Lady Day and The Lights!

By VINCENT L. HALL – Texas Metro News, NNPA Pastoral scene of the gallant SouthThe bulging eyes and the twisted mouthScent of magnolia, sweet and freshThen the sudden smell of burning flesh – Strange Fruit – as recorded by Billie Holiday Lights Up! Vincent L. Hall 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 most of us realize. Billie Holiday was a talented singer who broke through the color barrier with considerable force. She sang the Blues in a classy, connective, and convincing fashion. When she hit the stage, and the spotlight fell upon her, you never knew what to expect. In conversations with the “Lady,” she admitted that she was bored of singing the same song the same way night after night. That need to entertain...