Tryon, North Carolina native Nina Simone, often called the High Priestess of Soul, made her mark on the music industry and the civil rights movement. Poet and playwright Langston Hughes visited Simone’s Asheville, N.C., high school to perform his poetry and made his first encounter with the then-sixteen-year-old talent. This began a decades-long friendship and creative partnership.
The relationship led to the famed song "Backlash Blues," written by Hughes and performed by Simone, which shed light on systemic racism and white resistance to the civil rights movement. The two later influenced Stokely Carmichael’s popularization of the phrase “Black Power” in 1966, and inspired work by James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry, further cementing their collaboration’s effect on the political and cultural landscape.
Jason Miller, an author and English professor at North Carolina State University, details their friendship and more in his book “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.” He joins us for the hour to discuss the legacy of the two artistic icons.
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Jason Miller, author of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and English professor at North Carolina State University
