I discovered Nina Simone’s music when I was walking down the hall in my dorm at Webster College in St. Louis. I heard Nina’s voice coming from my friend’s room – it was “Four Women.” I stood in the hall transfixed and then went out and bought all of Nina’s albums. She was so raw and seemingly unafraid — but something in me sensed great vulnerability beneath her boldness.

Years later I finally met her. My dear friend Attallah Shabazz brought her to see me in “The Diva is Dismissed,” the one-woman show I was performing at The Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. I knew she was in the audience and gave her my best performance! Afterwards, she came up and extended her hand and said, “I am Nina Simone.” But instead of shaking her hand, I hugged her tight and whispered in her ear, “I’ve studied every note you’ve ever sung — and my name is Peaches too!” She cracked up — I was so happy that I made Nina Simone laugh.

But more than anything I admired her audacity to be black during a time when being black was controversial. For me there was Mahalia Jackson, Ethel Merman, Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone – they sang out LOUD and I heard them loud and clear. Hail Queen Simone.

-Jenifer Lewis
(photo by Camrin William)

(Disclaimer: This is going to be long though hopefully not longwinded. Just want to warn at the outset that you might want to continue reading when you have a moment; perhaps with a cup of coffee, perhaps a glass of wine. Also, the opinions expressed herein do not reflect those of the family and Estate of Nina Simone as a whole, they are mine and mine alone – I’m just lucky enough to have this platform from which to share my opinions.)

After one’s passing or, as Nina’s daughter Simone eloquently calls it, one’s transition, life becomes less about those whom have passed and more so about those who remain. Though we have all been brought here by a love for all things Nina Simone, it is her daughter (and in the future her granddaughter) who is now charged with keeping the flame, continuing the legacy, all while blazing her own path. And, all the while, carrying her mother close in her heart, deep within her spirit and echoed in her memory. On this day, while it is important to acknowledge, honor and commemorate the genius, music, life and legacy of Nina Simone it is just as important to even for a second, even if just for today, try to understand her daughter, Simone.

Just for a second, try and imagine what it would be like to be the daughter of Nina Simone. Seriously…the child of Nina Simone. Just imagine.

Our imaginations probably go immediately to the Nina we all loved so dearly: that passion, that genius, that raw power, that voice. Oh god, that voice.

But, we’re all adults. Even if we don’t know much about Nina on a personal level, even if we haven’t heard the stories (and if you’re here reading this, I’m sure you’re familiar enough to have heard some), we’re all adults and we know that genius and notoriety come with a price. While the artist, the genius, often suffers as the price of simply being a genius, it is often – dare we say always – those in the genius’ life who bear all the costs.

So, again, I implore you to imagine, just for a second, what it would be like to be the daughter of Nina Simone – the genius and the human.

The first time I met Simone was at her mother’s memorial service in Harlem. Though the memorial featured numerous speakers of such brilliance that I doubt I’ll ever witness so many in one place at the same time, only one of their eulogies sticks out in my head. She spoke from such a personal place – not a place of admiration and friendship but a place of anguish, loss and self-discovery. She spoke from a place of a girl who was now, beyond any doubt, a woman. So many of us remain boys until our fathers pass, so many of us remain girls until our mothers pass. Here was Simone, standing before us, a woman.

One of the things she mentioned during her eulogy was how she’d been standing the night before on the streets of New York (in the rain, mind you) handing out invitations to the memorial service to every black person she could see. Simone was crushed by the number of her people who had never even heard of her mother. They’d never even heard of Nina Simone. Never heard of her.

Immediately, as a white person, my mind picked up on Simone saying she’d tried handing them out to all the black people she saw and I thought “wait a minute…” But, deep down I knew. I knew not only what it meant because I’ve experienced years of being the white person conversing with a black person who’d never heard of Nina Simone but I also knew that it wasn’t my place to question Simone’s actions. Despite my initial reaction I knew that such a judgment about why she would or would not think to give invitations to non-blacks would only come from a place of privilege, the place of an outsider. Though my mind picked up on it, understandably so, it wasn’t my place to question it or judge it, so I left it at that.

