MOTD: Feb 28, 2022
MOTD
This video from SALT was produced in 2014 to honor the 75th anniversary of Billie Holiday's first recording of "Strange Fruit."
The narrators take a faith-based/religious lens, which we think is… Read More
MOTD: Feb 24, 2022
MOTD
One day after her birthday, another Nina Simone-focused Strange Fruit Mention of the Day highlights her “five greatest isolated vocals”: “Billie Holiday is the artist...most intrinsically linked with… Read More
MOTD: Feb 18, 2022
MOTD
Rosenberg Mention of the Day // A new podcast episode of "Now What?" with Carole Zimmer features Michael Meeropol, older son to Julius and Ethel, to discuss his parents and his childhood. The show… Read More
MOTD: Feb 17, 2022
MOTD
#StrangeFruit Mention of the Day: A news segment discusses the origin of the anti-lynching protest song, "Strange Fruit," written by Abel Meeropol and performed by Billie Holiday. The segment… Read More
MOTD: Feb 14, 2022
MOTD
#OnThisDay, February 14, 1910 Abel Meeropol was born. He was a teacher and a poet, most famous for writing the anti-lynching poem, "Bitter Fruit," which he would later adapt to music and retitle as… Read More
MOTD: Feb 11, 2022
MOTD
The PBS series Poetry In America devoted their latest episode to a poem entitled "you can say that again, billie" by Evie Shockley, inspired by the anti-lynching song "Strange Fruit," written by Abel… Read More
MOTD: Feb 10, 2022
MOTD
Strange Fruit Mention of the Day // Chuck D, frontman for Public Enemy and RFC Advisory Board member, collaborated with Audible to create "Songs That Shook the Planet" about Black protest songs,… Read More
MOTD: Feb 01, 2022
MOTD
Today’s Strange Fruit Mention of the Day features “Tony-nominated and Bessie-winning choreographer Donald Byrd and his Seattle-based company Spectrum Dance Theater” and their Feb 10-13 dance-theatre… Read More
MOTD: Jan 28, 2022
MOTD
Congratulations to Anne Sebba: her biography of Ethel Rosenberg was just short listed for the 2022 Wingate Literary Prize!
The UK-based honor “is awarded to the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to… Read More
MOTD: Dec 31, 2021
MOTD
We are honored to learn that The Guardian named this article one of their "US editor's pick: best of 2021." It was originally published on June 19th, on the 68th anniversary of Ethel and Julius… Read More
MOTD: Nov 24, 2021
MOTD
We love everything about this Strange Fruit Mention of the Day, which comes to us from Australia courtesy of a recycling, socially aware gospel chorus: “The Canberra community choir—named after two… Read More
MOTD: Nov 22, 2021
MOTD
This Strange Fruit Mention of the Day highlights Activist Artists using “the live play format [to allow] audience members to see themselves in the characters and understand the depth of the… Read More
MOTD: Nov 17, 2021
MOTD
We received an interesting message recently from a French writer/director, Vincent Hazard, who wrote a radio play about "Strange Fruit" and Abel and Anne Meeropol (Abel is the song's author). As the… Read More
MOTD: Nov 10, 2021
MOTD
Powerful words spoken at a ceremony to unveil a monument to a man lynched more than a century ago are today’s Strange Fruit MOTD:
“More than 115 years after an angry mob lynched Ed Johnson from the… Read More
MOTD: Oct 26, 2021
MOTD
It’s a rainy, fall day. Perfect reading weather. 🍂 Returning to this brilliantly written biography by Anne Sebba, "Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy."
In one passage, Sebba relates the story of… Read More
MOTD: Oct 26, 2021
MOTD
Today’s visually stunning Strange Fruit #MOTD comes from an exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Available through Jan. 17, 2022, “Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories,” highlights 50… Read More
MOTD: Oct 20, 2021
MOTD
Rosenberg Mention of the Day, courtesy of an excellent review of Anne Sebba’s biography of Ethel (we especially appreciate the reviewers conclusion re: Anne & Abel Meeropol):
MOTD: Oct 19, 2021
MOTD
Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: "Broadway and TV Star, Tonya Pinkins, sings a new jazz ballad that was released [on Oct 14th] on George Floyd's birthday, to honor his memory. The song is called '… Read More
"Thank you for making it possible for our family to attend the Children of Resistance commemoration. We are proud to be part of the RFC's 'beloved community'. Thanks again for your support, material and spiritual." -RFC Beneficiary Family