A problematic/genius icon whose defiance and distinctive voice has impacted generations, there has never been another Nina Simone. Her music revealed a message about the black female experience–a message of triumph and overwhelming grief. While questing to learn every aspect about every aspect of Nina Simone’s life in preparation for this project, I found that…

Maybe even more than being known for her music, Simone was renowned as being inherently offensive. She was loud, mean, unstable, and impulsive. But if rudeness is a personification of musicians genius, then Nina Simone was the brightest of them all. I remember watching ‘Amadeus’ as a kid and telling my mom how annoying I…

“Nina reveals Ms. Saldana as Nina brandishing a gun, being strapped down in a hospital and throwing champagne bottles. Where there wasn’t truth, they invented it–dark-skinned people are still passed over, even for the role of a woman whose story is defined by her proud blackness. A young Nina Simone would have a hard time being cast…