After the service, Simone remained at the front of the church to greet attendees and thank them for coming to honor her mother. Suffice it to say the attendance was not what I would’ve hoped or wished. But, at times like those, you can’t let that matter to you. You just keep going on, doing what you’d come to do in the first place.

I hesitantly went to the front of the church, uncharacteristically shy. I think my friends even had to push me a little. I approached Simone, already shaking and nervous, and gave her a book. I gave her a book featured in a picture of her and her mother from when Simone was a little girl. In it, Nina appears to be reading the book to Simone. I was able to track down the book, bought it, placed the picture inside and brought it as a gift for Simone.

By the time I started actually speaking I was already in tears and I’m sure Simone had no idea what I was saying. I was trying to tell her that I’d brought her the book and that it was from my favorite picture of her and her mother. She looked down at the cover and immediately she knew what it was. Her face lit up. I tried to express how much her mother meant to me, how deeply her music had touched me, how she had changed me as a person but, again, I’m sure through my efforts to hold back my tears I was probably just blubbering.

In that second Simone said something that to this day has been burned into my psyche. It was a moment of clarity, a moment of truth, a moment of unadulterated honesty, even if unintentional. She said that she was wrong, she shouldn’t have just been trying to pass out invitations to her people; she should’ve been giving them to everyone. Given the moment, the occasion, the tenor – it was an incredibly insightful thing for her to say. For it to even dawn on her and make the connection, through her own pain from having lost her mother. To recognize her own limitations, her own faults, if you will. To be able to change openly when in the face of truth. THAT is the sign of genius. THAT is the sign of realness. THAT is Nina Simone’s daughter.

The next conversation I had with Simone was one-on-one in Nina’s hometown of Tryon, NC. I’d driven cross-country with my son to visit my parents and made a detour in Tryon to visit with Crys Armbrust whom was heading the efforts in Tryon to memorialize Nina. This was being done through the Nina Simone Project in different ways such as building a statue and renovating Nina’s childhood home. It just so happened that Simone was going to be in Tryon at the same time so everything just kind of came together.

Immediately following Nina’s death, in 2003, I started a Nina Simone tribute and archival website called L’hommage: Nina Simone. I started this because at the time, and this is no exaggeration, there was nothing out on the internet about Nina. Nothing. Even the official website at the time was painfully bare and neglected. I decided that I not only wanted to honor Nina but to provide information, gather as much material as possible, provide a source for reference and access to Nina. I fantasized about creating a virtual, online Nina Simone Museum.

It reached a point where one would’ve thought L’hommage: Nina Simone was the official Nina website because it had become (with the immense help of others…mainly Roger Nupie – International Nina Simone Fan Club President – and even Simone’s input at times) the most content rich site regarding all things Nina. Having caught Simone’s attention and receiving the seal of approval from those in the innermost reaches of the Nina Simone circle (Simonians, as Roger Nupie referred to them), I was lucky enough to receive this one-on-one time with Simone and, to his delight, my teenage son.

It was during this meeting that Simone said to me the second thing that to this day has haunted me and one that I carry with me as a source of inspiration, motivation and frustration.

I think Simone’s energy was drained that day. She mentioned having an allergic reaction to something in particular and I think overall her allergies were bothering her as well. My son was having a horrible time with his allergies and I think Crys thought my son was sick so had tried to innocently warn Simone because she was meant to perform and could not risk being exposed to anything that could make her sick. I assured Crys that my son just had allergies and Simone immediately, out of empathy because of her own severe allergies, embraced my son and went out of her way to let him know that she didn’t give a damn about catching anything from him. She had allergies. She knew how they felt. She was with him on that one.

I mention that I think Simone’s energy was somewhat drained because I think her guard was down. I think most of us put our guard down when we’re drained, tired, sick, anything of the sort. And from the conversation that transpired between the two of us I think I got a true glimpse of the pain, torment and anguish Simone had been through and that she’d begun working to heal. It struck me deeply and I was thankful to have received the gift of witnessing it.

In my awestruck enthusiasm and excitement, having been surrounded all day by Nina’s childhood hometown and all the efforts taking place to solidify and nurture her legacy, I think I started going on about how wonderful it was to see everything that was happening. By then I’d been working on my own site for several years so I knew that Nina had been largely ignored for far too long so it warmed my heart to see the world slowly waking to Nina’s genius yet again.

