Wow! Just -- Wow! I always admired her, but never knew this. I'm disappointed.

This looks to me like a case of ancestral possession. It's a lot more common than most people think. It often happens with creatives, sometimes without us even knowing it.

The ancestor need not be a blood relative; spirits see us "inside out." That is, they pick a host they vibe with and don't even notice the host's race or gender till later -- if ever. It happened to me a while back with a famous Black musician who had recently passed on. He liked my vibe, and he was curious about what it would be like to be a white female. I sang a few songs he had written posthumously, which he appreciated. I never went so far as Blackface, though. He never asked that of me, and I knew it would be wrong.

She could have honored the possessing ancestor without going Blackface -- maybe she didn't know any better. Still, I'm disappointed.