Billie Holiday
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Rewriting History: Pulitzer Prize Winner Suzan-Lori Parks Talks Bringing Iconic Stories to the Screen
As Black History Month transitioned into Women’s History Month—Black HerStory Month, if you’re nasty (or The Root)—the highly anticipated stories of two major Black musical icons made their way onto our (still quarantined) screens. February closed with Andra Day’s onscreen debut in the untold story of Billie Holiday’s battle with the FBI; and as spring…
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United States vs Billie Holiday Is Rewriting Billie Holiday's Legacy
“Changing our narratives, manipulating our narratives and suppressing our narratives is a huge, integral part of continuing a system of oppression.” —Andra Day, Actor text Jazz singer Billie Holiday was unequivocally a Civil Rights icon, but history doesn’t remember her as such. As the first person to perform “Strange Fruit” on stage, Holiday, a Black…
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Exclusive: I Spent a (Lady) Day on the Set of Lee Daniels' The United States vs. Billie Holiday
On a brisk day in Montreal, Quebec in November 2019, I entered the sound stage for the production of The United States vs. Billie Holiday. In turn, I also entered the eccentric world of director Lee Daniels, who noted that he chose Montreal because it was the closest resemblance to a past Harlem that doesn’t…
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Bridgerton, Sundance and Strange Fruit: Virtual Events to Help Wrap Up Your January
We made it, y’all! We’ve survived four crazy years of a Trump Presidency and now we can all go outside and bask in the glow that is the Biden administration. Actually—scratch that. We still can’t go outside (umm…hello, worldwide pandemic.) But we can still bask and we can still virtually attend some fun and informative…
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Watch: The United States vs. Billie Holiday Trailer Debuts as a 'Call to Arms'
Billie Holiday and the art she created is forever relevant. While the anticipated film, The United States vs. Billie Holiday has gone through some distribution challenges perhaps the film ultimately debuting on a streaming platform at this time is divine order as we experience a global pandemic, a racially-charged uprising, political warfare and more. Directed…
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'Billie Holiday Is Probably One of Our First Civil Rights Leaders': Lee Daniels Discusses His Upcoming Biopic at The Root Institute
It’s been nearly 50 years since the debut of Lady Sings the Blues, which was a huge inspiration for writer-director-producer Lee Daniels—so much so, that he is now directing his own biographical drama about the iconic Billie Holiday, The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Through her art—especially her stirring song, “Strange Fruit”—Holiday became pivotal in…
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Trevante Rhodes and Andra Day Cast in Lee Daniels' Billie Holiday Project Set to Explore Lesser-Known Love Affair
God bless the child who’s got his own Billie Holiday biopic. According to Deadline, one of Lee Daniels’ new projects, The United States vs. Billie Holiday is set to start production soon and has cast a few leading roles, including Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight, Bird Box), singer Andra Day, Da’Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite is My Name),…
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2019 Tribeca Film Festival: The Apollo Provides a Soul-Stirring Tribute to the Iconic Sanctuary for Blackness
The 18th Tribeca Film Festival invited its attendees to the beautiful blackness of Harlem for its opening night film, The Apollo. Naturally, the documentary screening was held at its namesake theater. I had the honor of attending opening night, and by extension, I had the honor of stepping into The Apollo Theater for the very…
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Review: Dael Orlandersmith's Lady in Denmark Bears the Strange Fruit of Billie Holiday's Legacy
When Dael Orlandersmith said she wanted to write a play about a Danish white woman who loved Billie Holiday, people balked. Why would a black female playwright who has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her meditations on race, colorism and culture want to … well, write outside of her race? “I said, ‘Why can’t…
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Telling Untold Stories: Playwright and Performer Dael Orlandersmith Gets Under Our Skin
A community in the aftermath of unrest. The painful legacy of abuse, as experienced by black boys and men. The intimately insidious effects of colorism. The remembrance of a life lived and love lost, inspired by a chance encounter with a famously tragic jazz singer. Playwright and actor Dael Orlandersmith’s particular skill is to tell…