The Nina Simone Biopic

Hollywood has never been supportive or fair to the Black community. We can go back to the early days of cinema and see most often our images, like His-Story, distorts our true reality. The black person was always the “buffoon” or the help, and this is being kind.

When it comes to our history, Black people's contributions have been distorted to reflect the white cultures view of it. Examples are abound; the Ten Commandments, Hannibal, or the most serious distorted depiction was Cleopatra, all played by white people, when, in fact, each was of African Descent.

Recently, the Nina Simone biopic debuted at Cannes. I was waiting for reviews to come out before writing anything about it.  I look for a review, but I couldn't find a thing. From what I was able to find was a comment that it was only screened for distribution companies interested in buying the film; this is a telling tale. In other words, it was screened for the other culture.

The long and short of this post is I can remember Nina Simone and have a bit of a problem with the actress chosen to play her in the movie. I think there are a number of very talented black women, who may have been a better choice. Just to name a few, Viola Davis, Kimberly Elise, India Arie (who I think would be my first choice) or Mary J Blige would be more fitting to play the High Priestess of Soul. Since popular votes don't guarantee selection, the outcome is already a finished product starring Zoe Saldana. I am certainly not saying Saldana is not a very good actress but in my view she does not fit the character as well as others. I am saying, in my view, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Now, with that said, I like Zoe as an actress!

Before I can recall listening to Nina Simone's music, I remember seeing her face. I had a childish fixation because she looked like the black women I knew and one could extend the inference of esteem extended to me. The most pronounced hereditary feature is the Nina. I wonder what Zoe felt inside every time she sat down and watched the make-up artist apply a prosthetic nose and darken her skin. Please take a moment to think about that process. When Zoe as Nina looks in the mirror, she is promoting mythology. Say what you want about The Great Sphinx's missing nose, but the full lips still remain after all these centuries. A black person’s nose always gets in the way of European theory.

When I look at Nina Simone, I see a messenger with a wide nose and full lips. When I look at Zoe as Nina, I see someone in a cloak walking a windy road to an awkward redemption. I share no empathize with her being a puppet. This brings us to the supreme capitalists who hide behind corporate curtains and only their show face at legal depositions. Some would say they robbed Nina's grave, re-branded the artifacts with plans to sell and will settle all lawsuits after they count their money.

If you know or love Nina's music, if you dishonor her integrity means you hear her sound but not the woman of valor. What it means is that those people want soul to be packaged in coffee bean blonde even though she told you black is the color. It means you don't think Nina's beautiful and only God knows what they think of the rest of us. This is my distain with regard to the casting. I have not seen this movie, but image is everything, and so far I feel disrespected.

Nina was not here to entertain us with dance and radio formatted songs. Her lyrics, her staging, her expressions, her espresso complexion adding another tone to the ebony and ivory, her ornaments, her natural follicles underneath the crowns adorned and the cigarette smoke she blew out her oval lips and ancient nostrils were all elements of her protest artistry.

The bottom line is that Hollywood, as it always has, is driven by dollars and exploitation. I am sure Spike Lee faced a fair share of studio battles. I would venture to say that some studio executive approach him about having some white man play Malcolm X to test his integrity.

Nina Simone is dead but not gone the mind of those who knew and love her. In the ongoing war of legacy versus exploitation, one spends a sacrificial lifetime to create a self-portrait with uncompromising colors only to have others betray your portrait with an unreal replica. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

BLACK HISTORY: Strange Fruit

Every month, it seems, there is news of another black man gunned down simply because he was black. These actions are eerily similar to the lynching’s that took place in the early half of the 20^th century for pretty much the same reason as the murder by white vigilantes in our society today.

The reason could be as simple as the concept of "Manifest Destiny", which speaks to white  privilege. White America has never accepted African American’s as anything more than illegal aliens, in spite of the fact they captured the race against their will and brought to American in chains. I have repeatedly said, “We are a nation of people living in a nation without a nationality” basically because the Constitutions tells us so. You do remember the 3/5th human phrase.

In the wake of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teenager who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in 2012, and Jordan Davis, who was also unarmed, are the most recent high-profile examples of young black men who have been killed because white men claimed they feared for their lives.

Let’s also include the murders and shootings by the police, sanctioned by law, against African American’s such as Oscar Grant and countless others. Then there are people like Garrick Hopkins, 60, and his brother, Carl Hopkins Jr., 61, two brothers from West Virginia, who were shot and killed by a white man for what he claimed as trespassing on his land – when, in fact, they were inspecting a shed on their own property.

