Civil Rights, Equality and the Music of Nina Simone Essay -- Autobiogr

Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs† Four Women†, â€Å"Young Gifted and Black†, and Mississippi God Damn†, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist her political and social activism is understated despite her front- line presence in the movement. According to Ruth Feldstein â€Å"Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.† Feldstein goes on to say that â€Å"Simone was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States much earlier, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than had many other African Ame rican entertainers.† Her family ties to the south, her unique talent, her ability to travel and make money are similar to the Blues women movement that preceded her. It can be said that Nina Simone goes a step further the by directly attacking inequities pertaining to race and gender in her music. However, what distinguishes her is her unique musicianship and that is what ultimately garners her massive exposure and experiences than those of her past contemporaries. Like the Blues women Simone expands ideas pertaining to self-expression, identity and beauty as they relate to black women. She does this by embracing what is definitively African American and connecting that to a historical context. By doing so she is the embodiment of a political statement. Her journey which began like many entertaine... ...utobiography Of Nina Simone, Da Capo Press; 2003. Additional Sources Consulted: Brooks, Daphne A. . "Nina Simone's Triple Play." Callaloo. 35.4 (2011): 176-194. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. . Lewis, Andrea. "Nina Simone remains a powerful inspiration for black women." Progressive. (2003): n. page. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. . Simone, Nina, perf. Mississippi Goddam. 1964. Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQjGGJVSXc Simone, Nina, perf. To Be Young, Gifted and Black. 1970. Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3OIfuVpocU Simone, Nina, perf. Four Women, 1966. Song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf9Bj1CXPH8 Tsuruta, Dorothy Randall. "`I Ain't About To Be Non-Violent, Honey.'." Black Scholar 29.2/3 (1999): 54. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.