"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is a song by Nina Simone with lyrics by Weldon Irvine. She introduced the song on August 17, 1969, to a crowd of 50,000 at the Harlem Cultural Festival, captured on broadcast video tape and released in 2021 as the documentary film ''

Summer of Soul ''Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)'' is a 2021 American documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in his directorial debut. It had its world premiere at the ...

''. Two months later, she recorded the song as part of her concert at Philharmonic Hall, a performance that resulted in her live album '' Black Gold'' (1970). Released as a single, it peaked at number 8 on the R&B chart and number 76 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

in January 1970. A cover version by Jamaican duo

Bob and Marcia Bob and Marcia were a Jamaican vocal duo, that consisted of Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths.Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, , p. 33 They had a #5 UK hit single in 1970 with " Young, Gifted and Black". The ...

reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 1970. The title of the song comes from Lorraine Hansberry's autobiographical play, '' To Be Young, Gifted and Black.'' The song is considered an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.

Background

"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" was written in memory of Simone's late friend Lorraine Hansberry, author of the play '' A Raisin in the Sun'', who had died in 1965 aged 34.

Cover versions

Notable cover versions of the song were recorded by: *

Donny Hathaway Donny Edward Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and arranger whom ''Rolling Stone'' described as a "soul legend". His most popular songs include " The Ghetto", "This Christmas ...

(on his 1970 album '' Everything Is Everything''), *

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

(on her 1972 album '' Young, Gifted and Black'') *

(whose 1970 recording reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart and number 15 in Ireland). *Jamaican

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

/ reggae trio the Heptones recorded a version for

Coxsone Dodd Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent a ...

Studio One Studio One or Studio 1 may refer to: * Studio One (software), digital audio workstation software, developed by PreSonus * ''Studio One'' (American TV series), a 1948–1958 American television anthology series * ''Studio One'' (Emirati TV progra ...

label in 1970. *

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

recorded a version of "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" in 1970, before his solo success. Intended to be released as a low-budget sound-alike version of the original, it was reissued in 1994 on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' Covers as Sung by Elton John''. *American singer Meshell Ndegeocello included a version on her 2012 tribute album '' Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone''. * Michael Kiwanuka recorded a version in 2021 for an episode of Small Axe (anthology)

Samples

*The song has also become a popular sample amongst various modern R&B/hip-hop pieces, including Rah Digga's 2003 unreleased record "On the Move", Faith Evans' 2014 single " I Deserve It", featuring

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

and Sharaya J, and on the title track of Rapsody's 2017 album ''Laila's Wisdom''.

Mathematically Gifted & Black

The name of Mathematically Gifted & Black was partially inspired by the song.

References

{{Authority control 1970 singles 1972 singles Aretha Franklin songs Donny Hathaway songs Nina Simone songs Songs written by Nina Simone Songs about teenagers Songs about black people Songs against racism and xenophobia 1969 songs