Being one of the first women to work with an-all white orchestra, Billie Holiday was well recognized for many of her attributions. Her musical career has continued to keep Holiday a legendary icon even after her death. Billie Holiday won 5 Grammy Awards throughout her career and was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame thanks to her wonderful voice. Regardless of any personal issues, Holiday has always had a way of touching people's hearts. Her impact is still widely recognized today.
Before you get into the important things that occurred in Holiday’s life, you must go back to her roots. The Biography.com editors ( 2014) says, “In her difficult early life, Holiday found solace in music…” Her early life was traumatic and frowned upon by most.
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Gottlieb (1947) believes “As a result, Holiday sometimes found herself singing in clubs that refused service to blacks.” Holiday proved that she stood up against racism and was anti-racist. To reiterate, Holiday’s song ‘Strange Fruit’ showed how she wanted to have an impact on African American society as an African American woman in the big entertainment industry. Billie used this song as an escape to help black people get through their own personal struggles throughout the singing. However, others didn't see it from that perspective because of the color of her skin. This then led to the United States vs Billie Holiday case. According to Gonzales (2021), “It became known as a powerful protest anthem that irked the conservative US government…” Due to Holiday standing up for her rights and portraying the evil malicious things that were happening to her people, she ran into some legal issues with the government. Holiday knew the song's message bothered people, but it enraged Harry Anslinger so much to the point he made it his job to destroy Holiday and her message of discrimination and racism. After serving over a year in prison by being framed by the narcotics department, it didn’t stop Holiday from delivering her message. Billie continued to spread her message and get her points across until later on in life she started using drugs more