Mother Teresa and Billie Holiday

Mother Teresa has always been a person that I have greatly admired for her tireless work, the love and caring she gave to the poor and sick. Mother Teresa’s body may be dead but she remains a unique and immortal legend. She remains inspirational to many because she is everlasting proof that happiness and serenity lie in boundless giving and caring, rather than worrying about one’s own material comfort and security. The one word that comes to mind which I think best describes her is: humility. Therefore, I will be focusing on that concept when finalizing some quotes that I think capture her true essence.

Some Parish priests that I spoke with other winter break recommended many resources from Catholic Digest, Boston Catholic Television (BCTV), EWTN, and other catholic organizations. I found a short Prayer for Mother Teresa, and while I won’t post it on this blog, I hold it dear to my heart because of its genuine motivation. This prayer also highlights Mother Teresa's daily commitment (I can bring it to our next meeting).

After talking with some Eucharistic ministers at the archdiocese of Boston (Cathedral of the Holy Cross) I was told to research/review a visit and interview that documented Mother Teresa’s visit with the Franciscan community of Cincinnati in 1981. The information that I’ve discovered regarding that event is monumental for many reasons, but mostly because Mother Teresa held St. Francis of Assisi in great reverence (almost like a role model).

Along with the textual resources that I have reviewed, I have also watched the video Everyone, Everywhere where Mother Teresa candidly discusses many vital issues like “Who Are the Poor,” “How Do We Love,” and some of her own “Encounters”. Overall, I look forward to finalizing some of her strongest words.

At the simplest level, Billie Holiday was a phenomenal artist and woman. Even seen in the first record that she ever recorded—Holiday introduces innovative, artistic interpretations that place her skills and technique above par. Though she lacked the voluminous strength of predecessors like Bessie Smith, Holiday’s voice had a large impact that didn’t have to be measured in projection. However, running alongside her musical success was Holiday’s incessant struggle with drug and physical abuse. It’s very interesting/ironic to see how modern black female artists want to claim the shining/redeeming qualities of Holiday, but not the negative legacy of her drug abuse. My research around the infamous Billie Holiday has led me to a somewhat problematic standstill. Did the tragedies of her life affect her voice in the long run? Or was her vocal genius independent of her troubling experiences? With further research I hope to reach relatively conclusive answers. To help with my analysis I’ve been reviewing Farah Griffin’s latest book entitled With Billie. I’ve also reviewed Griffin’s essay on Billie and literature in the latest big box of complete works from Sony. There’s also a portrait of Billie’s experiences in Malcolm X’s Autobiography.

Since I’m a huge fan of jazz, and an admirer of Holiday’s music I have also written a musical analysis of two songs that I think isolate one of the most striking aspects of Holiday’s work: her ability to renew our attention by eschewing or complicating the expected emotional tenor of a song. The two songs I used were her first recording of Strange Fruit and What a Little Moonlight Can Do. I definitely recommend that everyone listens to those two songs alongside the lyrics—they’re both phenomenal!

I have a diverse collection of resources that will provide me with some of Billie’s most poignant words. One of the jazz professors at Columbia, Robert G. O’Meally, also recommended that I read a related novel entitled Corregidora by Gayl Jones. Though this book isn’t a direct biography of Billie Holiday, Jones tells a story that highlights female relationships to music and society (using conversational moments with a poetic cadence). I really enjoyed this book on so many levels and I think her words will help me draw correlations to Holiday’s musical career and life struggles.