Billie Holiday's life
This project is based on the tragic life of Billie Holiday. I created these illustration through a series of different collages. I used lizards instead of humans to add a non fiction feel to my work.
Harry Ansligner was a United States government official. He was an individual who declared war on drugs. He was also a man who hunted Billie Holiday. Jazz music was the opposite of everything he believed in. He truly hated anybody who associated themselves with Jazz. He was responsible for the terrorisation of Billie Holiday and was the driving force behind her relentless struggle as a black individual. He employed people to sell her heroin knowing past her addiction to drugs and they planned everything outside the bar where she performed.
Billie Holiday loved performing. It was her favourite thing to do and no matter how much someone tried to stop her, she never had. She adored singing and it was the only thing keeping her alive. She put so much passion into her songs and her voice was so deep, beautiful and powerful.
Billie Holiday’s past was tragic. She became a prostitute at the age of 14 alongside her mother. She always had constant throwbacks about her past which is one of the main reasons why she kept falling back to using drugs. It was her only way to escape.
Anslinger destroyed Billie’s life. The people he hired to sell her heroin disguised themselves as bartenders and pretended to be friends with her. She trusted them, used the drugs and got caught. Just like Anslinger had planned it all.
After Billie Holiday was caught with buying and taking the drugs she was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison. She gets out after a year and loses her performance license which means she starts singing on public streets. People put out cigarettes on her, throw water bottles at her and treat her like garbage. Yet, she never stops performing, especially singing “strange fruit” about racism. Holiday falls back to drugs and takes herself to the hospital. Anslinger gets what he wanted.
It wasn’t the end of Harry Anslinger leaving Billie Holiday alone. Once taken to the hospital, she made a progress in her health. Her hospital room was raided by authorities. The police would stand by the door not letting anyone in. The doctors stopped giving her medications which resulted in her heart failing caused by cirrhosis of the liver on July 17, 1959. Her memory still lives on and she deserves to be remembered for something more than needles in her arm. She became one of the most greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century and her memory will live on forever.
Project Tags
Companies
University of Plymouth
- Education & Research