The second of three programmes in which Helen Mayhew explores the career of jazz legend Nina Simone.
Singing for Civil Rights. Nina Simone played a powerful part in the campaign for civil rights in America during the sixties, writing some of the hardest-hitting protest songs, including Mississippi Goddam;
Young, Gifted and Black: and Four Women. She became the voice of the movement, alongside
Martin Luther King , Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X. She talks candidly about the part she played and her eventual rejection of the country she fought so hard to improve. The period had an enormous impact on her music and her emotions, which all poured into her improvisational performances.
Broadcaster and writer Darcus Howe talks about the impact of her work. Other guests include Maya Angelou , John Fordham and Dianne Reeve.
+ Competitions and offers: page 142