In 1967, she graduated from the honors program with a bachelors degree in history. Find contact information, experience, peer reviews, directions, and more at Martindale.com. as many as 200. Is a week-long writer-in-residence for the National Book Foundations Family Literacy Program at the Family Academy in Harlem. Travels to Cincinnati, Ohio, for second opinion and has surgery at Jewish Hospital. So that others will at least not make the same mistake, since we seldom are able to recreate the positive things in life." Releases Nikki in Philadelphia (1997). Thomas Watson Giovanni is an attorney serving New York, NY. Amiri Baraka is one of the most controversial writers in recent history, one whose influence on Afro-American li, Hailed by its practitioners, pundits, and critics as the cultural "aesthetic and spiritual sister of the Black Power concept" (Neal 1989, p. 62), the, Hemphill, Essex 1957 After this . The Prosaic Soul of Nikki Giovanni (2003) brings together Giovanni's volumes of prose. Teaches in Switzerland. Two new volumes, Blues: For All the Changes and Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems mark the crossover from the twentieth to the twenty-first century with poetry that is "socially conscious, outspoken, and roguishly funny,"according to Donna Seaman in Booklist. 1983-1995- She accepts permanent postion at as a English Professor at Virginia Tech. Unless we make ourselves get out and see people, we miss a lot." In 1995 Giovanni made public that she had been suffering with cancer since the early 1990s and had to have numerous ribs and part of her lung removed in order to stop the spread of the disease. Gemini is a combination of prose, poetry, and other "bits and pieces." She continues to look back on her contributions to American poetry with pride. Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, Folkways Records, 1978. Throughout A Poetic Equation, the two talk about issues from how to raise a child to the Vietnam War to how to save the African-American race that white America is trying to destroy.". of essays and was named a Cincinnati bi-Centennial honoree. Edits Conversation, a Cincinnati revolutionary art journal. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble. U.S.I.A. My House, foreword by Ida Lewis, Morrow (New York, NY), 1972. She returned to Fisk in 1964, however, determined to be an ideal student. Truth Is On Its Way receives N.A.T.R.A.s (National Association of Television and Radio Announcers) Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Hers is the poetry of plainspeak. In 1978, she published what Anna T. Robinson has called her pivotal work, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, a volume that Robinson surmised will mandate that she be evaluated as a poet rather than a voice for a cause.. Nikki Giovanni Page In 1970 William Morrow combined Giovannis first two collections of poetry and published them under the title Black Feeling, Black Talk/Black Judgement. And Other Edibles', a book Giovanni really didnt want to get married, she thought she couldnt afford to pay for the marriage! Paula Gordon Show, http://www.paulagordon.com/ (January 22, 2003), interview with Giovanni. The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni (1968-1995), Morrow, 1996. After The Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni, 19681995, Morrow (New York, NY), 1996. Two Friends is incorporated as a permanent tile wall exhibit by the Oxnard Public Library in California. Wainwright, Mary "Giovanni, Nikki 1943 The next few years were spent in the same fashion, with more public readings, but Giovanni also renewed her focus on social activism, examining the life of famous African Americans such as Tupac Shakur and Allen Iverson, as well as pushing for the exploration of space and other planets. Her grandmother, who is involved in numerous charitable and political endeavors, becomes an increasingly important influence on her, teaching her the importance of helping others and of fighting injustice. (Editor) Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate: Looking at the Harlem Renaissance through Poems, Holt (New York, NY), 1995. as one of the best books of 1973. "Noting the continued focus on self-discovery and the connectedness of self to community throughout My House, critic John W. Conner suggested in English Journal that Giovanni "sees her world as an extension of herself sees problems in the world as an extension of her problems, and sees herself existing amidst tensions, heartache, and marvelous expressions of love." 1987 and 1989 Giovanni became Commonwealth Visiting Professor of English, The American Literacy Corporation establishes a literary award in her name. . Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/giovanni-nikki-1943. During this period Giovanni produced a collection of autobiographical essays, two books of poetry for children, and two poetry collections for adults. Her viewpoint, still firmly seated in black revolutionary consciousness, expanded further, balancing a wide range of social concerns. You just keep trying to dissect them poetically to see what's there." on record. "I had a baby at twenty-five because I wanted to have a baby and I could afford to have a baby," she told an Ebony interviewer. Details on if Thomas Watson Giovanni is married have been kept from the public. Receives her B.A. Even as a young girl she had determined that the institution of marriage was not hospitable to women and would never play a role in her life. Wainwright, Mary; Zerbonia, Ralph "Giovanni, Nikki 1943 In Sacred Cows and Other Edibles she presents essays on a wide range of topics: African-American political leaders, national holidays, and termites all come under her insightful and humorous scrutiny. National Festival of Black Storytelling initiates the Nikki Giovanni Award for Young African American Storytellers. Better yet shes a female! With the birth of Thomas, Nikki started writing childrens books since children need different content from adults. With primary responsibility for her parents and her son, including steep medical bills, she increases her speaking schedule and has less time to devote to writing. . Concise Major 21st Century Writers. Is Martin Luther King, Jr. Contributor of columns to newspapers. Capital Times (Madison, WI), February 7, 1997, p. 13A. "These were the years," as Calvin Reid in a 1999 Publishers Weekly article observed, "she published such poems as 'Great Pax Whitie' (1968), with its intermingling of classical history, irony and antiracist outrage, and 'Woman Poem,' which considered the social and sexual limits imposed on black women.". "Giovanni is a shrewd observer and an exhilarating essayist," maintained Seaman in Booklist, "modulating her tone from chummy to lethal, hilarious to sagacious as smoothly as a race-car driver shifts gears." But as we grow older and we find we are not as quick or swift as we used to be, we wonder. Receives grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Reads at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Centennial in Dayton, Ohio, where she and Paula Giddings, then an editor at Howard University Press, conceive the idea of a book composed of a conversation between Giovanni and Margaret Walker (1915-98). "Mostly I'm aware, as the mother of a reader, that I read to him," she once observed in an interview. Cook, Martha, Nikki Giovanni: Place and Sense of Place in Her Poetry, Southern Women Writers: The New Generation, edited by Tonette Bond Inge, U of Alabama P, 1990. 131 Thomas Watson Quotes | ChristianQuotes.info A year later, she studied for a semester at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work before moving to New York. She was featured in articles for such magazines as Ebony, Jet, and Harper's Bazaar. She edits Hip Hop Speaks to Children. Evans, Mari, editor, Black Women Writers, 19501980: A Critical Evaluation, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1984. Mademoiselle, December 1969; May 1973; December 1973; September 1975. Giovanni travels to Fisk to explore the possibility of re-enrolling. . Giovanni used her time during her battle with cancer to rediscover her love of poetry and her purpose in the profession. "You always felt someone was trying to kill you. New York Times, August 1, 1996, p. C9; May 14, 2000, p. A40. Giovanni enters the 9th grade at Lockland High School, an all-black school. She admires OutKast, Arrested Development, Queen Latifah, and above all, Tupac Shakur. 1992, Giovanni received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Otterbein In summer is Visiting Professor at Indiana University/Kokomo. Thomas Giovanni Profiles | Facebook four decades. Born: 7-Jun-1943Birthplace: Knoxville, TN, Gender: FemaleRace or Ethnicity: BlackSexual orientation: StraightOccupation: Poet, Nationality: United StatesExecutive summary: Black Feeling, Black Talk, Father: Jones Giovanni ("Gus", b. And after a while (realizing that I had absolutely nothing, period) I came around.". Discover thomas watson giovanni 's popular videos | TikTok Encyclopedia.com. (With James Baldwin) A Dialogue: James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni, Lippincott, 1972. Watson's ministry had a great impact. Clock is ticking and inspiration doesn't come? He was able to complete the assignment following all directions in an elaborate manner in a short period of time. The "Law.Network", URL