Feldstein begins the article by analyzing Simone’s song “Mississippi Goddam”, and how it cries out for immediate and radical changes in race relations. “Mississippi Goddam”, Simone’s first “civil rights song” (Feldstein 1349), exposes her distaste for non-violent activism, which would become even more obvious with some of her later songs, for example her 1964 song “Go Limp.” Feldstein continues the article by examining Simone’s upbringing and beginnings as a classical pianist. Simone “departed from the then-dominant depictions of African American entertainers, and of African American women entertainers specifically” (Feldstein 1355) due to her Juilliard training, and apathy towards becoming a popular singer. Feldstein also comments on the “gendered ethos” of the time, and how men were…show more content… Simone also realized the importance of making black activism an international movement. Inspired by her trip to Nigeria, she performed African music, began to wear traditional African clothing, and became a symbol of black power. Simone also had great success in Europe. Her performances in France, Switzerland, England, etc, allowed her to be an ambassador for the American civil rights issue, and to make racism an international issue. Feldstein then asserts that Simone’s close relationships with other African American women were the “central catalyst to her politicization around race” (1375). Feldstein argues that the sisterhood between Simone and other female black activists encouraged Simone to further her participation in the fight for civil, and women’s, rights, and to use her music to do so. This ultimately works to prove Feldstein’s thesis, that the feminist movement and the civil rights movement were connected, and that is this seen in Nina Simone’s music, and her participation in both
