Black Lives Matter: Nina Simone, Beyoncé and The Black Panthers Intersect

Black Lives Matter: Nina Simone, Beyoncé and The Black Panthers Intersect

Talking about Nina Simone in her 2013 self-produced HBO documentary 'Life Is But A Dream', Beyoncé drew contrast between her public life and the fact that Simone's lived with her demons out of the public space.

“People are brainwashed… When Nina Simone put out music, you loved her voice. That’s what she wanted you to love,” Beyoncé reminds us, while lamenting the ridiculous things people write about her. “You didn’t get brainwashed by her day-to-day life. That’s not your business. It shouldn’t influence the way you listen to the voice and the art, but it does.” Remember the rumor that she used a surrogate mother to carry her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter? Bey called it “stupid.” She explained: “To think that I would be that vain. I respect mothers and women so much. To be able to experience bringing a child into this world, if you’re lucky and fortunate enough to experience that, I would never ever take that for granted.”

It was last week that music lovers were able to draw a new contrast between Beyoncé and Nina Simone, when the superstar took to the stage at Superbowl halftime to perform 'Formation'. I'm sparing the visuals and let you read the lyrics in Bey's sing-along.