Category Archives: Billie Holiday

Fall of Freedom Update

November 30, 2025 Faye Anderson

A few days before Fall of Freedom walking tour of Billie Holiday’s Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer published my opinion piece in which I wrote:

No artist has met the moment with more courage than Lady Day, whose 1939 recording of “Strange Fruit” was named song of the century by Time magazine in 1999, and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2002.

“Strange Fruit” is a timeless and empowering act of creative resistance

While Holiday is sui generis, jazz musicians were the vanguard of the civil rights movement.

At so-called black and tan clubs like the Down Beat and the Blue Note, Black and white people intermingled on an equal basis for the first time.

Jazz clubs were constantly harassed by Philadelphia police led by vice squad Capt. Clarence Ferguson and his protégé, Inspector Frank Rizzo. The nightspots became battlegrounds in the struggle for racial justice. Jazz musicians’ unbowed demeanor fashioned a new racial identity

[…]

Courage is contagious. When we gather on South Broad, we are the resistance.

In collaboration with Scribe Video Center, the walking tour began at the Academy of Music where Billie had several engagements, including on May 6, 1946.

We stopped at the former location of the Radnor Hotel, a Green Book site, where Billie and her husband-manager, Louis McKay, were arrested on February 23, 1956. The raid was led by Captain Clarence Ferguson of the Philadelphia Police vice squad. The arrest is depicted in the biopic United States vs. Billie Holiday.

The penultimate stop was the site of Emerson’s Tavern, the jazz club where Billie last performed in Philadelphia. Emerson’s is the setting for the Broadway play, “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”

The walk and talk ended at the former Attucks Hotel where on May 15, 1947, Billie’s room was raided while she was performing at the Earle Theater. Billie got a heads-up and fled to New York City where three days later she was arrested. She was subsequently convicted of narcotics possession and sentenced to one year and one day. Billie served her time at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia.

The following Monday, I plastered the sticker that was given to participants all over Freeman Alley, a graffitied place of remembrance on the Lower East Side. Freedman Alley is located about a mile from Café Society, the Greenwich Village jazz club where Billie first sang “Strange Fruit.”

In the participant feedback survey, I expressed my hope that Fall of Freedom would lead to Winter of Our Discontent and Freedom Summer.

To stay in the loop, send your name and email address to phillyjazzapp@gmail.com.

Advocacy, Billie Holiday, Walking Tour

Billie Holiday’s Philadelphia Walking Tour

November 9, 2025 Faye Anderson

Authoritarian regimes throughout history have targeted artists and cultural institutions. Early in his administration, President Trump issued an executive order that targeted the Smithsonian Institution.

Trump has taken over federal arts agencies and installed himself as chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He threatens to withhold federal funding from organizations that do not bend the knee.

Nina Simone said an artist’s duty is to reflect the times and the situations in which they find themselves.

Today, we find ourselves in a situation in which Trump wants to control the narrative.

Fall of Freedom issued an urgent call to artists, creators and cultural workers to stand united against the assault on our constitutional rights and authoritarian control. Fall of Freedom is a celebration of art, courage, and free expression.

No artist reflected the times more courageously than Billie Holiday whose recording of “Strange Fruit” was named Song of the Century by Time magazine in 1999 and included in the National Recording Registry in 2002.

Join All That Philly Jazz and Scribe Video Center on November 22, 2025 for this nationwide wave of creative resistance.

The walking tour will be guided by All That Philly Jazz Director Faye Anderson whose advocacy led to Billie’s induction into the Philadelphia Walk of Fame. We will visit the venues where Billie sang, the hotels where she stayed, and the site of the jazz club immortalized in the Tony Award®-winning “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”

Along the way, we will stop at places connected to Nina Simone and Paul Robeson, artists who, like Billie, used their voices to speak truth to power.

The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. To reserve your spot, scan the QR code or go here.

Art matters. Courage is contagious. We are the resistance.

Billie Holiday, Walking Tour

Happy Birthday, Lady Day

April 6, 2025 Faye Anderson

Born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 at Philadelphia General Hospital, Billie Holiday has long been the “Lady” in my life. At one point, I started my day by putting “Good Morning Heartache” on repeat.

Decades later while walking along Lombard Street, I came across Billie’s historical marker. The marker raised more questions than it answered. My curiosity about Lady Day’s time in Philadelphia led me to go beyond the marker and All That Philly Jazz was launched.

A new 13-part series narrated by jazz broadcaster Rhonda Hamilton, No Regrets: The Music & Spirit of Billie Holiday, explores Lady Day’s journey from Baltimore to the world stage.

The series features interviews with musicians and scholars, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Casandra Wilson, Angela Davis, Farah Jasmine Griffin and Robert O’Meally.

The audio series kicked off this weekend and runs for the next 12 weeks. No Regrets: The Music & Spirit of Billie Holiday airs Saturdays (7am) and Sundays (7pm) on WBGO 88.3 FM, WBGO.org and WBGO mobile app.