“But as an autobiographer, part of Holiday’s own task was to present a clear portrait of her place in the society in which she found herself. To her this meant showing how the stigmatized women who work as maids, singers, and prostitutes have their own values. She urges her readers to accept that, even with the lowest in society, characteristics such as strength, dignity, and the ability to survive should be seen as forms of virtue.”
Billie Holiday the Musician and the Myth by John Szwed
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