How Did She Go From Trumpeting Jazz Queen To Nazi Prisoner?

valaida snow playing a trumpet
Briona Lamback
October 18, 2022

Valaida Snow wowed crowds across the world. She was 'Queen of The Trumpet,' a dancer and singer–a bonafide triple threat. But there's one odd reason her legacy has gone overlooked for decades.

Snow was a teller of tall tales. Like her performances, her life was a melody of exaggeration. She wasn't afraid to live on her own accord. While most of her peers were amassing jazz catalogs at home, Snow spent the height of her career abroad, living a chauffeured life.

When Nazi Germany swept across Europe during her extended stay in Denmark. Snow refused to return to the U.S. and ended up in a Copenhagen jail.

Later she claimed she'd been held captive in a German concentration camp.

Whatever the truth, Snow's legacy is a testament to refusing to give in to what THEY expect of us. For many, she should've been bending backward for the entertainment industry and singing for white folks. But she wasn't having that. She lived a storied life on her terms, deliberately opposing white supremacy.

It's nearly impossible for us to escape white supremacy in today's world because no matter where you go, anti-Blackness will follow. However, like Snow, we deserve to decide and create futures for ourselves, no matter who approves!

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