Bridge Project: Part IV

Weaving all of the information learned, and experienced, this year to create a narrative of Humanities.

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Nina Simone's Four Women protests the white man. Her song protests society and the way they stigmatize and perceive the colored man, but more specifically the colored woman.

Her juxtaposition of 4 women show how the color of your skin really determines the level of hierarchy you are born in and would probably continue in for the rest of your life. "The original song takes four stereotypes of black women and sings about them as if they are real people", according to www.schmoop.com. Her popularity in the countries timeline is during the rise of activism of the black community: the 1960's. The pinnacle of hatred and want for equality and equity from minority communities was rampant, imploring Simone to create Four Women to address the unfairness black individuals have to live through daily.

My skin is black My arms are long My hair is woolly My back is strong Strong enough to take the pain Inflicted again and again What do they call me? My name is Aunt Sarah

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"My skin is black" is the opening line to the popular hit song. This sets up the mood and direction that the song will venture towards: a bleak and straightforward message of tiredness. Why would someone address the color of their skin as the first line? Only to show that it is an issue in the given political and social climate in time. "My back is strong/Strong enough to take the pain/Inflicted again and again". This is a direct reference to slavery and the ancestors of African Americans that suffered from whippings from their "white masters" as well as the demanding physical labor. Aunt Sarah's durability as a black woman shows that in order to be black, one must be tough and durable and hard and withstand pain of all kinds. To be black means to get hurt. To be a black woman means to be hurt and resist the pain and involuntary need to break and beg for mercy.

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My skin is yellow My hair is long Between two worlds I do belong My father was rich and white He forced my mother late one night What do they call me?

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Despite having a white parent, if you had a black second parent you were still subjugated to the hardships and unfairness that other black folks go through. "My skin is yellow" not white. The message here is that if you aren't white, you are in trouble. This is reinforced by the line "My father was rich and white/He forced my mother late one night". A white man with power and wealth can do anything he wants. The patriarchy is prevalent in the world as well as the whiteness of your skin. A black, or even colored woman, has no civil liberties like that of white people.

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My skin is tan My hair is fine My hips invite you My mouth is like wine Whose little girl am I? Anyone who has money to buy What do they call me? My name is Sweet Thing

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"My hips invite you/My mouth is like wine". This subjugates women into prostitution and a promiscuous lifestyle. She is open for sex because, once again, the white patriarchy has established what it wants and that it will get what it desires. Colored women have no respect and are treated as sexual objects. "Whose little girl am I?/Anyone who has money to buy". This reassures the idea that sex is the only thing left for a woman in this position to do when left with little to no choice in lifestyles and career choices. They are bound to a life of pleasuring those societally ranked above them.

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My skin is brown my manner is tough I'll kill the first mother I see my life has to been too rough I'm awfully bitter these days because my parents were slaves What do they call me? My name is Peaches

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Arguably the most straightforward verse in the song, it conveys the anger of the black woman. Her voice and demeanor is strong in this verse. She is angry. She is tired. She is done with societies unjust actions. She does not believe in becoming a slave to anybody like her parents did so in the past.

Simone expresses her pain through these 4 imaginary women who actually represent many of those in the African American community and are forced into minority status. She protests society and the white man. She protests how society portrays black women and how they are depicted as slaves or lesser people. Her artwork is the medium of her protests against societal norms.