Billie Holiday

still portrayed. Music was also used to portray one's thoughts and feelings, so they may be shared with another person. Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday says, Southern trees Bear strange fruit blood on the leaves and blood at the roots black bodies swinging in the southern breeze strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees” (Billie Holiday, 1930). Billie Holiday wrote this song, so those who were never oppressed could get a glimpse of the fear African…

Year Age Major Events 1940 25 Billie performed for nine months at Café Society. She was supposed to sing again on 1 October 1940 but she did not turn up. So Barney Josephson cancelled her contract. She was replaced by Hazel Scott who sang there for the next seven years. In December 1940, ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Performers) went on strike. 1941 26 On 25 August 1941, Billie married Jimmy Monroe, a never do well, an ex-trombonist and a former pimp. She had been engaged to Sonny…

The artist, Roy Adzak, once said, “Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us.” In this quote, Roy Adzak is saying that art that is good, is not supposed to look good, but it's supposed to make you make you feel something. There have been many pieces of literature where the author has created a poem or book about something meaningful to them and it made you want to do something about it, it made feel like you had to do something. Sometimes people put out artwork or literature…

In spite of their humble beginnings as a punk revivalist band with style and substance, Green Day evolved into a different identity. “They were bratty, mischievous and twentysomethings when they hit MTV in 1994, with Billie Joe Armstrong ripping up the furniture, dancing with a monkey, and singing about the joys of masturbation, in the raucous trio's major-label debut, Dookie” [Rolling Stones]. But eventually Green Day grew during the 2000s with albums like American…

Jane Addams, born in Cedarville, Illinois in September of 1860, broke many borders as a woman of her time. She is best known for her efforts in creating peace as well as advocating equality for women. She is represented today and in American history by the many organizations she established: the International League for Peace, Woman’s Peace Party, Juvenile Protective Association, and American Civil Liberties Union. Addams had strong opinions about the idea of peace reaching the farthest corners…

When pop music collides with politics, the outcomes are sometimes life-changing and intricate. 33 Revolutions Per Minute outlines this connection by using 33 central songs which include Billie Holiday serenading “Strange Fruit” to Green Day’s Iraq War rampage. Dorian Lynsky goes into the song artists, concepts and procedures behind each individual song which demonstrates to the reader how protest music has manifested social changes since the 1930s. 33 Revolutions Per Minute is a history of…

Influential Black Female Artist As the sound of music has developed over years, peoples’ contribution to the development sometimes goes unnoticed. Every musical artist should be honored for their played part in this musical evolution. So many musicians fail to pay respect to the artist before them when creating their own musical sound. Some of the most overlooked talents are the female artist that played huge roles in the growth of the music industries and the sound of music still heard today.…

an American pop punk band from Oakland, California. The members include lead singer and guitarists Billie Joe Armstrong, Bassist and backing vocals Mike Dirnt (Mike Pritchard), and drummer Tre Cool. Childhood friends Billie Joe and Mike Dirnt formed a band called Sweet Children at the age of fifteen. In Vallejo, California Sweet Children’s first concert took place at Rod’s Hickory Pit, where Billie Joe’s mother was working at the time. In 1989, the band had changed their name to Green Day, due…

Throughout this semester, the class learned about horrifying injustices brought upon black women during slavery. Black women’s bodies were not their own and could be used at anytime by the white slave masters. Furthermore, even after the abolition of slavery black women continued to suffer at the hands of white men. While they were physically free under the law, white men continued to rape and abuse black women because of the perpetual mentality that white community was better than the black.…

While there were women who sang the blues at the turn of the century, Ella Fitzgerald is widely accredited with being the first prominent woman jazz singer (Bracks, 2012). She, along with Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, and others, started the transition from the completely male dominated profession to what we have today. However, it was never easy for these women as they nearly always came from difficult backgrounds and faced hardships throughout their lives…