Simone’s response to this woke me and grounded me:

“My mother died alone. Absolutely alone.” The pain and anger in Simone’s voice and eyes was heavy and palpable.

Though in no way was Simone (or is she) ungrateful for all the combined efforts throughout the U.S. and world to honor and celebrate her mother but the history can’t be ignored and the fact can’t be brushed aside: Nina Simone died alone, forgotten, brushed aside, abandoned.

Imagine that for a second, now. The Nina Simone that all of us are here to express our unwavering love for…that Nina Simone, she died alone. She died feeling unloved, unappreciated, unwanted. And this is not exaggeration or hyperbole. Nina’s bitterness is well-known but not surprisingly the valid reasons for her bitterness are not so widely acknowledged.

And – what’s sad – so extremely goddamn sad, so sad it can bring tears to the eyes just by writing about it: NINA TOLD US THIS ALL ALONG.

Just go back, read interviews with her. Watch videos of her. Listen to her. Nina Simone told us all – every chance she got for years and years and years – she was alone, she was being abused, she was being taken advantage of, she wasn’t getting her just dues, she was being robbed. She was left poor and alone.

We must’ve thought she was crazy, right? Or we must’ve thought she was being greedy, right? Or we must’ve thought there was some misunderstanding, right? It was just a management problem, or a crappy contract, or she was bad with money. Or we must’ve just believed she was this talented but difficult diva of a black woman who thought she was worth and entitled to more than she really, truly was because if she were worth all that then…she’d just have it. They would’ve just given it to her, right? They would’ve just signed over all those big fat checks she was entitled to because of how much money all her wonderful, famous music made them.

Right…because that’s how the world works. Right.

So yes, Nina Simone died alone. Unloved, unappreciated, unwanted. And it absolutely breaks my heart.

And not just alone physically or financially. More than that, even her passion wasn’t being reciprocated.

A lot of people refer to Nina’s performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976 as being very powerful – and not just the songs but the things that she says. What she was saying was that no one was listening. Everyone was acting like corpses. To her, it was like playing for a bunch of dead people. Even Janis Joplin, she said, played for dead people too often. Maybe that’s what killed Janis, Nina supposed. Maybe artists die on the inside little by little every time they play for an audience that won’t just come alive. It’s as if we all essentially starved her to death. Watch her. Listen to her: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH5ZE3N8cxU

“Where were they then?” Simone asked that day in Tryon. Where was the statue when her mother was alive? Where were the concerts in her honor back then? Where were the accolades, the tributes, the testimonies of gratitude? “Where were they then?”

This is not a punitive question. The family and Estate of Nina Simone are never going to push away or reject what they know Nina deserved and deserves. But it is important to imagine just one more thing. Just for one more second, and then we can go back to our lives…

Imagine if Nina had gotten all that love while she was still alive. Imagine if we had all taken the effort to let her know when it was still possible what she meant to us, how she affected us, how much we needed her, how she truly was our High Priestess and how we heard her. Yes Nina, we heard you.

I would’ve just loved to see the look on her face. The joy. The overwhelming feeling of love we could’ve given her just by reflecting back to her what she’d given all of us. End some of her pain, some of her bitterness, some of her illness. Just by giving her some love.

I was just as guilty. I didn’t start my website until right after Nina had died. It never even dawned on me…until she was gone. Until it was too late. Until it could only mean something to those who remained.

All we can do is carry on, move along going forward, staying true and real to what is right and what is meaningful. I could work every day all day on building the legacy of Nina Simone and be perfectly content. It wouldn’t even feel like a job to me. I’d consider it payment on a debt I owe Nina for everything she gave to me…though it can never be repaid.

Simone eventually brought me into the fold to manage the Official Nina Simone website, which is now far from neglected and bare. Hopefully one day it will be the Nina Simone museum of which I’ve always dreamed. I’m enterally grateful to Simone for allowing me the opportunity. It is humbling. (Simone sometimes calls me ‘brother’ and I must say, even if she’d only called me that one single time, to be called ‘brother’ by Simone is something that will stick with me for the rest of my worldly and otherworldly lives. I’m taking that one with me on my transition.)

