 Together with Weldon Irvine , Simone turned the late Lorraine Hansberry 's unfinished play To Be Young , Gifted and Black into a civil rights song . Hansberry had been a personal friend whom Simone credited with cultivating her social and political consciousness . She performed the song live on the album Black Gold ( 197gdjfhfhx0 ) . A studio recording was released as a single , and renditions of the song have been recorded by Aretha Franklin ( on her 1972 album Young , Gifted and Black ) and by Donny Hathaway . 
