Oh, this is a story you do want to see. It will enrage you. It is an excerpt from a new book on how the federal government's war on drugs began by taking the life of Lady Day.
It is the tale of an insipid little man, drugged by a little bit of power and inflamed by his own racism and ignorant hatred of the most notable and only original American musical art form — JAZZ — that he sent agents into Harlem to cozy up to one of the most gifted singer-songwriters the US has ever known. He instructed the agents to plant drugs, and they hounded her until she was dead. That's how this forgettable little bastard saved his job — by taking away an unforgettable artist.
The book is Chasing The Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs published by Bloomsbury.
And here's a link to the story that will infuriate you.
The Hunting of Billie Holiday How Lady Day found herself in the middle of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics' early fight for survival.
If you're on the East Coast and not buried by a snow storm, see the author, Johann Hari, at lunchtime at Politics and Prose in Washington DC Thursday, the 29th of January, at lunchtime at the 92nd Street Y in New York City Friday, the 30th of January, and in the evening at Red Emma's in Baltimore, the 4th of February.
On Twitter, the author is @johannhari101