This Orthodox Priest saved Nina Simone from a Psychiatric Ward

I sit down with Ethiopian Orthodox Father Amde Hamilton, co-founder of The Watts Prophets, pioneering spoken word artist, and priest. He tells the story of how a Creole childhood that intentionally formed poets and priests prepared him for militant poetry, the civil rights era, and what would later be recognized as some of the earliest roots of rap and hip hop. (Pursuit of Beauty Podcast Episode 31) Father Amde describes his work in Watts at the beginning of the Crips and Bloods, and how gang members became his first congregation. He explains what it meant to pastor young men in crisis, to bring them into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and to build a parish that held together Jamaicans, African Americans, and Ethiopians in one community, even when some later broke away. It is a rare inside view of gang intervention, Black spirituality, and Orthodox Christian ministry in Los Angeles. We trace his spiritual journey from militant poetry to Rastafarianism, his first trip to Jamaica, and his encounter with the Ethiopian World Federation. From there, he meets Abba Mandefro/Archbishop Yesehaq, is rebaptized, and is entrusted with a letter authorizing him to raise money and help start one of the first Ethiopian Orthodox parishes in Los Angeles. He shares how he studied across traditions, attending Armenian and Coptic churches while traveling back and forth to Jamaica to deepen his understanding of the ancient faith. The conversation moves into music history. Father Amde tells how he met Bob Marley, how he performed the poem “Wisdom and Knowledge” in Marley’s studio, and how that same poem was later delivered at Bob Marley’s funeral. He talks about their shared role in the youth work of the church, the plans they had to record together, and how those plans were cut short by Marley’s illness and death. These stories illuminate the spiritual side of Marley’s circle that most music documentaries never really address. He also recounts the extraordinary story of Nina Simone. When Simone was being held in a psychiatric ward and facing a long-term commitment, Father Amde fought his way in as clergy, advocated for her in the hearing, and eventually brought her into his own home, where she lived with his family for over two months before returning to work. He describes how she encountered the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, how she was baptized, and how the beauty of the service and the presence of the Holy Spirit transformed her. From there we widen out to questions of rap, language, and culture. Father Amde reflects on the real meaning of “rap” as a regional, ever-evolving Black vernacular, the role of code language in slavery, and how mainstream music distorted something that began as a way of thinking and speaking. He talks about reaching skinheads, trailer-park audiences, and church people alike, about the ongoing struggle for racial reconciliation, and about seeing the image of Christ even in killers and gang-bangers. Finally, we address the present moment. Father Amde speaks about social engineering after the Watts riots, the rise of the internet, spiritual warfare, and what he sees as a global battle between good and evil that will involve much more suffering before it is resolved. Fr. Amde's site: https://wattsprophets.org/amde-hamilton/ my sites: Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/MatthewWilkinsonM... 💻 Website and blog: https://matthewwilkinson.net/ Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/album/24DSGA... 00:00 – Opening story: working with gangs and early ministry 02:59 – Interview begins 03:55 – Creole roots, poetry, and early spiritual formation 05:38 – Encountering the first Rastafarian in the Western U.S. 07:55 – Journey to Jamaica and the Ethiopian World Federation 08:21 – Advice that led him toward the Ethiopian Orthodox Church 10:48 – Permission to start the first Ethiopian Orthodox parish in Los Angeles 12:57 – Working with the early Crips and Bloods 14:08 – Learning Orthodoxy through Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopian churches 17:25 – Liturgical life 18:30 – What LA parish life actually looked like 18:57 – Ethiopian, Jamaican, and African American dynamics 19:38 – How poetry evolved after ordination 20:53 – Ethiopian poetic tradition and the role of the Debtera 21:44 – The Bob Marley funeral poem 23:51 – Creole upbringing and the formation of a poet 24:24 – Baptizing Nina Simone 26:16 – Meeting Bob Marley and collaborating creatively 27:55 – Wisdom versus knowledge and societal critique 29:52 – UCLA incident and the impact of the poem 31:12 – Reflections on spiritual meaning and curiosity 31:21 – The Nina Simone story in full 38:18 – Ethiopian Church music, African tradition, and truth in poetry 39:12 – Rastafarianism and Ethiopian Orthodoxy 41:29 – Thoughts on rap, language, and culture 45:55 – Race, reconciliation, and spiritual warfare