Nina Simone

Nina Simone was born on February 21, 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA as Eunice Kathleen Waymon. She was married to Andrew Benjamin Stroud and Donald Ross.

Nina Simone’s song, Ain’t got no, is a song filled with pain and misfortune. She lists all the things she does not have and the climax of the song is towards the end when she tells you that she has life. During the time the song was written it probably had a bigger impact and effected more black people in different a way. The song reminds me of a Negro spiritual because it talks about all the trials and tribulations she’s going through. I don’t think that this song does apply to students today. If it does apply then it is on a much smaller and not as dramatic scale.The fact that a modern day student is already more privileged than the black youth that lived during 60’s, 70’s and 80’s  makes drawing a connection to the song fairly difficult. The struggles of student life is a wealthy person’s problem. If the youth could truly relate to this song then they probably are not a student. That being stated, this song should be an inspiration to black people all across America. It was the people who didn’t have anything and were willing to lay the little they did have which in some cases may have been there good relative health so that future black boys and girls could live a better life.

Nina Simone on the cover of her Album

 

Nina Simone

Young Gifted and Black

Nina Simone  wrote the  song  “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” with a poet named Weldon Irvine, who contributed lyrics.The author Lorraine Hansberry, famous for her play A Raisin in the Sun, was an inspiration for this song. Simone wrote the song to honor her memory.Simone told Irvine she wanted lyrics that “will make black children all over the world feel good about themselves forever.”  Irvine at first had a hard time at first coming up with lyrics. One day getting his companion from down south Irvine was at a red light when the lyrics came to him . Sitting there for fifty teen minutes while cars and taxi cabs beeping the horn at him he jot down the lyrics on three pieces on napkin paper. ” When he read it, he thought, “I didn’t write this. God wrote it through me.” Elton John recorded a version of “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” prior to his solo success. Intended to be released as a low budget sound a like  version of the original song.The song has also become a popular sample among various modern R&B/hip-hop pieces .The song was originally recorded by Simone for her 1970 album Black Gold, and was a Civil Rights anthem.

Nina Simone on the cover of “Young Gifted and Black”

Nina Simone on another cover of “Young Gifted and Black”

Bobbi Kristina truths/lies

Bobbi Kristina Brown  , was always in the spot light considering her parents who were Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown who were both singers , actress and actor. On Feb. 11, 2012, Houston Bobbi Kristina mother was found face-down and unresponsive in about a foot of water in a bathtub in the Beverly Hilton hotel, just before the Grammy’s. She later died, and authorities concluded she had accidentally drowned. Bobbi Kristina mother Whitney Houston passed away found in the bathtub over dosed on cocaine. Ironically Bobbi was found unresponsive in her suburban Atlanta townhouse  also in a bathtub. She is now reduced in a come , and recently just open her eyes but sadly having seizures.Brown has been on life support since the incident, which happened just days before the third anniversary of her mother’s death. Nick Gordon was one of the two people who reportedly found Bobbi Kristina Brown unresponsive in the tub. Thursday that Gordon had called 911 in July 2013, telling police that Bobbi fell and was unresponsive. The officer noted in the records that she was “disoriented.”
Brown called the 25-year-old her husband,Bobbi Kristina could have been submerged for as long as 15 minutes before she was found face-down in a bathtub .it was found that  Brown, 21, was “regularly” using heroin, cocaine and Xanax in the months leading up to the incident, as well as drinking heavily.Brown had been “in and out” of rehab since her mother’s  Feb. 11, 2012 death, but hit stumbling blocks in her recovery because she was “distraught”  over the upcoming third anniversary of Houston’s death. Nobody knows how she drowned , the family isn’t saying much. Neither are police, though they’ve said they’re treating Brown’s case as a criminal investigation. Though little concrete information has surfaced, rampant rumors certainly have. All we can do is pray for Bobbi Kristina recovery and pray her family gets through this difficult time.

Bobbi Kristina at the premiere of the movie Sparkle

Bobbi Kristina and Gordon

Black History Month

The moth of February  known as Black History Month, or National African American History Month, which is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history. In the decades the followed, mayors of cities across the country began issuing yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History Week. By the late 1960’s, thanks in part to the Civil Rights Movement and a growing awareness of black identity, Negro History Week had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses. President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month/videos/origins-of-black-history-month

Civil Rights Movement

Journalists have the ability to change people’s lives every day. I will be discussing the role of journalists during the Civil Rights Movement.The civil rights movement in the American South was one of the most significant and successful social movements in the modern world. Black Georgians formed part of this southern movement for full civil rights and the wider national struggle for racial equality. Journalists educate the public about events and issues and how they affect their lives. They spend much of their time interviewing expert sources, searching public records and other sources for information, and sometimes visiting the scene where a crime or other newsworthy occurrence took place. After they’ve thoroughly researched the subject, they use what they uncovered to write an article or create a piece for radio, television or the Internet. Their duty was to report and explain human rights issues and the importance  of the civil rights.