Shimmy Shimmy Shimmy Like My Sister Kate

Giovanni, Nikki (1996). Shimmy shimmy shimmy like my sister Kate:  Looking at the Harlem Rennaissance through poems. New York:  Henry Holt and Company.

ISBN: 0805034943

Summary:  Award-winning, contemporary African-American poet, teacher, and activist Nikki Giovanni has compiled and commented on a collection of 20th-century poems largely from the Harlem Renaissance to celebrate and affirm being a black American. Selections include well-known poems, such as Paul Laurence Dunbar's "Sympathy" ("I know why the caged bird sings!" and Langston Hughes' "Harlem" ("What happens to a dream deferred?") as well as poems from less prolific authors, such as Waring Cuney and Lance Jeffers.

Additional comments:  Nikki Giovanni reflects on each poem's meaning and historical context. She also comments on each poet's life and legacy.  This anthology is full of anger at the persecution blacks have faced and continue to face, full of hope for the future, and full of love, pride, and strength for what's been overcome.