Black Love Matters

Photo credit should read KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty ImagesBackground: Dr. Nikki Giovanni reads a poem during ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on February 12, 2009. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission hosted ceremonies to honor the 200th anniversary of the birth of the 16th President of the US. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER

Throughout my 40 year career as a high school teacher and coach, one of the most unforgettable experiences I had was a class during which we recited and discussed Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “Nikki Rosa.”

This was at a school 20 miles west of Boston where I was an English teacher and the head football and basketball coach. The particular class I speak of was…