2020 is not 1969, and though “Little Boy” contains more sadness than Simone’s song, it champions that same sense of resilience, one forged in a powerful sense of self and unafraid of struggle. A frank warning about the “boys in blue” pivots gracefully to divine affirmations: “Heaven’s angels, shining down on us/They won’t go away, God has chosen us,” before the song ends abruptly, on an unresolved note. Like Simone’s work, “Little Boy” holds space for light and dark. Untitled (Rise), the second of two beautifully crafted albums released by UK outfit SAULT this year, closes with a song for the children. During a live show at Morehouse College that same year, rocking an Afro, hoop earrings, and a black orchid wrapped around her wrist, Simone improvised the melody and lyrics while the band chugged along: “When you’re feeling depressed, alienated, and real low, there’s a great truth that you should know/To be young, gifted and Black, your soul’s intact, don’t you forget it!” It was testament to the resilience of Blackness. Amid so much violence, to carry optimism for the youth was more than just an act of resistance. The relentless violence communicated that no one was safe, not the exalted leaders or the purest innocents. Within the decade, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and four little girls in Birmingham had been killed for being Black. In 1969, there were plenty of reasons for a young Black person to feel broken. Beneath the surface, its somber chords and heavy gait reach for something more complex, unable to ignore the darkness clouding the aspirations of the next generation. On its face, “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” offers encouragement and hope. Fifty-some years ago, Nina Simone recorded a song for the children.
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