As explained in the interview which opens the above video, North Carolina born and bred Nina Simone was inspired to write this song by a New York Times article about her deceased friend Lorraine Hansberry's play by the same name. Released in 1969 on Nina's Black Gold LP, To Be Young, Gifted and Black first hit Cash Box's Top 100 Singles charts on January 10, 1970, debuting at #93. It would eventually go all the way to #8 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart, but peaked at #76 on the Billboard pop chart. White folks weren't very hip to that shit at the time! But they missed out, because this was a true civil rights anthem. Near the end of the video, when the song is over, check out how nuts the crowd at Morehouse College got, there was a lot of love in that room.
R.I.P. Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) and Nina Simone (1933-2003).
- Dyn-O-Mite
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