SOUND AND FURY: EYEWITNESS DESCRIBES NINA SIMONE SINGING “MISSISSIPPI GODDAM” IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, 1965
NINA SIMONE STRODE TO THE STAGE AND ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WAS GOING TO SING “MISSISSIPPI GODDAM” AND AS SHE OFTEN SAID, “I MEAN EVERY WORD OF IT.” EVERY GUARDSMAN’S FINGER TIGHTENED ON THE TRIGGER OF THE RIFLE HE WAS HOLDING.
NEW YORK TIMES, March 21, 2010
To the Editor:
In his review of “Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone” (Feb. 28), Robin D. G. Kelley mentions Simone’s song “Mississippi Goddam” as an example of her commitment to “speaking out against racism and injustice.” One performance of that song sums up that commitment. It was at a Roman Catholic church in Montgomery, Ala., just before the final day of the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965. I had driven over from Jackson, Miss., with two other civil rights lawyers.
Because Gov. George Wallace had refused to provide police protection for the marchers, the president had federalized the Alabama National Guard. That the guardsmen in the church were serving on the orders of the president did not change the fact that they were all white Alabamans whose dislike of their task could be seen on their faces. The Confederate flag patch adorning their sleeves reinforced the message of hostility.
Entertainers had come to Montgomery from around the country, and they helped to ease the tension — until Nina Simone strode to the stage and announced that she was going to sing “Mississippi Goddam.” And, as she often said when she sang the song, “I mean every word of it.”
Every guardsman’s finger tightened on the trigger of the rifle he was holding, or so it seemed. Simone’s passionate denunciation of segregation brought the crowd to its feet. Forty-five years later, I cannot remember a performance that rivaled that one for bravery and eloquence.
ALAN LEVINE
New York
NEW YORK TIMES, March 21, 2010
To the Editor:
In his review of “Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone” (Feb. 28), Robin D. G. Kelley mentions Simone’s song “Mississippi Goddam” as an example of her commitment to “speaking out against racism and injustice.” One performance of that song sums up that commitment. It was at a Roman Catholic church in Montgomery, Ala., just before the final day of the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965. I had driven over from Jackson, Miss., with two other civil rights lawyers.
Because Gov. George Wallace had refused to provide police protection for the marchers, the president had federalized the Alabama National Guard. That the guardsmen in the church were serving on the orders of the president did not change the fact that they were all white Alabamans whose dislike of their task could be seen on their faces. The Confederate flag patch adorning their sleeves reinforced the message of hostility.
Entertainers had come to Montgomery from around the country, and they helped to ease the tension — until Nina Simone strode to the stage and announced that she was going to sing “Mississippi Goddam.” And, as she often said when she sang the song, “I mean every word of it.”
Every guardsman’s finger tightened on the trigger of the rifle he was holding, or so it seemed. Simone’s passionate denunciation of segregation brought the crowd to its feet. Forty-five years later, I cannot remember a performance that rivaled that one for bravery and eloquence.
ALAN LEVINE
New York
