africa. What is most interesting in this stanza is the personification. Although it is used
throughout the poem, it seems most creative here. My bowels deliver uranium (36), The
fillings from my fingernails are/ Semi-precious jewels (37-38), and I caught a cold and blew/
My nose giving oil to the Arab world (40-41) are some of the richly unique phrases she uses in
this stanza. The reader can perfectly picture Africa as a real female human standing in the
ocean, getting a cold and sneezing toward the middle east, causing oil to build up. The beautiful
language takes this poem to another level and adds more depth. And again she refers to the
perfection of Africa in I am so hip even my errors are correct(42). This tells that even while
making a mistakesneezing toward the middle eastAfrica is still in the right because this
brought oil to their countries, which helped their economy. And finally, in this stanza the
speaker tells more of the riches she brings to the world as her hair from [her] head thinned
and gold was laid/ Across three continents (45-46).

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Giovannis poem ends with the speaker declaring that she is just too good to be true.

That one cannot even begin to understand her with her consent. She/Africa is a goddess. She
can fly like a bird in the sky. When Nikki Giovanni published this poem in the 70s a major
change was occurring in America. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing and African
Americans were coming out from the shadows. They were no longer afraid of the world and
how they would be treated, they instead embraced their heritage and background and
expressed it in any way they could. For Nikki Giovanni that was through the art of poetry. She
used this poem to show the world that she was not afraid to show her pride of her roots.
Giovanni also wanted everyone to see the wonders of Africa, not just what the media wants to
portray. Africa is a beautiful, culturally rich country that has a long history of starting
civilizations and changing the world. Even if you dont agree that the world began in Africa, it is
undeniable that Africa is a large part of it and an important partdefinitely nothing to be
ashamed of.