The Good Ole U.S. of A; What in the Hell Happen?? Commentary by Mac Hiil

Mac Hill

There was a change in this Country which began with the Reagan Presidency. We went from a manufacturing society to a pure consumption based society.
All of a sudden "rich" became the goal. Remember the TV sit-coms from back in the 60's and 70's? What did

they all have in common?

They all featured hard-working, blue collar, unionized characters who represented the "manufacturing" society. Jackie Gleason was a bus driver. Mel's Diner was a diner. Lucy was a housewife and they lived in moderate means. Leave it to Beaver, Brady Bunch, etc, etc.....all were working class families who didn't strive to be "rich". And of course, "black shows" featured a junk man (Sanford and Son), a project family (Good Times). Hell George Jefferson
owned 7 cleaners yet lived in a 2 bedroom apartment.



Well, that changed with Reagan.



Next thing you know, we have "Dallas" featuring oil tycoons, "Dynasty" which featured rich white women, and "black shows" were nothing more than The Cosby Show who were themselves a lawyer and a doctor.



But remember what happened in the 1980's. Our neighborhoods were FLOODED with guns and drugs by the CIA as they openly admitted during Iran-Contra, not to mention championing the "food stamp" era.



Simply put, we as a society have been conditioned to strive to be "rich" rather than just being productive members of society living modestly an in a community form as war propagated in the 60's and 70's.



We began to look down and point fingers at the "have-nots" ignoring the CIA's role in their poverty stricken lives, and began to separate ourselves based on "class".



Meanwhile the "Government" was hard at work destroying the Union labor this nation was built on, and enacting legislation that would further increase the gap between rich and poor. Remember the Savings and Loan scandals from the 1980's? That was the first step in stealing money from the generation that proceeded the "baby boomers".



And what was the "fear" tactic used in the 80's to keep the general public unaware of what was happening? "The Cold War!" which was a pile of crap. Then came the 1990's when "derivatives" first reared their ugly heads. You may not believe me brotha, but as far back as 1994, it was reported that there were over 800 trillion, yes trillion, in derivatives floating around the market!



However, the problem with collecting on that money, was the Glass-Steagall Act, which of course former UBS CEO Phil Gramm did away with with the "Commodities futures and modernization act".



Now, the corporate structure had the barrier removed that prevented them from turning this nation into a literal oligarchy. So of course they needed another "pearl harbor" type event to once again distract the public so legislation designed to strip away the rights and civil liberties can be passed.

9/11 happened and the nation fell for it.

Then came Patriot Act 1 and the complete liquidation of the US treasury coupled with a war that is being paid for off of the books at the rate of about 30 million dollars per day for nearly

an entire decade now (longer than Vietnam). Of course it was all blamed on "the housing market" which is a pile of monkey s***.

We are now being conditioned to accept "security" from those who place us in danger. It is literally a psychological experiment that is taking place.

We are being conditioned to fear everyone, besides our own government and it works because American would rather remain ignorant and pay some f****** attention to what is happening around them.



We sit around thinking our goddamn face book group holds the answers to the ills of the black community. We sit around arguing about gay people. We sit around arguing about non-sense that keeps us oblivious to the world around us. And that is EXACTLY how they want it.



This is why I no longer participate in the partisan political system brotha. It is diseased on both "wings" and neither side care about the general welfare of the public.



But you know who I blame for all of this? Ourselves.



One of my all-time favorite quotes is....



"We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.”



And we have created the situation we find ourselves in.

Fugitive Slave Act 1850

The Fugitive Slave Act was part of the group of laws referred to as the "Compromise of 1850." In this compromise, the antislavery advocates gained the admission of California as a free state, and the prohibition of slave-trading in the District of Columbia. The slavery party received concessions with regard to slave-holding in Texas and the passage of this law. Passage of this law was so hated by abolitionists, however, that its existence played a role in the end of slavery a little more than a dozen years later. This law also spurred the continued operation of the fabled Undergound Railroad, a network of over 3,000 homes and other "stations" that helped escaping slaves travel from the southern slave-holding states to the northern states and Canada.

BE IT enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the persons who have been, or may hereafter be, appointed commissioners, in virtue of any act of Congress, by the Circuit Courts of the United States, and Who, in consequence of such appointment, are authorized to exercise the powers that any justice of the peace, or other magistrate of any of the United States, may exercise in respect to offenders for any crime or offense against the United States, by arresting, imprisoning, or bailing the same under and by the virtue of the thirty-third section of the act of the twenty-fourth of September seventeen hundred and eighty-nine, entitled "An Act to establish the judicial courts of the United States" shall be, and are hereby, authorized and required to exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act.

Sec.2

And be it further enacted, That the Superior Court of each organized Territory of the United States shall have the same power to appoint commissioners to take acknowledgments of bail and affidavits, and to take depositions of witnesses in civil causes, which is now possessed by the Circuit Court of the United States; and all commissioners who shall hereafter be appointed for such purposes by the Superior Court of any organized Territory of the United States, shall possess all the powers, and exercise all the duties, conferred by law upon the commissioners appointed by the Circuit Courts of the United States for similar purposes, and shall moreover exercise and discharge all the powers and duties conferred by this act.

SEC. 3.

And be it further enacted, That the Circuit Courts of the United States shall from time to time enlarge the number of the commissioners, with a view to afford reasonable facilities to reclaim fugitives from labor, and to the prompt discharge of the duties imposed by this act.

SEC. 4.

And be it further enacted, That the commissioners above named shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the judges of the Circuit and District Courts of the United States, in their respective circuits and districts within the several States, and the judges of the Superior Courts of the Territories, severally and collectively, in term-time and vacation; shall grant certificates to such claimants, upon satisfactory proof being made, with authority to ake and remove such fugitives from service or labor, under the restrictions herein contained, to the State or Territory from which such persons may have escaped or fled.

SEC. 5.

And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of all marshals and deputy marshals to obey and execute all warrants and precepts issued under the provisions of this act, when to them directed; and should any marshal or deputy marshal refuse to receive such warrant, or other process, when tendered, or to use all proper means diligently to execute the same, he shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in the sum of one thousand dollars, to the use of such claimant, on the motion of such claimant, by the Circuit or District Court for the district of such marshal; and after arrest of such fugitive, by such marshal or his deputy, or whilst at any time in his custody under the provisions of this act, should such fugitive escape, whether with or without the assent of such marshal or his deputy, such marshal shall be liable, on his official bond, to be prosecuted for the benefit of such claimant, for the full value of the service or labor of said fugitive in the State, Territory, or District whence he escaped: and the better to enable the said commissioners, when thus appointed, to execute their duties faithfully and efficiently, in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution of the United States and of this act, they are hereby authorized and empowered, within their counties respectively, to appoint, in writing under their hands, any one or more suitable persons, from time to time, to execute all such warrants and other process as may be issued by them in the lawful performance of their respective duties; with authority to such commissioners, or the persons to be appointed by them, to execute process as aforesaid, to summon and call to their aid the bystanders, or posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary to ensure a faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution referred to, in conformity with the provisions of this act; and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their services may be required, as aforesaid, for that purpose; and said warrants shall run, and be executed by said officers, any where in the State within which they are issued.

