The Voice of Billie Holiday Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research Paper

The Voice of Billie Holiday      Ã‚  Ã‚   A woman stands before you, and although she isn't a politician, she expresses her moving thoughts on issues that affect all Americans. Her voice isn't harsh or demanding in tone. Her stature is slender and traced in a shimmer of light that reflects from her dress. A southern magnolia is lying comfortably above her ear. She sings. She sings of incomprehension, of hate, and of a race's pain. She sings low and confused. She sings as "Our Lady of Sorrow"(Davis 1), a representation of a whole people torn and discriminated against.   And though her speech is not spoken, she moves a crowd, one that gathers into many. Billie Holiday comes to prove that one woman's voice, singing one song, that calls awareness to one issue of society, can change the world.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Music has come to shape our views of society, love, race, and creed. We can all remember a time when a song evoked an emotion. The song seemed to express every feeling within us. The artist sang the words we longed to say, and the music expressed all the things we couldn't speak. At the same time, music can help express the things we don't understand in life, creating a bridge between differences. Music of a different artist can represent the point of view of someone that you don't understand, that looks at you funny, dresses different, speaks oddly, and believes something you don't. Music can express the emotions you feel, and the emotions that someone else feels.. Ray Charles once said, "Thank God for music, it was a salvation"(Keep on Pushing). Music is emotion: whether rage, love, lust, hate or confusion, music teaches us that our views fall within the same staff as the views of those we don't understand. ... ... <www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/08/reviews/980.08davist.html.>. Davis, Francis. "Our Lady of Sorrows." 2000. 9 Nov. 2001. <www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/11/davis.htm>. Ellis, James. "Black Female Jazz Artists and Race and Gender Conscious Protest: Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald." 12 Nov 2001. <www.wam.edu/~ellisj/news_femalejazz.htm>. Foley, Jack. David Marolick, Strange Fruit: Billy Holiday, Cafà © Society, and an Early Cry for Civil Rights. The Alsop Review. Running Press. 9 Nov. 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   <www.alsopreview.com/foley/jfmargolick.html>. Keep on Pushing: Say it Loud. VH1 Productions, 2001. Margolick, David. "Strange Fruit: A Song that Reverberates in the American Soul." 14 Nov. 2001. <www.qkw.com/racematters/nytarchjb218.htm>.