Integrity Score 180
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She was more than a singer, songwriter, musician and activist. Being born to a poor family she struggled with her music lessons. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she was rejected despite a well-received audition which she referred to as racism. Not to forget the same institute awarded her an honorary degree years later.
She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her songs were her weapon against the intolerance in society. Simone performed and spoke at civil rights meetings, such as at the Selma to Montgomery marches. Simone's social commentary was not limited to the civil rights movement; the song "Four Women" exposed the eurocentric appearance standards assigned to black women in America. Her songs explored the internalised standards of beauty. Some of her songs also explored the theme of stereotypical roles that many black women have historically been restricted to the mammy, the tragic mulatto, the sex worker and the angry black woman. Well, we know how much of an inspiration Simone and her songs were to the Americans.