SEC. 6.

And be it further enacted, That when a person held to service or labor in any State or Territory of the United States, ha: heretofore or shall hereafter escape into another State or Territory of the United States, the person or persons to whom such service 01 labor may be due, or his, her, or their agent or attorney, duly authorized, by power of attorney, in writing, acknowledged and certified under the seal of some legal officer or court of the State or Territory in which the same may be executed, may pursue and reclaim such fugitive person, either by procuring a warrant from some one of the courts, judges, or commissioners aforesaid, of the proper circuit, district, or county, for the apprehension of such fugitive from service or labor, or by seizing and arresting such fugitive, where the same can be done without process, and by taking, or causing such person to be taken, forthwith before such court, judge, or commissioner, whose duty it shall be to hear and determine the case of such claimant in a summary manner; and upon satisfactory proof being made, by deposition or affidavit, in writing, to be taken and certified by such court, judge, or commissioner, or by other satisfactory testimony, duly taken and certified by some court, magistrate, justice of the peace, or other legal officer authorized to administer an oath and take depositions under the laws of the State or Territory from which such person owing service or labor may have escaped, with a certificate of such magistracy or other authority, as aforesaid, with the seal of the proper court or officer thereto attached, which seal shall be sufficient to establish the competency of the proof, and with proof, also by affidavit, of the identity of the person whose service or labor is claimed to be due as aforesaid, that the person so arrested does in fact owe service or labor to the person or persons claiming him or her, in the State or Territory from which such fugitive may have escaped as aforesaid, and that said person escaped, to make out and deliver to such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, a certificate setting forth the substantial facts as to the service or labor due from such fugitive to the claimant, and of his or her escape from the State or Territory in which he or she was arrested, with authority to such claimant, or his or her agent or attorney, to use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary, under the circumstances of the case, to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid. In no trial or hearing under this act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence; and the certificates in this and the first [fourth] section mentioned, shall be conclusive of the right of the person or persons in whose favor granted, to remove such fugitive to the State or Territory from which he escaped, and shall prevent all molestation of such person or persons by any process issued by any court, judge, magistrate, or other person whomsoever.

SEC. 7.

And be it further enacted, That any person who shall knowingly and willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent or attorney, or any person or persons lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting such a fugitive from service or labor, either with or without process as aforesaid, or shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive from service or labor, from the custody of such claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or other person or persons lawfully assisting as aforesaid, when so arrested, pursuant to the authority herein given and declared; or shall aid, abet, or assist such person so owing service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant, his agent or attorney, or other person or persons legally authorized as aforesaid; or shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent the discovery and arrest of such person, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive from service or labor as aforesaid, shall, for either of said offences, be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, by indictment and conviction before the District Court of the United States for the district in which such offence may have been committed, or before the proper court of criminal jurisdiction, if committed within any one of the organized Territories of the United States; and shall moreover forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive so lost as aforesaid, to be recovered by action of debt, in any of the District or Territorial Courts aforesaid, within whose jurisdiction the said offence may have been committed.

Sec. 8.

And be it further enacted, That the marshals, their deputies, and the clerks of the said District and Territorial Courts, shall be paid, for their services, the like fees as may be allowed for similar services in other cases; and where such services are rendered exclusively in the arrest, custody, and delivery of the fugitive to the claimant, his or her agent or attorney, or where such supposed fugitive may be discharged out of custody for the want of sufficient proof as aforesaid, then such fees are to be paid in whole by such claimant, his or her agent or attorney; and in all cases where the proceedings are before a commissioner, he shall be entitled to a fee of ten dollars in full for his services in each case, upon the delivery of the said certificate to the claimant, his agent or attorney; or a fee of five dollars in cases where the proof shall not, in the opinion of such commissioner, warrant such certificate and delivery, inclusive of all services incident to such arrest and examination, to be paid, in either case, by the claimant, his or her agent or attorney. The person or persons authorized to execute the process to be issued by such commissioner for the arrest and detention of fugitives from service or labor as aforesaid, shall also be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for each person he or they may arrest, and take before any commissioner as aforesaid, at the instance and request of such claimant, with such other fees as may be deemed reasonable by such commissioner for such other additional services as may be necessarily performed by him or them; such as attending at the examination, keeping the fugitive in custody, and providing him with food and lodging during his detention, and until the final determination of such commissioners; and, in general, for performing such other duties as may be required by such claimant, his or her attorney or agent, or commissioner in the premises, such fees to be made up in conformity with the fees usually charged by the officers of the courts of justice within the proper district or county, as near as may be practicable, and paid by such claimants, their agents or attorneys, whether such supposed fugitives from service or labor be ordered to be delivered to such claimant by the final determination of such commissioner or not.

SEC. 9.

And be it further enacted, That, upon affidavit made by the claimant of such fugitive, his agent or attorney, after such certificate has been issued, that he has reason to apprehend that such fugitive will be rescued by force from his or their possession before he can be taken beyond the limits of the State in which the arrest is made, it shall be the duty of the officer making the arrest to retain such fugitive in his custody, and to remove him to the State whence he fled, and there to deliver him to said claimant, his agent, or attorney. And to this end, the officer aforesaid is hereby authorized and required to employ so many persons as he may deem necessary to overcome such force, and to retain them in his service so long as circumstances may require. The said officer and his assistants, while so employed, to receive the same compensation, and to be allowed the same expenses, as are now allowed by law for transportation of criminals, to be certified by the judge of the district within which the arrest is made, and paid out of the treasury of the United States.

SEC. 10.

And be it further enacted, That when any person held to service or labor in any State or Territory, or in the District of Columbia, shall escape therefrom, the party to whom such service or labor shall be due, his, her, or their agent or attorney, may apply to any court of record therein, or judge thereof in vacation, and make satisfactory proof to such court, or judge in vacation, of the escape aforesaid, and that the person escaping owed service or labor to such party. Whereupon the court shall cause a record to be made of the matters so proved, and also a general description of the person so escaping, with such convenient certainty as may be; and a transcript of such record, authenticated by the attestation of the clerk and of the seal of the said court, being produced in any other State, Territory, or district in which the person so escaping may be found, and being exhibited to any judge, commissioner, or other officer authorized by the law of the United States to cause persons escaping from service or labor to be delivered up, shall be held and taken to be full and conclusive evidence of the fact of escape, and that the service or labor of the person escaping is due to the party in such record mentioned. And upon the production by the said party of other and further evidence if necessary, either oral or by affidavit, in addition to what is contained in the said record of the identity of the person escaping, he or she shall be delivered up to the claimant. And the said court, commissioner, judge, or other person authorized by this act to grant certificates to claimants or fugitives, shall, upon the production of the record and other evidences aforesaid, grant to such claimant a certificate of his right to take any such person identified and proved to be owing service or labor as aforesaid, which certificate shall authorize such claimant to seize or arrest and transport such person to the State or Territory from which he escaped: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be construed as requiring the production of a transcript of such record as evidence as aforesaid. But in its absence the claim shall be heard and determined upon other satisfactory proofs, competent in law.

