“I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, but I am an Earthling,” says African-American poet Nikki Giovanni in the biographical documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project. In this work, filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster skillfully alternate between the octogenarian’s present and her past as an activist thirsting for social justice and planets to explore. Her spatial and committed poetry still shines in the eyes of young and old, especially when she recites it during Afropunk music festivals. Available on Crave from January 8.
To watch on video