and Website, is for Sale! Civitas Books, 2004); Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 4th edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1995, p. 388. Bicycles reaches #32 on that list, and is #1 in poetry at Amazon.com, #14 in all fiction sold at Amazon.com, and #80 in all books sold on Amazon.com in the month of February. Publishes Racism 101 (1994) and Knoxville, Tennessee (1994), illustrated by Larry Johnson. When Giovanni graduated with honors in history from Fisk in the spring of 1967, she returned to Cincinnati and continued her interests in writing and political activity that had been fostered at Fisk. In 1969 she gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child. at Fisk University and a year later received bachelor of arts at Fisk University. then teached at Queens College and at Rutgers University. There she published 'Black Feeling, Black Thomas A. Watson - Wikipedia By continuing, well assume you agree with our Cookies policy. Temokake video cekak sing kagayut karo thomas watson giovanni ing tiktok. "Bertha kept asking, 'how could Black people be conservative? ADDRESSES: OfficeEnglish Department, Shanks Hall, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061. 542-54. Pending Professional Head-shot. Thomas Giovanni - Lawyer in New York, NY - Avvo "My House is how it is, what it is to be a young, single, intelligent Black woman with a son and no man. Giovanni thus ensured the same secure, supportive, multigenerational environment for Tommy that she had enjoyed as a child. Making sure everyone is treated with respect! Selected awards: Mademoiselle magazine, Highest Achievement Award, 1971; National Association of Radio and Television Announcers award, 1972, for Truth Is on Its Way; National Council of Negro Women, life membership and scroll, 1973; Cincinnati Post Post-Corbett Award, 1986; Oakland Museum Film Festival Silver Apple Award, 1988; Ohioana Library Award, 1988; Childrens Reading Roundtable of Chicago Award, 1988; NAACP, Woman of the Year, 1989. Gemini: An Extended Autobiographical Statement on My First Twenty-Five Years of Being a Black Poet, Bobbs-Merrill, 1971; Viking, 1973; Penguin, 1976. Receives an Honorary Doctorate from Wilberforce University, becoming the youngest person so honored by the nations oldest black college. Polytechnic Institute and State University and two years later received [2] He was then hired by Alexander Graham Bell, who was then a professor at Boston University. Giovanni publishes Those Who Ride the Night Winds (1983) and a revised edition of Spin A Soft Black Song (1985), illustrated by George Martins. Selected Poems of Nikki Giovanni nominated for NAACP Image Award. Spirit to Spirit: The Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, a PBS special, 1987. Black Feeling, Black Talk, "sold more than ten thousand copies in its first year alone, making the author an increasingly visible and popular figure on the reading and speaking circuit. Adaptions: Spirit to Spirit: The Poetry of Nikki Giovanni, a poetry reading, produced by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Ohio Council on the Arts, directed by Mirra Banks, produced by Perrin Ireland, first aired in 1986. Overall Giddings observed that after 1975, as Giovannis persona matured, her language, craft, and perceptions did not. Giovannis readers, like Giddings, William J. Harris, and Haki Madhubuti, all praise the early promise of Giovannis poetry. Louvenia Watsons strong spirit, Fowler mentioned in her book, gave her granddaughter a sense of belonging in the world. Fowler described Giovannis radicalization process while she lived with her grandparents, saying that Louvenia instilled in her a belief in the importance of individual action, of the moral imperative to stand up and be counted whether your side wins or not.. that time she gave birth to a son, Thomas Watson Giovanni, on 31st August 542-554. Honorary degrees from numerous institutions. According to Mitchell, the children's poems have "essentially the same impulse" as Giovanni's adult poetrynamely, "the creation of racial pride and the communication of individual love. She Thomas watson giovanni father - sean walker. that year her grandmother Watson died. As Giddings wrote, Giovannis greatest challenge, as a poet, lies ahead, and Harris, also writing in Mari Evanss anthology, praised Giovanni as one of the most talented writers to come out of the black sixties, adding that he didnt want to lose her. As Harris concluded, she has the talent to create good, perhaps important, poetry, if only she has the will to discipline her craft.. Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color, http://voices.cla.umn.edu/ (March 9, 2004). 