In a 1969 interview, Nina Simone stated that it’s an artist’s duty to “reflect the times.” Painters, sculptors, writers and musicians have a responsibility to look at the world around them and tell the truth of what they see, she believed.
More than 50 years later, Twin Cities artists are proving that truth-telling knows no bounds of medium. This weekend, a Minneapolis group exhibit explores community defense against federal immigration enforcement. At the Minnesota State Fair, music and dance performances celebrate cultural resilience. And on Chicago Avenue, the return of playwright Christina Ham’s “Nina Simone: Four Women” bridges civil rights activism with Minnesota’s present-day resistance.
Anthems against injustice
By the time Simone wrote her song “Mississippi Goddam,” she had lived through the height of the civil rights movement, including the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama — which killed four Black girls — and the assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers.
This Saturday, the Pillsbury House and Theatre is bringing “Nina Simone: Four Women” to the stage, a production fueled by Simone’s civil rights anthems…