Many jazz artists as we know it are very talented. Their talents are unique in that they can translate human emotions by singing or playing their instruments. Many have the ability to reach out and touch people's souls with their incredible gifts. Although this art of transforming notes and lyrics into emotional images may seem natural, the audience must wonder where its influence comes from. For Billie Holiday, her career was heavily influenced by her personal experience, the effects of the Great Depression, and the racial challenges of African Americans during her time. The Great Depression was a major historical event that affected thousands of Americans during the 1930s. It was a time when economic decline left people jobless as they struggled to keep a family and home together . It was certainly a devastating time for everyone. For African Americans, this was a struggle made all the more difficult by the fact that segregation and oppression of blacks were just as strong as when Jim Crow laws were first adopted. “African Americans were only 64 years beyond slavery, with de jure segregation relegating them to second-class citizenship and generally the lowest, dirtiest jobs. » (Bilal) During the Great Depression, music and jobs were taken away by whites and African Americans suffered greatly. Holiday faced racial challenges in which her social status, as a young black woman, left her with few work options. Occupations such as washerwoman or prostitute were such jobs expected of a young woman of her time. Beduya, 2 years old. The song "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" could perhaps describe Holiday's sadness and experience during the Great Depression. The phrase "Homesick, tired, all alone in a big city" can be ...... middle of paper ......D. “Demanding Equal Opportunity: African Americans in the Great Depression.” » Choice 47.10 (2010): 1995-.ProQuest Central. Internet. November 15, 2011. Hamlin, Jesse. "Billie Holiday's biography, 'Lady Sings the Blues,' may be full of lies, but it gets to the heart of Jazz Great." San Francisco Chronicle September 18, 2006: G.1. ProQuest Central. November 16, 2011Jackson, Buzzy. A bad woman who feels good about the blues and the women who sing them. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2005. N. pag. Print.Schoettler, Carl. “Tinged with sorrow but sung with love; Blues: “Strange Fruit,” the sad dirge of lynching, is forever linked to Billie Holiday. A new book about the Baltimore singer recalls the moment she introduced it. The Baltimore Sun of June 13, 2000: 1.F. ProQuest Central. November 16, 2011Teaching, Terry. “The Jazz of John Hammond.” Commentary 122.3 (2006): 55+. Academic OneFile. Internet. November 16. 2011.