Collegiate Times

Virginia Tech university distinguished professor Nikki Giovanni was one four recipients of the 2008 Women of Power Legacy Awards, an annual award given to women who impacted the history of the black woman.

The award, presented to Giovanni at a dinner gala on Feb. 13, was designed three years ago by Black Enterprise magazine to advise women to move forward in the black corporate world.

"We built the award to honor people who are top achievers who have opened doors for women across many fields," said Alyssa Fant, the event manager for the summit. "In terms of identifying women, a lot of these women haven't been identified before by their peers."

The recipients for this year's award also included Academy Award-nominated actress Ruby Dee, Civil Rights activist Dorothy Height, and former CEO of Young and Rubicam Brands Ann Fudge. They were chosen based on their influential bodies of work. Coincidentally, Giovanni, Dee, and Height are friends who have supported each other over the years. Their accomplishments of the past year, Giovanni's contributions following the Tech shootings, Dee's Oscar nomination for her role in "American Gangster," and Height's life achievements, just so happened to bring them together.

"Nikki was brought in as a trailblazer, which is kind of what the award is all about," said Andrew Wadium, director of media relations for Black Enterprise. "(She is) someone who has reached the pinnacle of success."

Giovanni was pleased and excited to have been presented with the award, but she remained humble.

"Its always thrilling to win something because somebody has noticed that I have labored in the fields and the grapes came up," Giovanni said.

However, with the passing of her mother, who was the inspiration for her work, the acceptance of the award proved bittersweet.

"The reality is that a lot my career was about my mother, and mommy died," she said. "And once your muse dies you have to reset the clock, and I don't think I've quite reset, so I'm pleased about things. But I'm not having anyone to call up to say 'Look what happened, look what I've won.' So you kind of miss that."

Giovanni has had an otherwise successful year: winning the Carl Sandburg award for lifetime literary achievement, becoming the first poet to accept the award, and her fourth NAACP image award for "Acolytes," a book about her mother.

When asked whether or not she deserved the award, Giovanni laughed, saying, "I don't think awards are deserved."

She went on to explain that awards that are deserved are rarely awarded, and compared it to this year's Academy Awards.

"I was keeping track of the (Oscars) and Ruby Dee is my sorority sister, and I was of course cheering for Ruby because she was my sorority sister, but also because in a very rare case I did see 'American Gangster' and I did see 'Michael Clayton,' and I said to myself, 'this is not going to be right because this is going to be about George Clooney because he's Mr. Hollywood and if we 'deserve,' Ruby deserved, but that never happens,'" she said. "Eddie Murphy 'deserved' it last year, so I don't think awards are deserved."

Rather than deserved, Giovanni said that when people win awards they are simply fortunate and happen to be in the right place at the right time.

"Speaking of Virginia Tech ... nobody deserves a tragedy, but nobody deserves good luck either," she said. "I think you just happen to be there and the number came up and St. Peter or God or whoever does these things said, 'Hey, let Nikki have it.'"

This year the Women of Power Summit brought in over 700 corporate black women and lasted four days. The women are given access to everything from golf courses to the award center. It kicks off every year with a dinner to honor the award recipients. Its purpose is to give black women the motivation to achieve success.

"(It) gives them something to achieve to," Fant said. "Something that lets them know that this is a reachable goal. These women lived ordinary lives and have become extraordinary."

Giovanni also had the same thoughts on how these awards are beneficial for the future of black women. She said they ensure that black women are not excluded as they had been in the past.

"It's a good thing, and it's always good," she said.