Approved, September 18, 1850

REBUILD THE CHILDREN LET DO THIS

Yolantha Harrison Pace aka Mama Haiti

One of the singers and writers of "Rebuild the Children"

The other young man performing the song "Rebuild the Children"

Originally I was to go to Haiti and work with some youth in the city of Cape Haitia and do a literacy and the performing arts workshop.

We were planning to do poetry, painting, music and dance together as a means for expressing to the world their pain and healing process regarding the earthquake of January 12, 2010 and now the horrible cholera epidemic.

When I reached Miami on my way to Haiti I received a phone call saying that it was too risky for me to come due to the mass revolt that was taking place in Cape Haitia over the source of the cholera outbreak. But I opted to make the trip to Haiti in the event that the revolt subsided within a day or two of my arrival.

 Unfortunately it did not. So for safety sake I was rerouted to the mountain village of Ranquitte, Haiti.

Where I fed the crippled and handicapped, fed children, dispensed vitamins and fig newtons, granola bars and aspirin. I kept in touch with the status of Cape Haitia, but to no avail, the city was shut down from the massive revolt. However 2 young brothers ages 16 and 19, were not to be deterred in their artistic endeavors on my behalf.

 They had written a song called REBUILD THE CHILDREN, named after my campaign. A song they were determined for me to have. They hired a courier to come the 53 miles to deliver the song to me. A song that is the voice of hope from the youth of Haiti who have suffered the destruction of the earthquake and now the devastating catastrophy of the cholera epidemic. A song that must be heard. A song of better days for children and grownups all over the world...Mama Haiti aka Yolantha Harrison-Pace

Let organize and assist Yolantha in her calling by bringing attention to the courage children that are still suffering in Haiti!!! THIS SHOULD BE OUR RALLYING CRY!!!

You can contact Yolantha by E mail at yolanthapace@gmail.com

Edward James Roye - 5th President of Liberia from Newark, Ohio

More than 160 years ago, two members of the board of trustees of the town of Newark, Ohio met and issued an order that all Negroes should leave within twenty-four hours. A constable was sent out to the black community to inform them of the order of banishment. A young black boy ran to the home of the third member of the board of trustees, A.E. Elliot, begging him to use his influence to circumvent the order. Elliot, his son, and Eddie Roye, went along to the Square where a large crowd had gathered, both blacks and whites. The entire Negro population was pleading that they should not be driven from their homes. Elliot did use his influence, he protested that such hasty action would create hardship on the people involved. His arguments proved effective and the order was postponed until it could be given more consideration. The postponement became indefinite and was never brought up again.
Trustee Elliot went about his affairs as usual, but young Eddie Roye must have walked away from the Square with a determination to find a land with freedom for "men of color."

The history of Edwards J. Roye and the history of Newark begin at about the same time. In 1810, just eight years after Newark was founded and surveyed, John Roye is recorded as having purchased a lot on the south side of the Square. Roye, said to have been born in slavery in Kentucky, came north with his wife Nancy and became a prosperous land owner. Their son, Edward J. Roye was born in a little house on what is now Mount Vernon Road on Feb. 3, 1815. He was educated in Newark schools, but nothing much is known of his early years. In 1822, his father sold his Newark property and went to Illinois, leaving Edward and his mother behind. A letter dated April 14, 1829, from John Edward Roye, is in the Vandalia Illinois courthouse. The letter beginning, "Dear Son," leaves all the property John Roye had acquired in Illinois to his son Edward.





Several biographers say Edward Roye became a barber, which was acceptable occupation for a black at that time. Newark did not have a white barber until 1856. By the year 1832, Edward Roye had left his hometown and was enrolled in Ohio University in Athens. He went on to teach school at Chillicothe in 1836 and after that he moved to Terre Houte, Ind., where he opened that city's first bathhouse/barbershop next door to the best hotel.

By the time Nancy Roye died and was buried in the Sixth Street cemetery in 1840, the mood of the country was changing. Colonizationists wanted to remove all blacks and send them to Africa. Whether due to changing in climate of the 1840's or to the scene around the Square that day in his childhood, Edward Roye decided to leave the United States for an African country, Liberia. On May 1, 1846, Roye sailed from New York and one month later landed in Monrovia.
His energy and intelligence soon made him a leading merchant and after acquiring great wealth, he returned to the U.S. on his own ship. It is said he visited Newark where he was entertained at a banquet for an event for Thomas Ewin, adoptive father of William Tecumseh Sherman.

Years later Roye became chief justice, speaker of the House, and finally, president of Liberia in 1871. He began a program of reconstruction for his nation intending to build new roads and schools.

For these purposes he needed money. Roye sailed for England where he began negotiations with London banks. The results proved ruinous, the terms of the loans were severe, among other things carrying an interest of 7 percent. Roye hastily agreed without consulting the legislature. Liberia actually received about $90,000, while bonds were issued for $400,000.

The whole affair caused great resentment against him, and when he returned home he was accused of embezzlement. He then tried to extend his two-year term of president by edict, after the people rose up against him.

In October 1871, Edward J. Roye was deposed from office., He was brought to trial, but escaped in the night . His is believed to have drowned while trying to reach a English ship in Monrovia harbor, on Feb. 12, 1872.

After many years the nation of Liberia has taken another look at their fifth president. A building housing what was the True Wig Party headquarters is named in his honor, as well as a ship, a town, and several schools.

Was he a villain or a victim of political planning? Did he seek his own prosperity of that or the common man?

The Ohio Historical Society refers to Edward James Roye as the "ninth and forgotten president from Ohio." While in a land far away from the "land of Legend" he is known by some as the "Lincoln of Liberia."

Before there was the NAACP, there was the Afro-American Council (1898-1907)

, The Afro American Council Meeting in Oakland, California1907


The Afro-American Council (AAC) was established in Rochester, New York, in September 1898 by newspaper editor T. Thomas Fortune and Bishop Alexander Walters of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. They envisioned the organization as a revival of the earlier National Afro-American League (NAAL), which in 1890 became the first national black organization specifically created to challenge racial segregation and discrimination. By the mid-1890s the NAAL dissolved as conditions facing Southern African Americans continued to worsen. The AAC proposed to take up the goals of the defunct NAAL. Like its predecessor, the AAC opposed lynching, disfranchisement of black voters, and racial discrimination against all African Americans.

Joesph Charles Parks; First President of the AAC


The immediate impetus for the AAC was the brutal murder of African American postmaster Frazier B. Baker in Lake City, South Carolina by a white mob. In response to the incident, Fortune and Walters called for a number of black leaders to meet at Rochester to dedicate a statue of Frederick Douglass, the city's most prominent African American resident, and to remain there to create the Afro-American Council.


