The 91st anniversary of the birth of “The High Priestess of Soul” Nina Simone is a great occasion to consider her role as an activist and civil rights in history. Nina Simone participated in the American Society of African Culture conference in 1961 along with other intellectuals such as Langston Hughes and James Baldwin. This experience marks the beginning of her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.
B1 LEVEL – NINA SIMONE IN 10 SONGS
- Watch the video up to 1.20 and fill in the table
- YEAR 1963 – Nina Simone released her first protest song. Consider these newspapers. Why do you think she wrote her first protest song in 1963?
https://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/615979
https://bplonline.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4017coll2/id/552/
- Watch the video from 1.20 to the end
The song she released is Mississippi Goddam. Listen to the song and fill in the blanks
The name of this tune is ________ Goddamn
And I mean every word of it
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
Can’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the _______ much longer
Somebody say a _______
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet
Hound ______ on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat _____ my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer
Don’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my _______ just about due
I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying “Go slow”
But that’s just the trouble
“Do it slow”
Washing the windows
“Do it slow”
Picking the cotton
“Do it slow”
You’re just plain rotten
“Do it slow”
You’re too damn lazy
“Do it slow”
The thinking’s crazy
“Do it slow”
Where am I going?
What am I doing?
I don’t know
I don’t know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam
I bet you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t you
Picket lines
School boycotts
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is ______
For my sister, my brother, my people, and me
Yes, you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and _____ my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me Sister Sadie
Oh, but this whole ______ is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying “Go slow”
“Go slow”
But that’s just the ______
“Do it slow”
Desegregation
“Do it slow”
Mass ______
“Do it slow”
Reunification
“Do it slow”
Do things gradually
“Do it slow”
But bring more tragedy
“Do it slow”
Why don’t you see it?
Why don’t you feel it?
I don’t know
I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about ______
Everybody knows about _______
Everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam, that’s it
- Highlight the references to the historical events mentioned before
B1/B2/C1 LEVEL – TEACHING WITH PROTEST SONGS: NEW YORK TIMES FOR TEACHERS
B2/C1 TEACHING WITH MOVIES – THE HELP
Watch the trailer of the movie and answer the questions
- Describe the setting
- Find some evidence to speak about the problem of racial discrimination
- Briefly summarize the story
Watch the movie and write a short essay
TITLE: Discrimination and activism in “the Help”
In copertina: Nina Simone
