Happy birthday to James Baldwin, the extraordinary Black queer author, poet and civil rights activist, whose life and legacy we celebrate today.

In his honor, we share this intriguing article by The Atlantic praising the brilliance of his letters. The piece begins with a correspondence in 1974 between…

Today marks 65 years since the death of Billie Holiday, whose famous rendition of "Strange Fruit" was named Time Magazine's "song of the 20th century". Written by Abel Meeropol, father of RFC Founder Robert Meeropol, it was a strong condemnation of lynchings and racial terror in America. Holiday regularly performed…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day via Harlem World Magazine tells the origin story of the protest song, "Strange Fruit." It begins with Abel Meeropol's penning of the original poem, "Bitter Fruit," which he wrote as an expression of his horror about the lynchings of Black Americans during that era. Later on…

Last weekend marked the 85th anniversary of Billie's Holiday's recording of "Strange Fruit," a protest song against the lynching of Black Americans, written by Abel Meeropol (father of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol).

Holiday's recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978, well after…

Happy (almost) birthday to activist artist Billie Holiday, born on April 7, 1915. The talented, iconic blues singer performed and popularized Abel Meeropol's powerful and haunting anti-lynching protest song, "Strange Fruit."

Meeropol originally wrote the song as a poem entitled “Bitter Fruit” before changing…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day is uber local to the RFC office. It comes from Northampton, MA where a literary gathering, the WriteAngles Conference, organized by the Straw Dogs Writers Guild, will be taking place on Sat., April 6, after a five year hiatus. The keynote address will be given by Shanta Lee…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day is an event on Thursday, February 8th that we've really looking forward to attending. There's still time to register for "The Billie Holiday Symposium," at Hunter College's Roosevelt House (both in person and on Zoom). The gathering celebrates "the artistry of Billie Holiday…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from Miami, Florida where a new art exhibit “Strange Fruits: Homage to Purvis Young” debuted, featuring a collection of works by local and international artists paying homage to celebrated artist (and Miami native) Purvis Young. The artists were invited to contribute…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day is courtesy of The Black Wall Street Times and highlights a fascinating upcoming in-person and virtual program at The Guthrie Center: "Tri-City Collective, in partnership with Tulsa Artist Fellowship and the Woody Guthrie Center, will present 'Strange Fruit: The Art and…

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:

"Inspired by Jewish American Abel Meeropol's poem, the haunting and controversial 'Strange Fruit' was written as a…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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.

After his…

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…

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:’

It was worse than I thought, was my initial feeling after watching the killing of George Floyd…

Earlier this month on April 20th marked the anniversary of Billie Holiday recording "Strange Fruit" in 1939. The song was originally written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish activist, poet, and high school English teacher, in protest against the lynchings of Black Americans. (Abel and his wife Anne later adopted the…

Happy birthday to activist artist Billie Holiday, born #OnThisDay in 1915. She is perhaps best known for her performances of Abel Meeropol's powerful anti-lynching song, "Strange Fruit."

Meeropol originally wrote the stark and haunting song as a poem entitled…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes to us from Torri Williams, a Coalition Leader of the Marion Community Remembrance Project. The city of Marion in Indiana served as the inspiration for Abel Meeropol's anti-lynching song, "Strange Fruit," when he came across a gruesome photo of the 1930 lynching of…

Happy birthday to activist artist, feminist and civil rights icon Nina Simone, who would have turned 90 today.

In 1965 Simone recorded her own harrowing rendition of "Strange Fruit," the powerful anti-lynching song penned by Abel Meeropol and made famous by Billie Holiday.

Simone once called it "…

On this day (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 the song, "Strange Fruit."

He once said, “I wrote ‘Strange Fruit’ because I hate lynching, and I hate…

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes all the way from Spain, where our former Granting Coordinator Tori Montemurro now lives and works. She reached out to share an interesting connection to the Rosenberg Fund for Children (which was founded by the adopted son of Abel Meeropol, author of "Strange Fruit")…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Tomorrow (Jan 19th), PEAK Performances has announced a slate of five films to be released capturing live stage productions, with footage edited and directed by Alla Kovgan. Among them will be Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theater's "Strange Fruit" performance, named for the anti-…

A new #StrangeFruitMOTD courtesy of NBC's recent video clip celebrating Black Music History month. The clip highlights Billie Holiday and her performance of "Strange Fruit," originally a poem by Abel Meeropol protesting the brutal practice of lynching.

"When…

This exciting news & programming from the National Black Theatre in Harlem is today’s #StrangeFruitMOTD and comes to us via WBGO.org:

“These are exciting times for the National Black Theatre in Harlem.