With the inclusion of a broader spectrum of black leaders including journalists, attorneys, educators, politicians and community activists, the AAC was both more representative of the larger black middle class and better positioned to generate funds to support its activities. Bishop Walters of Washington, D.C., was its first president. Other officers included Ida B. Wells of Chicago as secretary and John C. Dancy of North Carolina as Vice President. Representative George Henry White of North Carolina, the only black member of Congress at the time, was later a vice president of the organization. Other prominent members included Mary Church Terrell, W.E.B. DuBois, former Louisiana governor Pinckney B.S. Pinchback, Professor William S. Scarborough, Henry O. Flipper, the first black West Point graduate, and Booker T. Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute.


The AAC was notable in that it was one of the first black organizations to welcome women as equal members. The organization also was the first black group to meet regularly with a U.S. President. It met with President William McKinley each year between 1898 and 1901. The AAC lobbied for the passage of a federal anti-lynching law and raised funds to challenge the Louisiana constitution's "grandfather clause" which effectively eliminated black voting in the state.


Despite its goal of having African America speak with one voice on politics (black Republicans and Democrats joined the AAC), the organization eventually divided into pro- and anti- Booker T. Washington factions. By 1902 Washington supporters dominated the Council and three years later most of the anti-Washington Council members including DuBois, Wells, Terrell, and Bishop Walters left to form the Niagara Movement. The AAC held its final meeting in Baltimore in 1907.


Although the AAC was torn by factionalism and achieved few successes, it laid the groundwork for independent black political action in an era of racial segregation and helped train some of the nation’s most prominent black activists who would go on to create the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909.

Atlanta Compromise Speech by Booker T Washington

On September 18, 1895, African-American spokesman and leader Booker T. Washington spoke before a predominantly white audience at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His “Atlanta Compromise” address, as it came to be called, was one of the most important and influential speeches in American history. Although the organizers of the exposition worried that “public sentiment was not prepared for such an advanced step,” they decided that inviting a black speaker would impress Northern visitors with the evidence of racial progress in the South. Washington soothed his listeners’ concerns about “uppity” blacks by claiming that his race would content itself with living “by the productions of our hands.”

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens:






One-third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom.



Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden.

A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal,“Water, water; we die of thirst!” The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water; send us water!” ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are”— cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.

Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.

To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race,“Cast down your bucket where you are.” Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.

There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand per cent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed—blessing him that gives and him that takes. There is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitable:

The laws of changeless justice bind Oppressor with oppressed;

And close as sin and suffering joined We march to fate abreast...

Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward. We shall constitute one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third [of] its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic.

Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember the path that has led from these to the inventions and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam-engines, newspapers, books, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks, has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectations but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the Southern states, but especially from Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement.

The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house.

In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this he constantly in mind, that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us pray God, will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth.

MUAMMAR AL QADHAFI ;The Consummate Revolutionary Leader of the World Revolution

Man of faith and tradition, Muammar Al Qadhafi cannot be classified according to the criteria commonly admitted. If you search for him on the right you will find him on the left, since he preaches in many ways a renovation with the air of revolution. But if you look for him on the left you risk finding him on the right, because this sincere mystic is tied to more than one traditional value. It is not Qadhafi who is senseless; it is the terms, obsolete, and upon which are based the subjective judgements of foreign observers who are more interested in polemic than in the truth."

- Prof. Francis Dessart

Prime Minister Tony Blair (L) meets with Colonel Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddaf

To the all exploiters and enemies of humanity, Muammar Qadhafi is the world's number one 'terrorist'. But to the oppressed, the exploited and the struggling peoples of the earth he is a teacher, guide, brother, but above all, the leader of a world revolution for a New Civilization.


At the Second World Mathaba Conference held in Tripoli, Libya, on March 15th, 1986, just one month prior to the United States bombing raids on Libya, the spiritual head of the North American based "Nation of Islam", Minister Louis Farrakhan introduced Muammar Qadhafi by stating that the Libyan Arab people's collective need for freedom produced a leader who was born to serve the masses. Minister Farrakhan said that when a people is oppressed the need for freedom produces a longing which in turn produces a leader.



"The oppressor is always watching for that leader," Louis Farrakhan explained, "...they know that the people will never be free until they produce a leader with the vision to create the revolution and see it through to its ultimate end."



Such a leader is Muammar Al Qadhafi.

Muammar Al Qadhafi is more than just the Leader of the Libyan people. More than the Leader of the struggling Arab Nation. More than the symbol of hope and freedom for the oppressed of Africa, Asia and Latin America. For he is above all the Leader of the World Revolution. A man of determination and courage who is carrying the torch of real liberty not just for his own people, but for the people of the entire world. These are not just mere words or idle praises because unlike many of this century's heads of state who have laid claim to the mantle of 'revolutionary leader', Muammar Al Qadhafi's ACTIONS and LIFE have earned him the title of Leader of the World Revolution. Many men have apportioned to themselves the titles of Leader and Revolutionary but few reflect the great responsibilities of such appellations in even the smallest aspects of their lives. Muammar Al Qadhafi is a truly unique man, a man of a different calibre, a man whose example and thoughts inspire the struggling oppressed masses and haunts the oppressors. This is why he is loved by the peoples of the world but feared by the ruling exploiting cliques who know that his words and actions expose them for what they are.



Qadhafi's Inspiration



In the desert heaven and earth meet. It was in the desert that God spoke to Moses, and in the desert the ancient revolutionary Prophet Elijah heard the "still voice of God" ordering him to face the tyranny of an oppressive ruler. In the desert, Christ prepared himself through fasting and prayers for a mission which was to shape Western history. In the solitude of the desert the Prophet of Islam Muhammad contemplated the order of creation and the sad state of his own people. In the desert Muammar Al Qadhafi was born, lived, dreamed and reflected. (Islam and the Third Universal Theory, Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub, Ch. 1.) From an early age he appeared to be different from other children. He was serious, even taciturn; yet his stern countenance was always tempered with an inquisitive smile. He was an only son to a family who lived in the desert, far from the city and its demands and benefits. Young Muammar seldom played with his cousins; rather he was always lost in thought about one thing or another. (Gadafi, Voice From the Desert, Mirella Bianco, Page 4.)



When asked about how he was brought up Brother Qadhafi said: "It was difficult in terms of the circumstances and the environment under which I lived. Bedouin life is mobile; the strictness of upbringing therefore comes from the severity of these circumstances. But socially I was free. We were Bedouins enjoying full freedom and we lived amongst nature and everything was absolutely pure, in its true self, in front of us. We lived on the land and there was nothing between us and the sky."



The eternal values and natural traditions of his Bedouin background helped to provide Muammar Qadhafi with a profound appreciation of the innate aspects of human existence. Brother Qadhafi himself has stated:



"Bedouin society made me discover the natural laws, natural relationships, life in its true nature and what suffering was like before life knew oppression and exploitation. This had enabled me to discover the truths that I have presented in the Green Book. It gave me a chance which has never been given to anybody else in my position. I have known and lived life in its very primitive stages. Because of that early life, a very simple life, I have lived life in its various stages right up to this modern age of imperialism when life became very complicated, very abnormal and unnatural. ...I had a general idea how to make the masses free, how to make man happy. After that, things started to get clearer." ('Heart to Heart With Qadhafi', New Africa, Feb. 1983.)