1978 saw the publication of what Anna T. Robinson has called her pivotal work, Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day, a volume that Robinson surmised will mandate that she be evaluated as a poet rather than a voice for a cause. In contrast to the lightness suggested by the title, the poems in Cotton Candy are, as Martha Cook has observed, not lighthearted or optimistic, as the positive connotations of cotton candy suggest. The same year that Cotton Candy was published, Giovannis father had a stroke and Giovanni decided to move with her son back to her parents home in Lincoln Heights, Ohio. ." When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University approaches her about housing her papers and she accepts; today the library, now named the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center for its founder, has all of her papers and memorabilia. Ellen Fader, writing in Horn Book, called The Sun Is So Quiet "a celebration of African-American family life for all families." Hip Hop Speaks to Children receives the National Parenting Publications Gold Award. Philadelphia (Live) (Collectables Records 1997), Stealing Giovanni publishes A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker (1974) and The Women and the Men (1975). In No other Country, Shaun Tan uses the heterotopia discovered by the family to portray the beauty of finding peace and comfort in a foreign place, by emphasising the importance of a strong familial bond and sense of Huge icicles fringed the entrance and the roof. Along with other new black poets, such as Haki Madhubuti, Etheridge Knight, and Sonia Sanchez, Giovanni was published by Dudley Randalls Broadside Press. (February 22, 2023). 64-70. Artist-in-Residence at the Taft Museum of Cincinnati. Reason I Like Chocolate (And Other Childrens Poems) (Folkways Records 1976), Cotton In Flack provided the sleeve notes. Nikki Giovanni has been on the faculty of Virginia Tech University since 1989. She moved with her mother and sister to a small black suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, although she traveled back to Knoxville during the summers to live with her grandparents. Tate, Claudia, editor, Black Women Writers at Work, Crossroads Publishing, 1983. Thomas Watson Giovanni Profile | New York, NY Lawyer | Martindale.com Lewis, Ida, introduction to My House, Morrow (New York, NY), 1972. Spin a Soft Black Song: Poems for Children, Hill & Wang, 1971; rev. It was at Austin High School in Knoxville that Giovanni began her education in African American literature. Performs with the choir in a concert to introduce the album at Canaan Baptist Church in Harlem before a crowd of 1,500. She also continued to travel, making trips to Europe and Africa. 1940)Son: Thomas Watson Giovanni (b. New York Times Book Review, November 28, 1971, p. 8. Truth Her Maybe one day the Jewish community will be at rest, the Christian community will be content, the Moslem community will be at peace, and all the rest of us will get great meals on holy days and learn new songs and sing in harmony. The poems in Vacation Time turn again to reflect, perhaps, the poet's growing lightness of spirit and inner stability as she enjoys her family. Serves on the Board of Directors of Mill Mountain Theater of Roanoke, Virginia. Spin a Soft Black Song: Poems for Children, illustrated by Charles Bible, Hill & Wang (New York, NY), 1971, illustrated by George Martins, Lawrence Hill (Westport, CT), 1985, revised edition, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 1987. Thomas Watson Giovanni is a lawyer in NY, who graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2000. Her grandmother, far from uttering any reproach, travels to Nashville to meet with Dean Cheatam and later writes a letter protesting her decision. Throughout her poetic career, Giovanni has also published poetry for children, including Spin a Soft Black Song, 1971, Ego Tripping and Other Poems for Young Readers, 1973, Vacation Time, 1979; volumes of prose essays, including Gemini, 1971, Sacred Cows and Other Edibles, 1988, and Racism 101, 1993; and articles for numerous periodicals. In addition she attended numerous public readings and appearancessometimes more than 200 in one yearincluding The Tonight Show on June 14, 1972, and Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall on July 25, 1972. Georgoudaki, Ekaterini, and Domna Pastourmatzi, editors, Women: Creators of Culture. Has given numerous poetry readings and lectures worldwide and appeared on numerous television talk shows. They persuade her to apply for early admission to college. Publishers Weekly, November 13,1972; May 23,1980; December 18,1987, p. 48; December 13,1993, p. 54. Reviewing the work for the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Zena Sutherland argued that the rhythms often seem forced and that Giovanni uses "an occasional contrivance to achieve scansion." She was born on June 7th,1943. 