"Was Nina Simone allowed to be who she really was?” This question particularly resonated with me as I watched What Happened, Miss Simone? - though it was not until the end of the film that the question was posed. In many ways, this question is a reflection of hundreds of years worth of oppression of the voices and minds of black women. Truthfully, there is not one single answer to this complex debate. Nevertheless, it is relatively safe to say that Simone’s own drastic shifts in the way she viewed, addressed and interacted with the world over time were due in part to the many personal struggles she faced in her lifetime - an abusive husband, an impoverished family, a stressful yet often unsatisfying career. When thinking about the impacts of intersectionality, as we have now discussed thoroughly in class discussion, it is also imperative to recognize the ways that Simone’s race played into the many struggles she was faced with throughout her life - both career-wise and personal-wise. Indeed, when I was confronted with the documentary’s final question, I was instantly reminded of the concept of the “politics of respectability” - the expectation that black women must remain modest and inaccessible in their thoughts and opinions in order to appear more appealing and respectful (this idea was particularly prominent in the early 20th century). Simone’s own career struggles following her dapple with and eventual full-dive into the civil right’s movement - with many studios refusing to play such “rebellious” messages - speak vehemently to this concept and expose the idea that outside of Simone’s black audience, the musician (like many black women) was criticized and alienated for attempting to raise her voice and assert her opinion. Though Simone would only increase her interest in the civil rights movement over time, proving that she herself stood true to her authenticity and rejected the politics of respectability as a necessity to black women, it is ultimately the response of her audience that better helps answer the question - in a generalized statement, white society was not comfortable with the true Nina Simone, but had rather fallen in love with a figure who they had deemed as a forefront of a “respectable” black woman.