Even as a youth, Muammar Qadhafi earned the respect and admiration of his fellow secondary school students for his passionate interest in politics and revolutionary example. He used any political issue or significant event as a good occasion for a demonstration: the Algerian revolution, French testing of an atom bomb over the Sahara, the death of Patrice Lumumba and the dissolution of the Syrian-Egyptian union in 1961 are only a few examples. It was while at secondary school in Sebha that Muammar Qadhafi formed the first revolutionary committee out of a small circle trusted like-minded friends to whom he confided his revolutionary vision of a new Libyan society of freedom and independence. Among these young people were Abdul Salam Jalloud and others who have played a leading role in the Libyan Revolution. Single-minded and self-determined Muammar Qadhafi dedicated himself to the overthrow of the corrupt regime of King Idris and the establishment of the new society on the principles of justice, equality and a fair distribution of wealth.



Inspired by the Great Arab Revolutionary Gamal Abdul Nasser, Muammar Qadhafi in 1963 joined the military academy and the following year organised the Free Unionist Officers as a revolutionary force committed to the liberation of Libya and the achievement of Arab unity. Original members of the first revolutionary committee formed at Sebha secondary school, like Abdul Salam Jalloud, also joined the military, following the leadership and example of Muammar Qadhafi. However the Free Unionist Officers were not a vague independence party, but a highly disciplined, committed movement upholding moral strictness, Arab unity, freedom and social justice. One of their first axioms was freedom from any party politics.



Mirella Bianco after interviewing Col. Qadhafi's childhood friends and close family members wrote: "it is in the desert that one must seek out the very essence of Qadhafi's nature, of the spirituality, of the mysticism which have greater weight than any of his aspirations, and which influence even his political action... It is precisely this concept of liberty, the intangible freedom of desert people, - a freedom entirely one's own and yet a submission to God, and God alone, - which underlies all the choices, decisions and actions taken by Qadhafi; even, and perhaps essentially, those of a political nature. To his way of thinking, there is no salvation for mankind or for the nations unless they believe in God and cling to those moral values which no coercion can enforce, and which can arise only from faith." (Gadafi, Voice from the Desert, Mirella Bianco, P.4.)



September One



On September 1st, 1969 the months of planning and the years of dedication and discipline came to fruition. With one determined blow from the Free Unionist Officers the reactionary regime of King Idris collapsed and a new day dawned in the history of Libya, the Arab Nation and of the world's struggling peoples. Not a military coup d'etat it was the beginning of a revolution the ramifications of which were to reach every part of the globe and touch the lives of all peoples. It was the beginning of a revolution which answered the inner call of humanity and was inspired and led by Muammar Qadhafi. Shortly before his death the father of Arab nationalism, Gamal Abdul Nasser, while speaking at a rally at Benghazi noted the world historic role that Muammar Qadhafi would play. The great Egyptian leader declared: "I am leaving you, I say to you: My brother Muammar Qadhafi is the representative of Arab nationalism, of the Arab revolution and Arab unity. My dear brothers, may God watch over you for the well-being of the Arab people. May you go from victory to victory, for your victories are the victories of the Arab people."



The revolution which began on September 1st 1969 was unlike previous coups and so-called revolutions, it had as its aim not the glorification of another ruling clique or exploiting class but the victory of the dreams and hopes of the masses for final emancipation. On September 1st, 1969 a revolution dawned under the leadership of Muammar Qadhafi which answered the cry of the people and responded to the examples of the Prophets and Apostles of God.



Today, many years after the formation of the first revolutionary committee, the organisation of the Free Unionist Officers and 1st of September 1969, Muammar Qadhafi still holds to these sublime values and lives them as the Leader of the World Revolution. In the words of Vanity Fair journalist T.D. Allman: "If Kirkegaard was right, and purity of heart is to will one thing and one thing only, then Qadhafi was the purest-hearted military conspirator ever to seize control of a nation. He did not drink or smoke, there are no tales of youthful passion; he appeared to have no personal life at all."



This purity of heart, single-mindedness, courage, dedication and self-determination are the cherished aspects of a revolutionary life and they can be seen in abundance in the life of the Leader Muammar Qadhafi. These noble qualities enabled Col. Qadhafi, with profound insight, to develop the principles of the Third Universal Theory and apply them in the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Since the Bolshevik uprising in Russia the world had been locked in a struggle between the forces of Marxist communism and liberal capitalism. Revolutionaries who rejected both of these ideologies could find no leadership or coherent worldview which articulated their positions and was responsive to the real needs of the masses. This was only the case until the publication of The Green Book. Muammar Qadhafi has commented that: "It is not like writing an ordinary book. It was simply an attempt to explain the dialectic which exists between Marxism and capitalism. The world has reached a political and economic impasse, and humanity simply cannot accept this impasse and accept to die. There must be a way out. That way out is this new theory". ('Heart to Heart With Qadhafi', New Africa, Feb. 1983.)



Qadhafi's Vision



At a conference on Euro-Arab relations in Tripoli in May 1973, the Leader of the Revolution expounded on the philosophical aspect of the Third Universal Theory and its relationship to national and social liberation. In this speech we see the highly developed awareness of the Revolutionary Muammar Qadhafi and his acute appreciation of the complex inner needs of all the world's peoples. It is worth recalling his words which are still very relevant to life in the 1990s. He said:



"Humanity now urgently needs a cry of justice which would return it to its senses and to its Creator... We need to go back to God and turn away from evil... Atomic bombs, missiles, biological weapons and aggression can only be the making of the Devil. The ideology we propose to the world is humanitarian but not made by men, nor is it a philosophy, but it is based on truth.... This is Gods law, always one, immortal, and unchangeable, a universal religion of truth which belongs to all mankind. The Third Theory offers an alternative to capitalist materialism and communist atheism and calls for the return of mankind to the Kingdom of God. Mankind was never in greater need to rearm itself with faith than it is now. We all know that all the philosophies and ideologies have failed to disprove the existence of God, and as the truth of His existence is self-evident, it is quite clear that society must be reorganised in every country of the world in accordance with the will of God and the precepts of His Prophets."



Here we see the philosophical depth of the Third Universal Theory and how it has been drawn from the struggle of the masses for freedom and from the dynamic revolutionary precepts of the Messengers of God. "The Third Universal Theory, in simple terms, is a comprehensive formulation of the noble principles and moral values sent down from Heaven to the Prophets and Apostles to help guide people on the right path leading to happiness, stability and human tolerance. It is a worldview based on the concepts of justice, righteousness, moral fortitude, and respect for national existence. The Third Universal Theory has answers for the political, military and socio-economic problems facing human communities. For instance, popular rule is the political face of justice and righteousness. Socialism is the economic face of social justice, and the armed liberation struggle against colonialism in all its forms is the military face of peace and justice. These are principles that are able to guide every aspect of life. Since the problems of democracy and economic justice are closely connected with the whole well-being of society, we can, in the light of these principles, achieve right among peoples through people's power, and a new socialist society, free from exploitation, oppression and wrong-doing." (Jamahiriya Era of the Masses, Libyan People's Bureau, Canberra, Australia. P.20.)



