Entry #8 Miss Simone

Nina Simone, Tiffany Holman, 2015, Charcoal

"She's from another time, but she was not at odds with the times. The times were at odds with her. I think when a person moves to their own kind of clock, spirit,  flow. 

If we were living in an environment that allowed us to be exactly who we are. You are always in congress with yourself. The challenge is, how do we fit into the world that we are around? Are we allowed to be exactly who we are? Was Nina Simone allowed to be who she was? As fragile as she was strong? As vulnerable as she was dynamic? 

  She was African royalty, how does Royalty stomp around in the mud. But still walk with grace? Most people are afraid to be as honest as she lived."

- Ambassador Shabazz

      I took the time to sit and watch the beautiful documentary "What Happened Miss Simone" recently. Instantaneously sparks of inspiration lit up inside me, as I watched the history of this incredibly strong woman. Each person in this world lives a tremendously uncertain life. The path of Nina Simone, was lived fearlessly. This took her deep into her passions and she shared them in her honest language of music. As the world unraveled before her eyes, the threads that tied her to it seemed to me, pull tight like the cords within a piano. Her voice came down in deep vibration hammering on each of those cords. The vibrations released shook the world, and woke up static hearts. The echos reached the ears of many as the civil rights revolution had ignited. Her flame caught wind and those who were touched by her became a roaring fire. A force that traveled throughout the nation and still burns to this day.