COMMENTARY: Lady Day and The Lights!

That need to entertain herself while entertaining others made Billie Holiday worth the price of admission at any cost. She was a legend. Sadly, though, her addiction to the drugs that eventually quieted her voice was too much for her. In fact, by the time she had had enough, the effects had silenced one of the most extraordinary vocal talents in our history. “Southern trees bear a strange fruit,” Billie Holiday sang. by Vincent L. Hall, Texas Metro News Quit Playin’ & Pastoral scene of the gallant South The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh Then the sudden smell of burning flesh – Strange Fruit – as recorded by Billie Holiday Lights Up! It’s Women’s History Month and there are more heroines that get left out than featured. “Lady Day” brought some sunlight to one of the darkest eras of modern American history. You know that American history they keep trying to erase. Eleanora Fagan Gough, aka Billie Holiday, aka Lady Day, made a statement that bears rehearsal and rethinking. She once said, “we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough.” Her statement is more relevant today than...