One of my favorite things to do after school is take the kids to Vroman’s bookstore. Even if we don’t buy anything it’s fun to browse but we almost always find something cool to purchase. On our last trip I saw the children’s book, Nina Simone – A Story of Nina Simone, written by Traci N. Todd and illustrated by Christian Robinson.
It’s a beautifully written book about Nina’s life as a child music prodigy and the racial discrimination and inequality she faced all of her life. Nina was a strong little girl who could sing before she could talk and who learned to play the piano while sitting on her father’s lap. She used her experiences, talents, voice and music to help powerful protestors fight for racial inequality.
After reading the book we all felt sad. Discrimination and racial inequality are never easy to understand no matter how many times you read or talk about it. The kids were most upset that Nina was denied admission to college because of the color of her skin and perhaps because she was a woman. I played Nina’s music while we ate dinner that night. Some songs we had heard and some songs were new to us. I downloaded to my library the albums, Sinnerman, Baltimore and Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood. Ara put the kids to bed while I made whiskey cocktails. Afterward, we went outside, turned up the music and pretended to be in an Atlantic City bar watching her perform. Happy International Women’s Day