Soon after graduation, she suffered the loss of her grandmother, Louvenia Watson, and turned to writing to cope with her death. These poems would later be included in her collection "Black Feelings, Black Talk". In 1968, Giovanni attended a semester at University of Pennsylvania and then moved to New York City. She briefly attended Columbia University and privately published "Black Feeling, Black Talk". In 1969, Giovanni began teaching at Livingston College of Rutgers University. She was an active member of the Black Arts Movement beginning in the late 1960s. In 1969, she gave birth to Thomas Watson Giovanni, her only child. In 1970, she began making regular appearances on the television program "Soul!", an entertainment/variety/talk show that promoted black art and culture and allowed political expression. "Soul!" hosted important guests such as Muhammad Ali, James Baldwin, Jesse Jackson, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Gladys Knight, Miriam Makeba, and Stevie Wonder. (In addition to being a "regular" on the show, Giovanni for several years helped design and produce episodes.) She published multiple poetry anthologies, children's books, and released spoken word albums from 1973 to 1987.