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The Extraordinary Life of Nina Simone was Tragic and Empowering

Tim Flight September 16, 2019 26 min

Nina Simone - Jazz — Nina Simone in October 1969. Consequence of Sound

8. With an arrest warrant issued for her arrest over unpaid taxes, Nina could not return to the US

Nina attends a birthday party in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1974. Guernica

One of the reasons that Nina returned to live in Barbados after her initial vacation ended was because the US government issued an arrest warrant for her unpaid taxes. Nina’s refusal to pay taxes had been a political protest, and she hadn’t softened her stance on Vietnam. Instead, she left the US for good (periodically returning to play shows in later life), and after her affair with Errol Barrow ended Nina lived in Liberia for three years, then various places in Europe before settling near Aix-en-Provence in the South of France in 1993.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk

The Extraordinary Life of Nina Simone was Tragic and Empowering

8. With an arrest warrant issued for her arrest over unpaid taxes, Nina could not return to the US

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