When I die by Nikki Giovanni: An Analysis

Although this poem's simple words and easy going style makes it pretty self-explanatory, a glance into Giovanni's personal life can make it more meaningful. Let's look at the first stanza:

when i die i hope no one who ever hurt me cries
and if they cry i hope their eyes fall out
and a million maggots that had made up their brains
crawl from the empty holes and devour the flesh
that covered the evil that passed itself off as a
person that i probably tried
to love

Giovanni's tone in this stanza is one of hostility. She's wishing if the people who hurt her show sympathy towards her after she dies, they may suffer brutally as they are hypocrites. 

when i die i hope every worker in the national security

council 

the interpol the fbicia foundation for the development 

of black women gets

and extra bonus and maybe takes one day off

and maybe even ask why they didn't work as hard for us 

as they did 

them

but it always seems to be that way

After her death, she's wishing black women to be in good condition and be encouraged to speak up for the unjust treatment they receive from the government.The last line "but it always seems to be that way" implies that she's tired of the prejudice against black women by the government. 

please don't let them read "nikki-roasa" maybe just let

some black woman who called herself my friend go around

and collect

each and every book and let some black man who said it was

negative of me to want him to be a man collect every picture

and poster and let them burn- throw acid on them- shit

on them as 

they did while i tried 

to live

Giovanni's works represented individualist beliefs, and often her works were criticized by black community especially black men as they sometimes challenged the norms in the Black community. "Nikki-rosa" is one of her poem where she remarked the positive aspects of black family and the black community that white writers don't show in their writing. In that poem, she defended the black community against the negative impression white authors present of them, but after her death, she doesn't want black men to read it. She doesn't want them to read as they don't deserve to read her poems since they devalued her while she was alive. 

and as soon as i die i hope everyone who loved me learns

the meaning 

of my death which is a simple lesson

don't do what you do very well very well and enjoy it

it scares white folk 

and make black ones truly mad

Since she was degraded for doing what she loves and good at, she's asking her fans which consisted mostly of Black women and minority, to not do the same because society doesn't like confident and independent black women. 

but i do hope someone tells my son
his mother liked little old ladies with
their blue dresses and hats and gloves that sittin’
by the window to watch the dawn come up is valid that smiling at an
old man and petting a dog don’t detract from manhood
do somebody please
tell him i knew all along that what would be
is what will be but i wanted to be a new person
and my rebirth was stifled not by the master
but the slave

 In this stanza, she's calling out men on the concept of masculinity. She's wishing her son doesn't hold such problematic belief of masculinity. She's also wishing he knew that she wanted to become a different version of herself to change the society but she was opposed by the people of her community.

and if ever i touched a life i hope that life knows
that i know that touching was and still is and will always
be the true
revolution

In the last stanza, she's wishing anyone who's encountered her or has been impacted by her may take her as the signal to fight for a change. 

Overall analysis: The themes of this poem- unforgiveness and revolution- are mainly conveyed by the angry and hostile tone. Contrary to the popular moral lessons that teach people to forgive, she's showing that she's not forgiving the people who have resisted her activism and made her life difficult. She's showing her exhaustion caused by the continual prejudice against black women by black men and white people. She's also calling for a change- the change she couldn't properly make, she's wishing those who've been influenced by her can make it.