How was Billie holiday an activist?

Answer 1

It depends on what you mean by "activist". Like many black artists of her era, Billie Holiday suffered a significant amount of racial prejudice. However, given her personal demons with a severe narcotics addiction problem, she had very little interest in what we now call activist activities. However, when presented with the song "Strange Fruit" she saw that the lyrics of the song would give her the opportunity to make a very strong, public statement against racism Nevertheless, the lyrics of the song were so controversial at the time that she took a lot of advice before recording it. Despite some very negative responses from a certain racist section of the public, the overall response to the song was favourable and she included in the repertoire of her live performances for the remainder of her life.