1974, she published 'A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni Reviewing these works, Mitchell noticed "evidence of a more developed individualism and greater introspection, and a sharpening of her creative and moral powers, as well as of her social and political focus and understanding.". "Nikki writes about the familiar: what she knows, sees, experiences," Don L. Lee observed in Dynamite Voices I: Black Poets of the 1960s. Nikki Giovanni, Thomas Watson Giovanni, Tommy Giovanni, Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Poet Nikki Giovanni relaxes with her 2-year-old son Thomas in their New York apartment. Among her many honorary degrees, in 1988, she received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Fisk University. While she subtitled Gemini an autobiography, Giovanni denied that it offered a key to her inner self. Eventually, the school makes an official apology. Continues regular appearances on Soul!, including an appearance in January with Lena Horne. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. E-mail[emailprotected]. "I come from a long line of storytellers," she once explained in an interview, describing how her family influenced her poetry through oral traditions. Giovanni, however, described her childhoodspent with her parents and older sister Garywith vivid and fond details in what her biographer, Virginia Fowler, called Giovannis signature poem, NikkiRosa from Black Judgement. Contributor to numerous anthologies; author of columns One Womans Voice for Anderson-Moberg Syndicate of the New York Times and The Root of the Matter for Encore American and Worldwide News; managing editor of and contributor to Conversation; contributor to magazines, including Black Creation, Black World, Ebony, Encore, Essence, Freedomways, Journal of Black Poetry, Negro Digest, Saturday Review of Literature, and Umbra. (Editor) Night Comes Softly: An Anthology of Black Female Voices, Medic Press (Newark, NJ), 1970. In . Wainwright, Mary; Zerbonia, Ralph "Giovanni, Nikki 1943 What I Need to Know About Prostate Cancer and Available Treatments in Sydney. Black Feeling, Black Talk (which she borrowed money to publish) and Black Judgement (with a grant from Harlem Council of the Arts) display a strong, militant African-American perspective as Giovanni explores her growing political and spiritual awareness. (Editor with Jessie Carney Smith) Images of Blacks in American Culture: A Reference Guide to Information Sources, Greenwood, 1988. Biography. Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 1994, p. 298; October, 1996, pp. A Nikki Giovanni Chronology, Appalachian Heritage | DeepDyve Continues a heavy schedule of speaking engagements. Saint Joseph on-the-Ohio. At THOMAS J. WATSON JR. DIES AT 79 - The Washington Post NikTom Records, distributed by Atlantic Recording Corporation, 1975. Deadline from 3 hours. thomas watson giovanni father religious interview questions and answers sharleen spiteri ashley heath . Discover short videos related to thomas watson giovanni on TikTok. whitepages. And as Martha Cook explained, her other publications consistently attack[ed] elitism in the Black Arts movement and praised writers whom she viewed as presenting a realistic yet positive picture of black life, including new and established voices. Sacred Cows and Other Edibles (essays), Morrow (New York, NY), 1988. Receives Life Membership and Scroll from the National Council of Negro Women. She also earned her first bachelor degree in 1967. Academics present no problem to her, but she is unprepared for the conservatism of this small black college. Her In at Washington's Kennedy Center, visited Africa on a lecture tour sponsored Giovanni publishes Bicycles: Love Poems. . Massachusetts Review, 18 (1977), pp. Oprah Winfrey names Giovanni one of 25 "Living Legends." "In her singing lines, Giovanni shows she hadn't forgotten childhood adventures in exploring the world with a small person's sense of discovery," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Nikki Giovanni: From Revolution to Revolution, State Library of Ohio, 1979. Hip Hop Speaks to Children is selected as the Book of the Month by Read On Wisconsin! Given what Thomas does to earn a living is unknown, his net worth cannot be estimated. Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002. Her sisters negative experiences in desegregating Wyoming High School make her and her parents uninterested in having her try to attend one of the white high schools. And in the foreword to My House, Ida Lewis observed that Giovanni "has reached a simple philosophy more or less to the effect that a good family spirit is what produces healthy communities, which is what produces a strong (Black) nation. The Genie in the Jar, illustrated by Chris Raschka, Holt, 1996. She never really had any other jobs. 1983 brought out Giovannis next major volume of poetry, Those Who Ride the Night Wind, dedicated to the courage and fortitude of those who ride the night winds [for whom] Life is a marvelous, transitory adventureand are determined to push us into the next century, galaxypossibility. This volume has received mixed reviews. How to Choose Your Mitsubishi Outlander EV Chargers? The Sun Is So Quiet, illustrated by Ashley Bryant, Holt (New York, NY), 1996. Website & SEO via Hyperwave Marketing. Meanwhile, her sister Gary has a son, Christopher, in April of 1959. The same year the New York Times named Giovanni the Princess of Black Poetry. In 1970, she was Woman of the Year in Ebony magazine. Once she is there, however, she tells her grandparents her real plan: she wants to stay with them and attend school in Knoxville. (Editor, with C. Dennison) Appalachian Elders: A Warm Hearth Sampler, Pocahontas Press (Blacksburg, VA), 1991. None of the metaphorical mumbo jumbo that baffles so many of us. 62-4; April 1971; August 1971; August 1972, pp. Following her performance, 'the audience shouted its appreciation'." Their father Giovanni Tocci had a breakdown due to the appearance of his first-born sons and was put into a lunatic asylum . The '", In 2005 Giovanni published Rosa, a children's book version of Rosa Park's famous refusal to give up her seat on the bus and other pivotal events of the Civil Rights movement. IBM Archives: Thomas Watson, Jr. leaving IBM (1984 bio) Theory in Black American Literary Criticism, Penkevill Publishing, 1986. Black Feeling, Black Talk, Broadside Press, 1968, 3rd ed., 1970. the truth is on it's way (2 versions) - 1971 / like a ripple on a pond - 1972 / the way i feel - 1975. Named University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, the highest honor the University confers (1999). Contributor to numerous anthologies. However, the date of retrieval is often important. Such essays as "Reflections on My Profession," "Four Introductions," and "An Answer to Some Questions on How I Write" were described by Washington Post Book World critic Marita Golden as "quintessential Nikki Giovannisometimes funny, nervy and unnerving with flashes of wisdom.". In a review for Contemporary Women Poets, Jay S. Paul called the book "a poetic tour through a place rich with family remembrance, distinctive personalities, and prevailing love." Giovanni is best known for her readings and spoken word poetry. Please adjust your search criteria and try again. Thomas giovanni - phone, address, background info. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, November 20, 2002. Who is Nikki Giovanni mother? Giovanni began to do more touring as the 1990s came to a close, but remained faithful to her creative writing students at Virginia Polytechnic. In an essay on black literary criticism, Margaret B. McDowell wrote that through Giovannis public readings and appearances she truly becomes poet of the people renew[ing] the tradition of the bard, prophet, or witness who sings or chants to inform the people. The poems contained in My House are suggestive of this time period in Giovannis life; in fact, Virginia Fowler suggested that if read as a whole they become a poetic autobiography of the first three decades of Giovannis life. I think that youd miss a lot if all you did was meet other writers; if you never saw another generation.. (Editor with Jessie Camey Smith) Images of Blacks in American Culture: A Reference Guide to Information Sources, Greenwood, 1988. bought an honorary doctorate of literature trom the University of Maryland, Emma Louvenia and John Brown Watson and attends Austin High School. In a New York Times Book Review article on Spin a Soft Black Song, Nancy Klein noted, "Nikki Giovanni's poems for children, like her adult works, exhibit a combination of casual energy and sudden wit. To start everything off, she was one of the best african american poets ever. http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/giovanniNikki.php. Thomas J. Watson Jr. 3.90 63 ratings8 reviews The timeless business book that still brings perspective and guidance to today's bottom-line executives When first published in 1963, IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr.'s A Business and Its Beliefs gave readers an unprecedented look inside IBM's executive offices.