Considering that all we can do is carry on and go forward we must try to do it without repeating history. Simone closed her commemoration to her mother today with advice about not neglecting the relationships you have with your loved ones because life can end before you know it and then you’re just left with regret. The simple truth of that can’t be overstated and it rings through the words of wise women and men throughout the ages.

We must do what we can right now to honor those we love and express upmost gratitude to those whose passions nourish our souls. Even if we have to prove it to them. We must tell them:

Thank you. We love you. We hear you. You’ve changed us.

And not as just a sea of screaming fans but by proving it to them, showing them. One by one. Reflecting it back to them. Through actions.

Through Nina Simone’s genius and art itself we can pay her back. We can all pay her back. We can pay Nina back by ensuring the world remembers her; by spreading her message, by reflecting her passion and contentiousness, by having our roots in her art. Acknowledging who came before us; on whose shoulders we stand.

We can pay her back by holding her up as an example for young artists to see that you don’t have to be a performing prop of an entertainer who’s trained to use any old trick in the book from crazy outfits, wigs, hair, makeup, sex, drugs and mindlessly provocative lyrics just to gain fame and fortune.

We can teach future generations that they can have class, they can have elegance, they can have style, they can have passion, they can have grit, they can have naked rawness, they can even be provocative…they can have all these things but still have something so many of the most popular artists today are lacking: the sophistication of responsible integrity.

Nina won’t directly hear our praises, she can’t physically feel our love, she doesn’t know we miss her. But those who remain and are carrying her torch can. And they’re listening, they’re watching, they’re paying attention. They remember. After all, wouldn’t you remember if it were your mother? Wouldn’t you pay attention if it were your mother?

If it were your mother, how would you want her legacy to be honored?

And, remember, we’re not just talking about any ol mother, we’re talking about Nina Simone.

Aaron Overfield
Content Manager, NinaSimone.com

In honor of Nina and today 4/21/12, I got this tattoo, designed by Stanley Chow (http://www.stanleychowillustration.com/) and inked by Amanda Pepper (http://bemycanvas.com/):

Simone, daughter of Nina Simone, reflects on her mother’s time of transition.
Dr. Nina Simone: 2/21/33-4/21/03

It was a beautiful day in early March 2003 and spring was in the air. We lived in Stroudsburg, PA and I was chatting with my mother who was relaxing at her new home in Carry le Rouet, France. She loved her home and extended another invitation for me to visit. I demurred, reminding her how we had not gotten along well the last time we’d visited together for an extended period. She chuckled and poo-poo’d my concerns, reassuring me that her house was so big we would not get in each other’s way. Her lunch was brought and as she began to eat, she complained how tired she was of eating “cow food” – raw greens.
 
My mother had been living with cancer since 1998 having undergone chemo for 6 years and was still going strong. I asked if she’d lost any weight and the conviction in her voice startled me as she said “OH YES!!”. When we hung up I went to my room and cried. Something within me knew she was dying and it was this feeling that inspired me to write her a song. Over the next week as I was driven to/from my job on Broadway as AIDA I worked on the song. I wanted her to know how often I thought of her yet how often life’s responsibilities got in the way of me reaching out. I finished writing it and recorded it 4 days before she left this world. It is entitled BREAKDOWN, and the first verse is as follows:

     THERE’S NOT A DAY THAT GOES
I DON’T THINK OF YOU…..

Indeed. How was I to know my life, and all the relationships within it, was about to shift – never to return to what was?
 
Saturday April 19, 2003 I decided to go into NYC early to get my nails done prior to the 2-show day. As I sat in the salon, Elton John came on the radio and I found myself choking back unbidden tears. For the rest of the performance day those tears would be the nemesis that remained so close, it was an inner struggle to channel them properly within the context of the show.