This is the world historical mission of the son of the desert Muammar Qadhafi to return to the natural precepts which alone can guarantee human fulfilment and establish justice in the society. As such Muammar Qadhafi's message covers the political, economic, social and philosophical dimensions of life. In The Green Book he sets out fully the principles of the Third Universal Theory, a way which alone can lead searching humanity out of the capitalist/Marxist nexus. The main idea behind The Green Book is a return to the natural life and to natural forms of socialism and direct democracy - People's Power - which places all authority, wealth and arms in the hands of the people. To quote from The Green Book: "Finally, the era of the masses, which follows the age of the republics, excites the feelings and dazzles the eyes... The Third Universal Theory heralds emancipation from the fetters of injustice, despotism, exploitation and economic and political hegemony, for the purpose of establishing a society of all the people where all are free and have equal share in authority, wealth and arms. Freedom will then triumph definitively and universally." (The Green Book, Muammar Al Qadhafi.)



The Italian writer Mirella Bianco drew a comparison between Muammar Qadhafi and the Prophet Muhammed which is worthy of note. Both the Prophet and Qadhafi are Bedouins of a similar desert background. They both share, therefore, a common love for freedom, physical endurance, and an ideal of equality in society. They are both given to meditation, and share the belief that no real change in society could occur without a spiritual transformation. Both share a feeling of urgency in having to convey their vision of the universe to others. They are both teachers with unshakable certainty in the rightness of their convictions. They both possess unusual courage, and an indomitable determination to pursue their mission. Finally, they are products of similar moments of transition and change in human history.



A Revolutionary Life



In a rare interview with Western journalists in January 1986, only months before the U.S. terrorist bombing of Libya, the Leader of the Revolution spoke frankly about his life and how he had been misunderstood by the West. Meeting the journalists in his tent he told of how he admired former US Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and of other world leaders he admires like "Egypt's late Gamal Abdul Nasser, India's Mahatma Gandhi, Sun Yat-Sen of China and Italy's Garibaldi and Mazzini." (Really, I'm a Nice Guy, Kate Dourian, Tripoli, Libya.) He spoke of his favourite book The Outsider by British author Colin Wilson and others he likes such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Roots. Throughout this interview the profound thinking and innate humanity of Muammar Qadhafi shone through.



In March 1986 the British newspaper Daily Mail held an exclusive interview with the Revolutionary Leader. In the introduction to the article the writer commented: "It was hard to credit that this was the man President Reagan had condemned as the world's number one terrorist. Colonel Muammar Al Qadhafi was simple and charming sitting by the bonfire outside his tent when I arrived to interview him. He told me: 'I see the press as being the messengers between me and the world to tell them the truth.'"



The failed actor and failed President Reagan addressing a press conference in November 1985 was asked what he thought of Muammar Qadhafi. In a rare moment of sanity Reagan replied: "I just think that the man is a zealot. He's pursuing a revolutionary cause that could affect a great many countries." (US Targets Libya Again, The Green March, Brisbane, Australia, Feb-March 1986.) So this is Muammar Qadhafi's "crime" in the eyes of imperialism. Muammar Qadhafi's "crime" is actively working to build a better world for all humanity and outlining in his Green Book a way by which the masses on every continent can take power, wealth and arms into their hands.



At a time in world history when so-called revolutionaries are deserting principle and rushing to join the ranks of the bourgeoisie ruling circles, the Leader Muammar Qadhafi stands out as a symbol of steadfast commitment to revolutionary principles. As he himself has said: "I am a revolutionary in struggle. One doesn't become tired when one is engaged in struggle. The struggle will continue. I will continue." The life of Muammar Qadhafi is one of revolutionary struggle and sacrifice for the well-being and victory of the masses of humanity. Muammar Qadhafi's inspiration, vision and life have earned him the title of LEADER OF THE WORLD REVOLUTION. Let us all resolve to march forward under his direction and encouraged by his example taking the message of the Green Book to a searching and seeking world.

Nina Simone

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone (/ˈniːnə sɨˈmoʊn/), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist. Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is most associated with jazz music. Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles that include classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Her vocal style is characterized by intense passion, a loose vibrato, and a slightly androgynous timbre, in part due to her unusually low vocal range which veered between the alto and tenor ranges (occasionally even reaching baritone lows). Also known as The High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions. Within one album or concert she could fluctuate between exuberant happiness and tragic melancholy. These fluctuations also characterized her own personality and personal life, amplified by bipolar disorder with which she was diagnosed in the mid-1960s, something not widely known until after her death in 2003, though she wrote of it openly in her autobiography published in 1992. According to Nadine Cohodas, Simone's biographer, Ms. Simone was first diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and later with schizophrenia.


Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the greatest body of her work released between 1958 (when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue) and 1974. Her most well known songs include "My Baby Just Cares for Me", "I Put a Spell on You", "Four Women", "I Loves You Porgy", "Feeling Good", "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Sinnerman", "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", "Mississippi Goddam", "Ain't Got No, I Got Life," "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl", and "Love Me or Leave Me".

Her music and message made a strong and lasting impact on culture, illustrated by the numerous contemporary artists who cite her as an important influence . Several hip hop musicians and other modern artists sample and remix Simone's rhythms and beats on their tracks. In particular, Talib Kweli and Mos Def routinely pay tribute to her outstanding and soulful musical style. Many of her songs are featured on motion picture soundtracks, as well as in video games, commercials, and TV series.






Life and career



Youth (1933–1954)



Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in Tryon, North Carolina. One of eight children in a poor family, her ancestry was mixed heritage, and included Native American, African American and Irish. She began playing piano aged three; the first song she learned was "God Be With You, Till We Meet Again". Demonstrating a talent with the instrument she performed at her local church, but her concert debut, a classical recital, was given when she was twelve. Simone later claimed that during this performance her parents, who had taken seats in the front row, were forced to move to the back of the hall to make way for white people. Simone said she refused to play until her parents were moved back to the front, the incident contributing to her later involvement in the civil rights movement.



Simone's mother, Mary Kate Waymon (who lived into her late 90s), was a housemaid and also a strict Methodist minister. Simone's father, John Divine Waymon, was a handyman who at one time owned a dry-cleaning business, but who also suffered bouts of ill health. Mary Kate's employer, hearing of Nina's talent, provided funds for piano lessons. Subsequently, a local fund was set up to assist in Simone's continued education. With the assistance of this scholarship money, Simone moved to New York City, where she attended high school at the Juilliard School of Music.



After finishing high school, she studied for an interview with the help of a private tutor to further study piano at the Curtis Institute, but she was rejected. Simone believed that this rejection was related directly to her being black.



Early success (1954–1959)



To fund her private lessons Simone performed at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, whose owner insisted that she sing as well as play the piano. In 1954 she adopted the stage name Nina Simone, to keep her mother from learning that she was playing "the devil's music". "Nina" (from niña, meaning 'little girl' in Spanish) was a nickname a boyfriend had given to her, and "Simone" was taken from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the movie Casque d'or. Simone's mixture at the bar of jazz, blues and classical music, earned her a small but loyal fan base



After playing in small clubs, in 1958 she recorded a rendition of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (from Porgy and Bess), which she learned from a Billie Holiday album and performed as a favor to a friend. It became her only Billboard top 40 success in the United States, and her debut album Little Girl Blue soon followed on Bethlehem Records. Simone missed out on more than $1 million in royalties (mainly because of the successful re-release of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" during the 1980s) and never benefited financially from the album, after selling its rights for $3,000.



