Billie Holiday Essay -- essays research papers

To understand the rock that Billie presented one must first go to the root or source of such controversy and examine Billies childhood. Billie was born Eleanora Harris to her father Clarence Holiday and mother Sadie Fagan who were just fifteen and thirteen years old, respectively, at the time (A 91). Born between 1912 and 1915 in Baltimore, the day of the month unsure, Billie grew up without her father, who moved away early on in her life. Billie and her mother used to fight a lot, when her mother was around. Much of the time Billie was left in the care of relatives or friends, many of whom were unloving (E). Billies relationship with her family was very weak, as Billie throughout her life and career never or rarely got family approval or recognition (W 13). The extent to which Billie did not get along with her family is evident as she was chastised for her grandmothers death at the age of six (E). The turmoil within Billies family was manifested when Billie commented later on in life that "As far as Im Concerned, all the Fagans are dead" (W 14). This made her family very mad and lead to their further abandonment of Billie. digression from the superficial tension between Billie and her mother, they did their best to remain loyal to one another and provide for each other (W 201). As Billie grew older, life grew harder and reality late became more and more real for her. At age 10, Billie was raped, further strengthening Billies image of reality. As Billie grew old...