Known as her first Civil Rights song, Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam” was her response to the murder of both Emmett Till and Medgar Evers. It was a cry of frustration about the treatment of the Black community.  “Alabama's gotten me so upset, Tennessee made me lose my rest, And everybody knows about Mississippi, goddamn”. She calls out racially motivated injustices with her opening hook. Her lyrics continue to reference the history of slavery and racial resistance, each image is followed by the line “too slow.”  The song served as an echo of grief and a call for action against the slow moving racial progress in the US and throughout the South. It also reflects the divergence of Civil Rights strategies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam is featured in the Great Wall not only because of her legacy and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, but also through the meeting of the two artists. One year, on Baca’s birthday Guillermina Cantu Rolland, a photographer who would serve as a primary photographer of the Great Wall, brought Nina Simone to SPARC. (Baca had previously met Simone through Sunday dinners that Rolland consistently hosted.). Baca showed them the Great Wall archives. As Nina was leaving, she turned to Judy and asked “You know what I want?” Judy replied, “You want to be in the Great Wall.” Baca recalls Simone pointed at her and responded “Exactly, and where do I wanna be in the Great Wall?” Judy replied with “Nina you’ll be in the 60’s.” Nina then added “And how?” Baca thought and replied “ Mississippi Goddam.” Nina said “That's it.”

Source:

Fields, Liz. “The Story behind Nina Simone’s Protest Song, ‘Mississippi Goddam.’” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 30 June 2023, www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-nina-simones-protest-song-mississippi-goddam/16651/.