To be Young, Gifted and Black

Sue and I went to the art museum on February 18 to see the Black History Month exhibit, especially the photography of Jason Hill. The exhibit included a “pop-up shop” where Hill and other Black artists made their work available for people to buy. That’s where I got this Nina Simone votive candle. 

It is 226 days now since Palesa died (I found a website for counting the days), and I lit the candle and spent time listening to Nina’s music and being with the combined energies of Nina and Palesa. They were similar, Nina and Palesa. They both had huge mood swings, intensity, force. They had furious stomping presence. Loud laughter. Loud rage.

I feel in my body the throbbing energy Palesa expressed, the energy she imprinted on my life, on the lives of all she met. We’re told energy can neither be created nor destroyed, so if that’s true, the energy she directed through her life goes on, both in the memories of those of us who felt it, and in the universe. Our actions are the ground on which we stand. 

I left this version of To Be Young, Gifted and Black on repeat. Nina Simone wrote that she didn’t want to be a singer; she wanted to play piano and write music. She was trained as a concert pianist. In this performance, recorded when she was 55 and weary of singing and her voice worn out, she makes the audience wait while she plays the piano for three minutes before she sings.

If you have time and want more, If you knew is an obscure song few people have ever heard, but her palpable heartbreak in this recording has made it one of my favorites.