Easter Sunday April 20, 2003 as my car pulled up to Broadway’s Palace Theatre I received a call from France informing me Mommy had been given 24-48 hrs – she was on her way to another place. She was unresponsive but aware. I requested to speak to her and told her how MUCH I loved her, not to worry about me and that I would make sure all her efforts and sacrifices would not be in vain. To this day, I wish I had had the presence of mind to sing her the first verse of the lullaby she always sang to me:

GO TO SLEEP MY PRECIOUS ONE
DAY IS DONE AND NIGHT IS NEAR
WHEN YOU WAKE YOU’LL SEE THE SUN
WISH YOU FOR A STAR TO STEER

As I reflect I marvel that after that call I did not simply go home. Instead I performed the Sunday matinee and returned home as usual.
 
It was around 8pm and I was outside romping around with my dogs. It was a clear, calm evening and we played as we always did. Out of nowhere a huge wind began, the mature trees surrounding my property began to sway and leaves were tossed here and there. The dogs and I became still at the same time as we looked around and I whispered one word: “MOMMY?”

Monday April 21, 2003 as my husband, Rob and I lounged the phone rang. My mother was gone. Just like that, my life and everything in it shifted. Lisa Celeste Stroud also died on that day and Simone was officially born.

I often think of that time and my heart still aches.

I had booked a ticket to France for May 3rd and I was too late. For a long time I was angry with my mother for leaving before my fantasy of a fairy tale relationship was realized. There was no opportunity to make heads or tails of my own heart because of the whirlwind tossing me about and the constant influx of condolences from presidents, political figures, musical icons, friends and fans the world over. We flew to France to attend to all that needed doing. I remember walking around with the same legal pad in my hand (which I still have) for I knew I would not be able to retain anything AND the vultures had begun to circle; each trying to get me to before the next.

Rob and I went to the mortuary and sat with her body for I do not know how long. It was disconcerting to hug her and feel how cold she was. She’d always rubbed my head and all I wanted to do was take her hand and place it there one last time. I picked out a white dress, had her nails painted white, her wig coiffed and placed her lion tail in her hand as she was readied for her final journey into the fire. My cousin Crystal had flown in and each of us wrote Mommy a letter and placed it in the coffin. The pastor who presided over the funeral called her an APOSTLE. White roses, her favorite, adorned the coffin along with a banner, which read NINA, WE LOVE YOU. Even though I did not intend to speak I wound up singing PRECIOUS LORD and asking all in attendance to not let her efforts be in vain. I also shared Mom’s love for white roses and encouraged everyone to take one as they left, in remembrance of her.

My mother was cremated, as per her instructions. I did not attend but chose rather to go back to the chalet, which I’d inherited. On our trip back to the house people on foot and bikes raised their white roses to us as we passed. I smiled through my tears.

As you can see, the memories are quite vivid and always will be. I miss my mother deeply every day. It took me 5 years to stop grieving. Now, when I hear her music being played on an elevator, airplanes, Pandora, restaurants, malls, et al I no longer have to catch myself. Instead, I smile and sing along…choosing to believe she’s sending me a message she is always near.

I had no idea what I was going to share today. I do hope my story will inspire you to appreciate the familial relationships you have. Death is a transition. It is a guarantee. It will happen to us all. How we choose to prepare for it is up to us. Talk to each other. Forgive each other. Ask questions. Plan. Come together and Love one another. Once our loved ones cross over it is difficult enough; we do not need regrets and guilt to add to our burden.

Celebrate Nina today and every April 21st with a White Rose and know The Legacy does INDEED CONTINUE.

I LOVE YOU MOMMY!!

The family of Dr. Nina Simone is coordinating an unprecedented project to celebrate and pay tribute to the artistry, legacy and spirit of Nina.

Throughout the years and up to today the music and social contentiousness of Nina Simone have influenced artists from all walks of life – generations of musicians from every genre, poets, painters, writers, dancers, actors, activists and even fashionistas and politicians.

Despite Nina’s prolific, influential reach she is largely unknown to the masses. Our goal with this project is mainly twofold: grow and nourish an entirely new world of art with its roots in Nina’s genius and continue educating the world about Nina’s artistic and social contributions.

