Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from MSN's "20 songs that changed the course of musical history."
Billie Holiday's recording of "Strange Fruit" kicks off the list:
Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from singer Amahla, whose latest single, "Enough," deals with "inter-generational truths from Black communities, it deals with trauma, but also unity, and perseverance." The artist explains that her song was shaped by recent events, including Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict for George Floyd's murder and the news of the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright.
Today’s Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from The Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma courtesy of a new photo exhibit focused on Billie Holiday. According to the Director of The Center, Cady Shaw, “Woody Guthrie and Billie Holiday were iconic figures in folk and jazz music who left an indelible mark on America… Their performances and shared commitment to fighting against racism and injustice cemented their legacies as influential voices of resistance.”
Today's Strange Fruit mention comes from The Tennessee Tribune, highlighting a visual art project by Stanley Campbell Sr., the Memphis "Foot" Man. Campbell films himself in character to "remind, educate, and rebuild," and serve as a powerful embodiment of the courage displayed by the "gallant foot soldiers" who fought for justice and change in the 1960s.
Born on this day in 1924, James Baldwin would have turned 99 years old this year. Baldwin was once a pupil of Abel Meeropol, the high school English teacher who wrote "Strange Fruit" and, along with his wife, adopted the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
Today we celebrate the extraordinary author, poet, and civil rights activist. His profound words and unwavering dedication to social justice left an indelible mark on literature and the fight for equality.
Today’s #StrangeFruitMOTD reports on the premiere of a new film, “Deborah Jane, the screenwriter and Executive Producer of 'Strange Fruit: The Hip-Hopera,' is the first Black woman filmmaker to ever produce a cinematic Hip-Hop-musical. Her groundbreaking film recently celebrated its Red Carpet Gala and Film Premiere held at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California. The event was a unique milestone, not merely a single evening of celebration, but the start of a series of vibrant gatherings aimed at promoting global racial reconciliation.
Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Protest songs in honor of Black Music Month (in June), featuring Joe Hinton and Billie Holiday.
"In 1939, singer Billie Holiday recorded a song called 'Strange Fruit' – a song composed by Jewish American Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym Lewis Allan). The story goes that the lyrics were taken from a poem Meeropol wrote which was published in 1937. The protest song depicts the lynching of Black Americans hanging on trees like fruit. It makes you wonder why it took until 2022 to pass the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Law."
Today’s Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: “Brooklyn-based photographer Jon Henry has spent the last nine years in the making of his project ‘Stranger Fruit,’ a book with photos of Black mothers from every state in the country, who worry about the safety of their sons in the hands of the police.
Today’s #StrangeFruitMOTD comes courtesy of an update of the classic song entitled, "Estranged Fruit” from Fishbone featuring NOFX. According to a press release, "'Estranged Fruit' is Fat Mike’s update on one of the greatest compositions in this country’s songbook, Abel Meeropol and Billie Holiday’s 1939 'Strange Fruit.'" Learn more and listen to "Estranged Fruit" at https://consequence.net/2023/05/fishbone-nofx-estranged-fruit-stream/
Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from Cassie Williams’ powerful “poem and essay on black motherhood—and life, ‘Even Breathing Is Strange: Reflections on the 3rd Anniversary of George Floyd’s Murder:’