"Spellbound"

By Rupert Nacoste

He put a spell on me. I was up late last night finishing W. Jason Miller’s “Don’t Let Me Be

Misunderstood.” Couldn’t put it down because I was so engrossed in this story of the relationship between Langston Hughes and Nina Simone. A story of a collaboration that spanned years, and helped underscore what was happening in the modern civil rights movement.

I am a 75-year-old black man, who grew up in the Louisiana Jim Crow South. Yet, or maybe

that’s why, I did not discover the powerful voice of Nina Simone until I was in the Navy in 1974.

Even so, I knew a few Langston Hughes poems. What I didn’t know is that Langston and Nina

were friends and collaborators.

I am of the “Black Power!” generation. Doing voter registration, marching, all that, and still there was so much I did not know about the role of Langston Hughes and Nina Simone.

Now I have learned of the important link between them. Now I know that their collaboration

reverberated through the Civil Rights Movement, probably leading to the phrase “Black Power!” Now I understand how that came about and how that worked.

Written with a clear voice and a singular focus, this readable biography of the Langston and Nina relationship covers a lot of important historical ground.

Yes, it is written by a scholar, but it is written with verve, passion, and a clear desire to be read by a wide audience. And Professor Miller achieves that goal.