Becoming popular (1959–1964)



After the success of Little Girl Blue, Simone signed a contract with the larger company Colpix Records, followed by a string of studio and live albums. Colpix relinquished all creative control, including the choice of material that would be recorded, to her in exchange for her contracting with them. Simone, who at this point only performed popular music to make money to continue her classical music studies, was bold with her demand for control over her music because she was indifferent about having a recording contract. She would keep this attitude towards the record industry for most of her career.



Simone married a New York police detective, Andrew Stroud, in 1961; Stroud later became her manager.

Civil rights era (1964–1974)



During 1964, she changed record distributors, from the American Colpix to the Dutch Philips, which also meant a change in the contents of her recordings. Simone had always included songs in her repertoire that hinted about her African-American origins (such as "Brown Baby" and "Zungo" on Nina at the Village Gate during 1962). But on her debut album for Philips, Nina Simone In Concert (live recording, 1964), Simone for the first time openly addresses the racial inequality that was prevalent in the United States with the song "Mississippi Goddam". It was her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four black children. The song was released as a single, being boycotted in certain southern states.[3][13] With "Old Jim Crow" on the same album she reacts to the Jim Crow Laws.



From then onwards, a civil rights message was standard in Simone's recording repertoire, where it had already become a part of her live performances. Simone performed and spoke at many civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Simone advocated violent revolution during the civil rights period as opposed to Martin Luther King's non-violent approach, and hoped that African Americans could, by armed combat, form a separate state (Simone was not, however, a racist, and wrote in her autobiography that her family and indeed herself regarded all races as equal.) She covered Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" (on Pastel Blues (1965)), a song about the lynching of black men in the South, and sang the W. Cuney poem "Images" on Let It All Out (1966), about the absence of pride in the African-American woman. Simone wrote "Four Women", a song about four different stereotypes of African-American women. and sings it on Wild Is the Wind (1966).

Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967. She sang "Backlash Blues", written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album, Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967). On Silk & Soul (1967) she recorded Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "Turning Point". The album Nuff Said (1968) contains live recordings from the Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang "Why? (The King Of Love Is Dead)", a song written by her bass player, Gene Taylor, directly after the news of King's death had reached them.



Together with Weldon Irvine, Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry's unfinished play "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" into a civil rights song. Lorraine Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness. She performed the song live on the album Black Gold (1970). A studio recording was released as a single, and the song has been covered by Aretha Franklin (on 1972s Young, Gifted and Black) and Donny Hathaway.



Later life (1974–2003)



Simone left the United States in September 1970. She flew to Barbados, expecting her husband and manager, Stroud, to communicate with her when she had to perform again. However, Stroud interpreted Simone's sudden disappearance (and the fact that she had left behind her wedding ring) as a cue for a divorce. As her manager, Stroud was also in charge of Simone's income. This meant that after their separation Simone did not have any knowledge about how her business was managed and what she was actually worth. Upon returning to the United States, she also learned that she was wanted for unpaid taxes, causing her to go back to Barbados again to evade the authorities and prosecution. Simone stayed in Barbados for quite some time, and had a lengthy affair with the Prime Minister, Errol Barrow. A close friend, singer Miriam Makeba, persuaded her to go to Liberia. After that she lived in Switzerland and the Netherlands, before settling in France during 1992.



She recorded her last album for RCA Records, It Is Finished, during 1974. Simone did not make another record until 1978, when she was persuaded to go into the studio by CTI Records owner Creed Taylor. The result was the album Baltimore, which, while not a commercial success, did get good reviews and marked a quiet artistic renaissance in Simone's recording output. Her choice of material retained its eclecticism, ranging from spiritual songs to Hall & Oates' "Rich Girl". Four years later Simone recorded Fodder On My Wings on a French label. During the 1980s Simone performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, where the album Live at Ronnie Scott's was recorded during 1984. Though her on-stage style could be somewhat haughty and aloof, in later years, Simone particularly seemed to enjoy engaging her audiences by recounting sometimes humorous anecdotes related to her career and music and soliciting requests. In 1987, the original 1958 recording of "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was used in an advert for Chanel No. 5 perfume in the UK. This led to a re-release which stormed to number 5 in the UK singles chart giving her a brief surge in popularity in the UK. Her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, was published during 1992 and she recorded her last album, A Single Woman, in 1993.



In 1993, Simone settled near Aix-en-Provence in Southern France. She had been ill with breast cancer for several years before she died in her sleep at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône on April 21, 2003. Her funeral service was attended by singers Miriam Makeba and Patti Labelle, poet Sonia Sanchez, actor Ossie Davis and hundreds of others. Elton John sent a floral tribute with the message "You were the greatest and I love you". Simone's ashes were scattered in several African countries. She left behind a daughter, Lisa Celeste, now an actress/singer who took on the stage name Simone and has appeared on Broadway in Aida.



Musical style



Simone standards



Throughout her career, Simone gathered a collection of songs that would become standards in her repertoire (apart from the civil rights songs) and for which she is still remembered, even though most of these songs did not perform well on the charts at the time. These songs were self-written tunes, cover versions (usually with a new arrangement by Simone), or songs written especially for Simone. Her first hit song in America was a cover of George Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" (1958). It peaked at number 18 in the pop singles chart and number 2 on the black singles chart. During that same period Simone recorded "My Baby Just Cares for Me", which would become her biggest success years later in 1987, when it was featured in a Chanel no. 5 perfume commercial. A music video was then created by Aardman Studios.



Well known songs from her Philips albums include "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" on Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964), "I Put a Spell on You", "Ne Me Quitte Pas" (a Jacques Brel cover) and "Feeling Good" on I Put A Spell On You (1965), "Lilac Wine" and "Wild Is the Wind" on Wild is the Wind (1966). Especially the songs "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "Feeling Good" and "Sinnerman" (Pastel Blues, 1965) have great popularity today in terms of cover versions (most notably The Animals' version of the former song), sample usage and its use on various movie-, TV-series- and videogame soundtracks. "Sinnerman" in particular has been featured in the TV series Scrubs, on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vice, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists like Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The song "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was sampled by Devo Springsteen on "Misunderstood" from Common's 2007 album Finding Forever, and by little-known producers Rodnae and Mousa for the song "Don't Get It" on Lil Wayne's 2008 album Tha Carter III. The song "See-Line Woman" was sampled by Kanye West for "Bad News" on his 808s and Heartbreak album.



