Young, Gifted and Black: The life of Nina Simone

The Nina Simone that the world knows now is not the person that Simone envisioned for herself growing up. As a child, her dream was not to become a famous jazz musician. In fact, she wanted to be a concert pianist, adopting her style from sounds like Beethoven and Brahms. She even hoped to be the first African American female concert pianist. However, the world had other plans for her.

Money in her family was tight, and there came a point when she could no longer fund herself through Julliard. As a result, Simone dropped out of the prestigious college and moved back home. Imagine being able to get into an extremely competitive music school only to have to drop out because of insufficient funds. This was one of the many roadblocks that Simone seemed to overcome so effortlessly. While home, Simone did not abandon her passion for music. Since money was scarce, Simone began to give music lessons to students in her neighborhood. After teaching for sometime, Simone decided to try to further her musical education. To do this, Simone applied and was denied from the Curtis Institute of Music, which she later suspected had to do more with her race than her musical ability. She was a black woman trying to make a name of herself when everyone around her wanted her to be silent. This is one of the reasons that Simone was heavily involved with the civil rights movement, and used her music to uplift black people around the country and around the world. Although she had been discriminated against because of her race, Simone was very proud to be black and made songs with lyrics about empowerment and revolution.

Simone Also struggled with bipolar disorder, but was not formally diagnosed until later in her life. This affected her relationship with her daughter, herself, and her music. She struggled with mood swings and later, when put on medication, had trouble performing. After suffering under the disease for years, and having it take a major toll on her career and well being, Simone eventually returned to music. Thus Nina Simone proved that even when you find yourself in a dark place, there is always a way back into the light.

Simone did not begin to make a name for herself until after years of struggle and failure. But each time she got knocked down, she fought back ten times stronger.  

It was not until her adult life when Simone began to reap the rewards of her labor. While touring, something she did only periodically, Simone always left the crowd begging for more. She even received praise from prestigious publications, like the New York Times, which wrote that Simone had “...a beloved sound, a celebrated personality, and a repertory that magnifies them both.”

Nina Simone shows us that the failures and hardships you experience in life do not dictate your successes.

Paige Bentum

Photo: By Roland Godefroy - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

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