Mississippi Goddam: Nina Simone's Push for Civil Rights Action

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Ryssa Ezykowsky

Abstract or Description

  Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam was written as a response to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham 1963. Her song became an anthem for the civil rights movement and was the first of many civil rights songs she wrote. At the time it was written, music was heavily censored. The fact that Nina Simone was not only a Black female musician but was also using strong language in her lyrics was a great sacrifice, as Simone could have lost her career for a song like Mississippi Goddam. Southern states banned her song from the radio, and the stations sent her records, broken in half, back to her. The strength of the negative response indicates the power of Simone's song to stir sentiment. This project looks specifically at the ways that Simone rouses her audience using rhetorical devices and irony to create an accessible song that draws people’s attention the the civil unrest happening around them.