Dr. Nina Simone – Singer, Songwriter, Musician and Civil Rights Activist

Nina Simone by Stanley Chow

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933, she eventually took the stage name of Nina Simone when she started singing in clubs. Nina meant “little one” and she was a huge fan of the actress Simone Signoret. She disliked being dubbed the high priestess of soul music and/or just a jazz singer; she considered herself a “folk” singer with a classical background, singing gospel, pop and rock.

Nina started playing the piano at age four and singing in her church choir as a young girl. She was the sixth of seven children born to a poor family in the south. She was awarded some financial aid and a scholarship to Julliard School of Music in New York City, where she was trained classically. Her funds ran out, forcing her to leave and look for more affordable music programs. Being rejected from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia was an eye opening event for her on the racial inequality in the United States and led to her strong civil rights activism.

Leaving classical music behind, Nina switched to American standards, Jazz, Blue and Folk music. She played the clubs in the 1950s and recorded her first songs on the Bethlehem label in 1958; “Plain gold ring,” and “Little girl blue.” Nina’s one and only top 40 hit of her career was “I loves you Porgy,” from George Gershwin’s musical “Porgy and Bess.”

She became a strong voice for civil rights in the 1960s, writing songs in response to the assassination of Medgar Evers and the Birmingham Church bombing that killed four black girls (Mississippi Goddam) and to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination (Why the Kind of Love is dead). Another song was “Young, Gifted and Black.”

The racial politics in America led to Nina’s decision to live in other countries the rest of her career. She lived for short times in Liberia, Switzerland, England, and Barbados before settling in the South of France where she eventually died in 2003. She was proud however of honorary degrees bestowed on her in music and humanities from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and the Malcolm X College. She liked to be called “Doctor Nina Simone,” after those occurrences. Ironically, Curtis Institute which has once refused her admittance based on what she believed to be her race awarded her an honorary degree two days before her death.

Artwork Stanley Chow http://ow.ly/kXkoD