Confirmed musicians:

Skye Edwards (of Morcheeba) (@skyewards, @realmorcheeba)
Kimbra (@kimbramusic) – Plain Gold Ring

Sinead O’Connor (@connor_sinead)

King Britt (@kingbritt)

David Harness (@djdavidharness)

Osunlade (@osunladeyoruba)

Sandra Bernhard (@sandrabernhard) – Baltimore

Crystal Waters (@crystalwaters1)

Monifah (@themonifah)

Dajae (@divadajae)

Chantal Claret (@chantalclaret)

Karyn Paige (@karynpaige)

Szjerdene (@szjerdene)

David Hays (@davidhaysmusic)

Mocean Worker (@moceanworker)

Jay-J (@shiftedmusic)

Tommie Sunshine (@tommiesunshine)

DJ Onionz (@djonionz)

Coby Koehl (@cobykoehl)

Honey Dijon (@honeydijon)

DJ Lady D (@djladyd)

DJ Sneak (@dj_sneak)

Scott Wozniak (@scottwozniak)

Though mainly music-centered, this project has several facets which include: musicians interpreting Nina’s music through their own covers of her songs; djs/producers remixing some of the various covers that are produced; artists competing to produce each Songbook album’s cover art; writers vying to pen each album’s liner notes. We are dedicated to ensuring artists of every generation, every genre and every level of fame – from the highest profile artists to up-and-comers to fresh talent in search of a break – have the chance to be included in this project.

Because we believe in the social power of Nina’s art we are also working to include the voices of Nina’s fans and the fans of those artists whom will be collaborating on this project. The public will be given the chance to vote at times on which Nina song certain participating musicians should cover, which artwork submission should adorn each album and who should be tasked with writing the liner notes for each album. We hope to see this project ongoing with a series of releases that eventually exhausts Nina’s entire catalog of work – over 300 songs!

While in the beginning stages of this project we have already had artists reach out and express their interest in collaborating on this, artists we have reached out to and artists whom we have our eye on and hope will come aboard to honor the legacy of Dr. Nina Simone. The lists included in this post are not entirely exhaustive of the participants and potential participants but will act as the growing roster of people whom have been tapped in one way or another to join us in the Nina Simone Songbook Covers/Remixes project.

Waiting for confirmation:

Ben Langmaid of La Roux (@benlangmaid)

Emeli Sande (@emelisande)

Syesha Mercado (@syesha)

Musicians we are eyeing for the project:

Ed Sheeran (his management has been in contact with us and while too busy at the time Ed may participate in the future), Alicia Keys, Macy Gray, Lady Gaga, Kelly Price – Jill Scott – Ledisi – Marsha Ambrosius (Four Women), Christina Aguilera,  MIA, Adam Lambert, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, Erykah Badu, Zooey Deschanel, Fiona Apple, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Queen Latifah, Elton John, Muse, Patti LaBelle, David Bowie, Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, George Michael, Diplo, Cassandra Wilson, Lizz Wright, Beverley Knight, Adele, George Michael, Sade, Joan Armatrading.

This list will be updated regularly with changes and growth. If you are interested in participating in this project or have any artists of any caliber you’d like to suggest please comment below, tweet to us on Twitter (@NinaSimoneMusic) or email: aaron[at]ninasimone.com.

Artwork by: Stanley Chow (@stan_chow)

I don’t remember the first
time I heard Nina Simone
I don’t remember what i was
doing,
there was no remembered
witness to my doings.
But it seems as if I’ve
known her forever. She
who has moved through
mornings and midnites
through deaths and dawns
to document our Bones. Blood.

I remember the last time I
saw her perform in Philadelphia.
She arrived on stage breathing a
quiet grace. She stretched
out her hands to us all,
those hands neither mother
or daughter. Father or Son.
But family. Full of scriptures.
Carousels. Courage. A
courage that made us
glimpse ourselves,
celebrating ourselves. Our
lives instead of our massacres.

So I am here to honor a
woman who honored us all
with her songs and poetry
And Miss Nina. Queen Mother
Nina. Was one of the blessed ones
who was smart enough to
study America up close, who
was Blacker than our
unhurried laughter.

How to honor a woman
whose mouth was a blue
sash of rain, raining

convocations of flesh;
How to make you hear her
voice downpouring yellow
butterflies;
How to summon those fastidious
hands, playing without
eyes or tongues,
those hands that got up
in the nite, followed voices
that waited in the dark for songs
being sung from chandeliers?

