Nina Simone for Kids

African American artists and musicians have no doubt been long overlooked. However, in most cases, learning about their lives and struggles has always been a great way to introduce kids to the history and voices of African Americans, especially during Black History Month.

Nina Simone would have turned 89 years old today and she is arguably one of the most interesting and helpful examples in explaining this painful chapter of American history to our kids. Nina faced discrimination from a very young age. This fueled her participation in the Civil Rights’ Movement in the 60s, as well as gave her the power to become a voice for the pain and anger of an entire race.

Nina’s story isn’t always pretty - it’s actually one that doesn’t conveniently fit the traditional stories about race and oppression. We’ve done our best to summarize her story in the little space we had, but encourage you and your family to keep going, and learn more about this amazing musician, woman and game-changer.

Of course, we also have the perfect soundtrack for this post; you can check out our Nina Simone playlist on Spotify right over here. And if you’re here just to download the 3-string tab for “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”, here’s the link you need.

Nina Simone for Kids in the Loog Blog