Billie Holiday or Lady Day (the name given to her by the great tenor saxophonist Lester "Prez" Young) bravely dared to perform and record "Strange Fruit", a song about lynching. I imagine she was afraid of repercussions but still she persisted.
The song was blacklisted, banned on the airwaves, and Lady Day was pressured not to perform it. When she refused, she was often met with hecklers, racist taunts, harassment. The U.S. government targeted her. Read more here:
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-billie-holidays-strange-fruit/17738/
"Strange Fruit" was written in 1937 by Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym Lewis Allan), a Jewish-American songwriter, and recorded by Lady Day on April 20, 1939.
"Strange Fruit" is recognized by many as the earliest protest song contemporaneous with the start of the civil rights movement.
Lady Day. Forever in our hearts and deeply missed. Beloved and brave beyond measure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit
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