Don’t ya know fantastic
rumors of chords abound
in her fingernails?
I guess I will just praise
her mouth her voice her
hands footprinting us
together on this July* morning.
Where the spaces between
us smile;

I guess I will lift up
My eyes to this extraordinary
Musician. Poet. Artist,
tasting the sea with her
hands.
I guess I will just say
Listen. Hear the incredible
crease of her laughter.
Listen. Listen, to her exact wings
strumming myths from clouds.
Listen. Listen. Listen, to her
breath traveling through
our bloodstream.
Listen to this
woman of prayer and blues
this woman of radiance and mist
this woman of prophecy and praise
this woman of trees and parasols
grabbing us up from this house
of American pain.
her intellect kissing our
hearts.
And she brought us life
She same strumming
Sweet life, aye, aye, aye, aye
bringing us closer to

all that is holy.
She dared us to love
this flesh
to pick ourselves up and
become thunder
and our flesh became Black
Hummmmed Blackness
Hummmmed yeah yeah yeah
to be young gifted and Blackkkkk
Hummmmed i put a spell on you…

And it happened thusly
because Nina Simone
with her voice
with her love
with her genius
with her laugh
with her truth
with her passion
made us remember
our Blood
our House
our skeleton
our smell
Gave us back to the stars
And she became like Nut
arching over us,
Her feet and hands
placed on this western stage
made us travel so far
toward the East
that we met ourselves
all over again.

Amen. Amen. Amen.
Awoman. Awoman. Awoman.

Ndichia
            Ndichiaaa
                         Ndichiaaaaaa
(you woman close to the Ancestors)




©Sonia Sanchez
7/26/03
Abyssinian Baptist Church, NYC

*Poem was presented during memorial services held at Abyssinian Baptist Church

in NYC in July 2003. [February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003]

Roseanne on Nina:

Backlash Blues by Nina Simone – This is my favorite of her political songs.  Hearing the passionate judgment & strength of character in the voice that like a Syren re-directs the wayward’s compass- mixed with the prophetic vision calling down the forces of oppression with simple words, reaches thru the labyrinth of my inner ear and splits open all limitation in my Creative Spirit, where nothing ever can remain the same afterward. To Nina Simone, Goddess of Jazz, of Hope, of Resistance to Tyranny, sexism racism, and limitation-well played, Brilliant One!

Sandra on Nina:

back in the day in la when i was hanging
out with paul mooney, my mentor and black angel,
he took me to the vine st bar and grill to see
nina simone for the first time, the air was electrified,
the joint was jumping, stylish patrons awaiting the
arrival, the explosion, tempestuous songstress
and mistress of our passion and discontent
dr nina simone.
when she arrived some forty five minutes later
the crowd was on its feet, as she sat down
and launched into “mississippi g-d damn”
it was a call to the mighty on high
reminding us of the fragile nature of
peace, love, compassion and hatred
all rolled into one.
she spoke in many dialects as she had been known to do.
as she did in her remarkable interview “castaways choice”
on kcrw. from her native southern voice to that of africa
she told her stories of classical training of walking for miles
to study with her mentor, of lovers come and gone, of the
shock of her daughter who had joined the army and eventual
acceptance of her in that role. america america when will
you shed your grace on she?
years later when i was preparing the filming of my performance
“without you i’m nothing” john boskovich the director and i wanted
nina to play a classical bach fugue dressed in the garb of the time
we met with her to discuss it but in the end she said no,
we found a very talented pianist to sit in for her, but our hearts
were let down,
my opening number “four women” was our tribute to her.
madcap and over the top as it was, brought the drama
and creative spirit that nina inspired in us both.
one day in paris i was wandering around the musee d’orsay
and there, sitting on a throne of extinct animal skins sat
nina, barely moving like an installation, i went to her and reached out
she looked up and smiled and i hugged her, off we went to cafe angelina
where we ate maroon glace and drank tea and spoke of life
in paris, we wandered a bit eventually parting ways.
this might have been the last time i saw her.
but now and again i would send a missive to her
and reflect fondly and often as i listened to hours
of music and stories of her life.
how can i know the depth of her soul?
i am a devotee so therefore i do.
in unspoken terms.
and i honor that always.