The attached  video is straightforward yet nuanced. The song “Strange Fruit” tells a story that must be told to our youth. We must never forget because when you forget history it is destined to repeat itself. We know the importance of Billie Holiday's recording. But this indispensable video vivid imagery the history of the struggle against lynching, something that was very real, and for Black rights with a wealth of common history of African Americans, Jewish Americans, and the American Left. It is part of our history, part of our heritage. Teach your children and learn this chapter in our past.

The song “Strange Fruit” creates immediate controversy. Call it a grim reminder of an unnecessarily painful and ugly chapter in American history. The song retains its force, because the issues it raises about the legacy of racial terrorism in American society still resonate. The story tells a song that compelled its listeners to confront the past, which was genuinely disturbing then, and it is no less disturbing today.

While many people assume Strange Fruit was written by Billie Holiday herself, it actually began as a poem by a Jewish schoolteacher and union activist from the Bronx, who later set it to music. Disturbed by a photograph of a lynching, the teacher wrote the stark verse and brooding melody about the horror of lynching under the pseudonym Lewis Allan in 1938. It was first performed at a New York teacher’s union rally and was brought to the attention of the manager of Cafe Society, a popular Greenwich Village nightclub, who introduced Billy Holiday to the writer.

LISTEN TO THE WORDS AND NEVER FORGET THE TERROR!!!

"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop."

Let's look at the murder of young black men and boys murdered as a modern day version of lynchings or have the murders an evolution whereas black people are nothing more than pray! And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

Strange Fruit

LISTEN TO THE WORDS AND NEVER FORGET THE TERROR!!!

 "Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop."

The video attached to one of my shortest posts is straightforward yet nuanced. The song “Strange Fruit” tells a story that must be told to our youth and we must never forget. Because when you forget history it is destined to repeat itself. We know the importance of Billie Holiday's recording. But this indispensable video vivid imagery the history of the struggle against lynching, something that was very real, and for Black rights with a wealth of common history of African Americans, Jewish Americans, and the American Left. It is part of our history, part of our heritage. Teach your children and learn this chapter in our past.

The song “Strange Fruit” creates immediate controversy. Call it a grim reminder of an unnecessarily painful and ugly chapter in American history. The song retains its force, because the issues it raises about the legacy of racial terrorism in American society still resonate. The story tells a song that compelled its listeners to confront the past, which was genuinely disturbing then and it is no less disturbing today.

While many people assume Strange Fruit was written by Billie Holiday herself, it actually began as a poem by a Jewish schoolteacher and union activist from the Bronx who later set it to music. Disturbed by a photograph of a lynching, the teacher wrote the stark verse and brooding melody about the horror of lynching under the pseudonym Lewis Allan in 1938. It was first performed at a New York teachers union rally and was brought to the attention of the manager of Cafe Society, a popular Greenwich Village nightclub, who introduced Billy Holiday to the writer.

The version of the song you hear was sung by the great Nina Simone. And that’s my THOUGHT PROVOKING PERSPECTIVE

http://johntwills.com

Nina Simone - STRANGE FRUIT

LISTEN TO THE WORDS AND NEVER FORGET THE TERROR!!!

"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, here is a strange and bitter crop."

The video attached to one of my shortest posts is straightforward yet nuanced. The song “Strange Fruit” tells a story that must be told to our youth and we must never forget. Because when you forget history it is destined to repeat itself. We know the importance of Billie Holiday's recording. But this indispensable video vivid imagery the history of the struggle against lynching, something that was very real, and for Black rights with a wealth of common history of African Americans, Jewish Americans, and the American Left. It is part of our history, part of our heritage. Teach your children and learn this chapter in our past.

The song “Strange Fruit” creates immediate controversy. Call it a grim reminder of an unnecessarily painful and ugly chapter in American history. The song retains its force, because the issues it raises about the legacy of racial terrorism in American society still resonate. The story tells a song that compelled its listeners to confront the past, which was genuinely disturbing then and it is no less disturbing today.

While many people assume Strange Fruit was written by Billie Holiday herself, it actually began as a poem by a Jewish schoolteacher and union activist from the Bronx who later set it to music. Disturbed by a photograph of a lynching, the teacher wrote the stark verse and brooding melody about the horror of lynching under the pseudonym Lewis Allan in 1938. It was first performed at a New York teachers union rally and was brought to the attention of the manager of Cafe Society, a popular Greenwich Village nightclub, who introduced Billy Holiday to the writer.

The version of the song you hear is done by the great Nina Simone. And that’s my THOUGHT PROVOKING PERSPECTIVE…