Join us in-store for a UNC Press & Malaprop's co-presented event with W. Jason Miller, presenting his latest book, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power, in conversation with poet Glenis Redmond.

The event is free but registration is required to reserve your seat.

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power
On March 24, 1965, Nina Simone performed at a rally for twenty-five thousand people on the last night of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march. Though luminaries like Martin Luther King Jr., Mahalia Jackson, and Dick Gregory were in attendance, it was Langston Hughes, celebrated poet and leader of the Harlem Renaissance, who was the singer’s closest confidant and supporter. They had one of the most important—yet unheralded—friendships of the Black Power era.

Simone's performance on that Montgomery night catapulted her into a lead role in the civil rights movement, with Hughes as her guide. In Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, W. Jason Miller offers a riveting history of how their relationship helped spark the birth of Black Power—indeed, the phrase itself, made famous by Stokely Carmichael, was a quote from collaborative lyrics by the two. Hughes gave Simone the fuel to be one of the most politically charged artists of the era, while Simone offered Hughes a way to carry his influence into pop music and shape a national movement. Drawing on new firsthand accounts, Miller takes readers inside one of the most powerful friendships in music and civil rights history.

About the Authors

W. Jason Miller is a Distinguished Professor of English at North Carolina State University. He is the author of several books on Hughes, including Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood: Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and the Birth of Black Power (UNC Press 2026). He has been featured on CNN, the BBC, NPR, and The Rachel Maddow Show.

Glenis Redmond is an award-winning poet, educator, and imagination activist. She is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Greenville, South Carolina; a 2023 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow; a Cave Canem Fellow; and a Baldwin for the Arts Fellow. Her honors include the 2025 Order of the Palmetto, the 2022 Governor's Award for the Arts, and induction into the South Carolina Academy of Authors. Through her teaching, performances, and archival work, she preserves cultural memory, builds community across generations, and uses poetry to honor history, amplify voices, and ensure that the stories of her people are carried forward as living legacy.