Simone's years at RCA-Victor spawned a number of singles and album songs that were popular, particularly in Europe. In 1968, it was "Ain't Got No, I Got Life", a medley from the musical Hair from the album 'Nuff Said! (1968) that became a surprise hit for Simone, reaching number 2 on the UK pop charts and introducing her to a younger audience. In 2006, it returned to the UK Top 30 in a remixed version by Groovefinder. The following single, the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody" also reached the UK top 10 in 1969. "House of the Rising Sun" featured on Nina Simone Sings The Blues in 1967, but Simone had recorded the song earlier in 1961 (featuring on Nina At The Village Gate, 1962), predating versions by Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan. It was later picked up by The Animals and became their signature hit.



Performing style



Simone's regal bearing and commanding stage presence earned her the title "High Priestess of Soul". Her live performances were regarded not as mere concerts, but as happenings. She was a piano player, singer and performer, "separately and simultaneously". On stage, Simone moved from gospel to blues, jazz and folk, to numbers infused with European classical styling, and Bach-style counterpoint fugues. She incorporated monologues and dialogues with the audience into the program, and often used silence as a musical element Simone compared it to "mass hypnosis. I use it all the time" Throughout most of her life and recording career she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist and musical director Al Schackman.



Simone had a reputation in the music industry for being volatile and sometimes difficult to deal with, a characterization with which she strenuously took issue. In 1995, she shot and wounded her neighbor's son with a pneumatic pistol after his laughter disturbed her concentration. She also fired a gun at a record company executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. It is now recognized that this "difficulty" was the result of bipolar disorder. Simone reluctantly took medication for her condition from the mid-1960s on. All this was only known to a small group of intimates, and kept out of public view for many years, until the biography Break Down And Let It All Out written by Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan revealed this secret in 2004.



Legacy and influence



Music



Nina Simone is often cited by artists from diverse musical fields as a source of inspiration. Musicians who have cited her as important for their own musical upbringing are among others Elkie Brooks, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Kanye West, John Legend, Elizabeth Fraser, Cat Stevens, Peter Gabriel, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Mary J. Blige, Michael Gira, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Ian MacKaye, Kerry Brothers, Jr. "Krucial", Amanda Palmer and Jeff Buckley. John Lennon cited Simone's version of "I Put a Spell on You" as a source of inspiration for the Beatles song "Michelle".Musicians who have covered her work (or her specific renditions of songs) include Black Rock Coalition Orchestra, J.Viewz, Carola, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Marilyn Manson, Donny Hathaway, David Bowie, Elkie Brooks, Roberta Flack, Jeff Buckley, The Animals, Muse, Cat Power, Katie Melua, Timbaland, Feist, Shara Worden, and Michael Bublé. Simone's music has featured in soundtracks of various motion pictures and video games, including but not limited to The Big Lebowski (1998), Point of No Return (AKA The Assassin, 1993) Notting Hill (1999), Any Given Sunday (1999), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), Six Feet Under (2001), The Dancer Upstairs (film) (2002), Before Sunset (2004), Cellular (2004), Inland Empire (2006), Sex and the City (2008), Revolutionary Road (2008), Watchmen (2009), and The Saboteur (2009). Her music is frequently used in remixes, commercials and TV series.



Film



The documentary Nina Simone: La Legende (The Legend) was made in the '90s by French filmmakers. It was based on her autobiography I Put A Spell On You and features live footage from different periods of her career, interviews with friends and family, various interviews with Simone herself while she was living in the Netherlands, and on a trip to her birthplace. A significant amount of footage from The Legend was taken from an earlier 26-minute biographical documentary by Peter Rodis, released in 1969 and titled simply Nina.



Her filmed 1976 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival is available on video courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and is screened annually in New York City at an event called "The Rise and Fall of Nina Simone: Montreux, 1976," curated by Tom Blunt .



Plans for a Nina Simone biographical film were released at the end of 2005. The movie will be based on Simone's autobiography I Put A Spell On You (1992) and will also focus on her relationship in later life with her assistant, Clifton Henderson, who died in 2006. TV writer Cynthia Mort (Will & Grace, Roseanne) is working on the script, and singer Mary J. Blige will play the lead role. The movie is scheduled for 2012.



Honors



On Human Kindness Day 1974 in Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 people paid tribute to Simone. Simone received two honorary degrees in music and humanities from the University of Massachusetts and Malcolm X College. She preferred to be called "Dr. Nina Simone" after these honors were bestowed upon her. Only two days before her death, Simone was awarded an honorary degree by the Curtis Institute, the school that had turned her down at the start of her career



Discography



1958 Little Girl Blue Studio Bethlehem Records


1959 Nina Simone and Her Friends Studio

The Amazing Nina Simone Studio Colpix Records

Nina Simone at Town Hall Live and studio

1960 Nina Simone at Newport Live 23 (pop)

Forbidden Fruit Studio

1962 Nina at the Village Gate Live

Nina Simone Sings Ellington Live

1963 Nina's Choice Compilation

Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Live

1964 Folksy Nina Live

Nina Simone in Concert Live Philips Records 102 (pop)

Broadway-Blues-Ballads Studio

1965 I Put a Spell on You Studio 99 (pop)

Pastel Blues Studio 8 (black)

1966 Nina Simone with Strings Studio (strings added) Colpix

Let It All Out Live and studio Philips 19 (black)

Wild Is the Wind Studio 12 (black)

1967 High Priestess of Soul Studio 29 (black)

Nina Simone Sings the Blues Studio RCA Records 29 (black)

Silk & Soul Studio 24 (black)

1968 Nuff Said Live and studio 44 (black)

1969 Nina Simone and Piano Studio

To Love Somebody Studio

1970 Black Gold Live 29 (black)

1971 Here Comes the Sun Studio 190 (pop)

1972 Emergency Ward Live and studio

1974 It Is Finished Live

1978 Baltimore Studio CTI Records 12 (jazz)

1980 The Rising Sun Collection Live Enja

1982 Fodder on My Wings Studio Carrere

1984 Backlash Live StarJazz

1985 Nina's Back Studio VPI

1985 Live & Kickin Live

1987 Let It Be Me Live Verve

Live at Ronnie Scott's Live Hendring-Wadham

The Nina Simone Collection Compilation Deja Vu

1993 A Single Woman Studio Elektra Records 3 (top jazz)

Additional releases

1969 A Very Rare Evening Live PM Records (Japan)

1975 The Great Show Live in Paris Live RCA?

1997 Released Compilation RCA Victor Europe

2003 Gold Studio remastered Universal/UCJ

Anthology Compilation (from many labels) RCA/BMG Heritage

2004 Nina Simone's Finest Hour Compilation Verve/Universal

2005 The Soul of Nina Simone Compilation + DVD RCA DualDisc

Nina Simone Live at Montreux 1976 DVD only Eagle Eye Media

2006 The Very Best of Nina Simone Compilation Sony BMG

Remixed and Reimagined Remix Legacy/SBMG 5 (contemp.jazz)

Songs to Sing: the Best of Nina Simone Compilation/Live Compilation Deluxe

Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Songs of Freedom and Spirit Remix RCA

2008 To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story Compilation Sony Legacy

2009 The Definitive Rarities Collection - 50 Classic Cuts Compilation Artwork Media

? Nina Simone Live DVD only: Studio 1961 & '62 Kultur/Creative Arts Television