There are so many things to admire about Nina but I think the thing that stands out the most to me is her courage. As an artist, she bravely tackled so many musical styles jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop, and did so at a time when women, especially black women, were told to keep silent.

The strength Nina found in music was only trumped by the strength she had as a pioneer and champion of the civil rights movement. She is an extremely special woman!  One who I turn to time and time again as an example of breaking boundaries. – Alicia Keys

My first encounter with eunice/nina wouldn’t happen until seven years after her flesh had passed and her spirit appeared in a hotel room late one evening at a resort in Santa Barbara. To say, on any conscious level that I knew much about her, her life, her music, or her journey would simply be a lie.  In truth, I am still learning about her, through random spiritual downloads, and journals that her daughter and son-in law have most graciously shared.  She has been careful with me not to expose me to too much to soon.  She is loving and delicate in that way.

However, in other moments she extends her desire to use me and assuredly others, with forceful instructions to not only to help a new generation remember their call, but also to save me from traveling down a road that would lead to my own pre-mature death having yet fulfilled, re-writing a new ending to the story of black women with the power to change things without destroying themselves in the process.

The spirit of Nina Simone came to save me…LITERALLY. In her own clever, unique way;  she caused me to compose an opera, about her journey which ultimately would take me down a road of healing for myself, her family and any other strange genius’s who may still not me comfortable with their strangeness. Trying to find the balance of living between worlds without carrying the burdens of the in between. Nina, as you are, I am . As you continue to guide me to be, I will,.. As this generation passes through the embers of revolt, I stand, in proper classic form, upright, prepared for the fight, gun toting , pen stroking, soul strong, extending the complicated yet simple lullabies-deeply woven in all of your songs. I thank god for your resurrection, your extensive light, your hard-core tongue: let them who have ears to hear, listen.  ~Nia Hill

Click to download - Strange Genius Is PDF

Today is a very special day for me, my family and millions of fans of Dr. Nina Simone.

We celebrate what would have been Aunt Nina’s 79th Birthday. It is a bitter sweet day for me, I miss her, but rejoice in the knowledge that her music and teaching will live on forever within us all. If you really listen to Nina’s words, she wanted us to be kind to one another and love each other unconditionally.

When I was growing up, I was removed from most of the pressures of the artist, “Nina Simone,” to me she was simply Aunt Nina.
Besides the music, what I remember the most is the laughter and her infectious smile. Yes, we laughed a lot and had a great friendship that was built on trust and understanding. Aunt Nina taught me many life lessons that are still with me today.

As you celebrate today, play your favorite Nina Simone song and remember what she meant to you. Aunt Nina is smiling and knows that we love her.

Happy 79th Birthday Aunt Nina!

Joyce Stroud
Niece of Nina Simone

It takes me back to when I first heard Nina as an 11-
year-old child listening to her album, Little Girl Blue, in utter amazement. It takes me back to watching her perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1960 on a small black and white screen TV on a Sunday night at 8 o’clock. I remember that she was seated on the stage in a long gown with a train attached and looked so regal as she sat at the piano. I remember the pride that I felt in watching her as she played Love Me or Leave Me.

There were many close-ups of her hands, but when she got to the development section of the song, and broke out with nothing but counterpoint, it sounded like a Bach fugue. Her hands ran all over the keyboard and the cameras followed every stroke. She then went back into the vocals and ended the song with another round of counterpoint before ending the song with a series of chords that made you think that you were truly listening to a classical piece of music. Before she finished the final cadence of the song, the audience was applauding.

Nina did not miss a beat, for she went right into I Loves You Porgy with the aid of a few transition chords. Once again, she infused some counterpoint into this song and I felt like I was in a concert hall. Before she could finish the song, the audience was once again applauding, smiling, and commenting to each other as the camera fanned out across the crowd. Nina got up from the piano with a big smile on her face knowing that she had “done good”. I was beaming and so full of pride because I felt that she was representing me. It was rare to see someone of color on The Ed Sullivan Show and someone who had represented so well. So, today, on Nina’s 79th birthday, I salute her.

June I. King
Simone Family Friend