A review by gannent
Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday by Angela Y. Davis

fast-paced

4.0

The first 3/4ths of the book was really great. The lyrics analysis is super interesting and I learned a lot. Those sections focus pretty much exclusively on Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Bessie Smith. Only the last two chapters really discuss Billie Holiday, and those really felt like they should have been a separate article or book. They didn’t really seem to connect. Rainey and Smith were analyzed together and Holiday was analyzed separately, so that section didn’t feel as strong. But overall a really interesting book and I learned a lot.