NBT was founded in 1968 by the late Dr.…

Today's #StrangeFruitMOTD comes from Genevieve Gaignard's solo exhibition, "Strange Fruit," for Los Angeles Vielmetter, "a collection of pieces which agitate against the historical and modern-day lynching of Black Americans." This mixed-medium collection includes "…

Today's #StrangeFruitMOTD is a haunting reimagining of Abel Meeropol's anti-lynching song, "Strange Fruit." Tony award winner Tonya Pinkins delivers a powerful performance of "Strange Fruit, Revisited," a George Floyd protest song which tells a modern story of anti-…

Today's #StrangeFruitMOTD comes from Tank and The Bangas' song, “Stolen Fruit,” which they released ahead of their latest album, "Red Balloon." The song is a commentary on slavery in the U.S. and draws inspiration from Abel Meeropol's anti-lynching protest song, "…

#StrangeFruitMOTD: Violinist Jennifer Koh and singer Davóne Tines recently premiered their collaboration, a multimedia show “Everything Rises,” which is "an hourlong work that [the pair] have been collaborating on since they met. It has been a project of evolution…

Today's #StrangeFruitMOTD comes from Austin, TX where a Houston native high school student, Douglas Mills, Jr. auditioned for this season of American Idol with a powerful rendition of "Strange Fruit."

The song, written by Abel Meeropol and made famous by…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Congratulations to the hugely talented Andra Day for her Grammy win last night for "United States vs. Billie Holiday" in the "best compilation soundtrack for visual media" category!

We could not be more thrilled for her and the production team. If you still have not seen the…

Today’s #StrangeFruitMOTD is a haunting, a cappella rendition of Nina Simone's cover of the protest song originally made famous by Billie Holiday – "Strange Fruit." The stripped-down track allows the powerful lyrics to stand alone and “you can hear the talent and the…

This #StrangeFruitMOTD highlights “Dammit Wesley,” a visual artist from Charlotte, NC. “One of his most iconic murals ... named ‘Strange Fruit’ is a nod to the words from the songs [popularized] by Nina Simone and Billie Holiday.

When his artwork leads to one…

This Strange Fruit MOTD comes from Pittsfield, MA where the Black Legacy Project, a national initiative to foster racial unity, will premiere on March 6.

"[Todd] Mack and his colleagues from Music in Common have been gathering musicians from different backgrounds to record present-day interpretations of…

This visceral, deeply upsetting #StrangeFruitMOTD features a dance/theater piece by Donald Byrd’s Seattle-based Spectrum Dance Theater currently in production at Montclair State University in NJ.

The project, “which debuted in 2019, depicts racially motivated…

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 pretty interesting, drawing parallels between the story of the Marion, IN lynching that inspired the writing of…

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 ‘Strange Fruit’... During the ’60s, Simone paid tribute to Holiday by covering the classic. Sadly, the lyrics were…

#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 includes interviews with Abel's sons, RFC Founder Robert Meeropol and his…

#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 the song, "Strange Fruit."

He once said, “I wrote ‘Strange…

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 Meeropol and first recorded by Billie Holiday in the late 1930s.

From the episode's description: "Shockley,…

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, including the anti-lynch protest anthem, "Strange Fruit."

Of Strange Fruit, Chuck D says in the article's…

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 performance of Strange Fruit at Montclair State University.

As Byrd explains, "For 100+ years, there's been…

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 iconic songs ‘Strange Fruit’ and ‘Stormy Weather’—features a repertoire of folk, contemporary, African, Indigenous as…

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 commitment necessary for reconciliation.”:

"On August 18, 1916, five Black community members were lynched in Newberry…

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 younger son of Abel and Anne, RFC Founder Robert Meeropol contributed background information for the play.

The…

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 Walnut Street Bridge, area residents got their first look Sept. 19 at the memorial to the innocent man and his…

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 quilts spanning 300 years.

As Susan Saccoccia shares in the…

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 'Strange Fruit, Revisited.' It is inspired by both the current racial inequities and the Billie Holiday classic.

…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: From WBUR’s “7 Albums to listen to this fall,” we’re excited for Naomi Westwater, 'Feelings':

🔳 “Boston’s Naomi Westwater uses their newest release, a kaleidoscopic six-track EP aptly called ‘Feelings,’ to better express a multitude of their own."

🔳 "Their spectrum of…

Strange Fruit MOTD: “‘The people on my quilt didn’t get funerals’: 10-ft quilt at ArtPrize honors victims of lynching"

"‘They were lynched. They were murdered. They were shot. So, I want [viewers] to look at it as memorial for ppl who have been murdered in this most horrific way,’ says April Shipp. Her quilt…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Rolling Stone just updated their list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Take a look (pay special attention to #21), then let us know if you agree with their top 50 🤔
https://…

This Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from our friends at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): “On July 17, the Tallahassee Community Remembrance Project gathered with EJI and community members in Cascades Park, under the oak tree at the corner of East Gaines and South Meridian Streets, to dedicate a…

ICYMI: A thorough and personal reflection from RFC Founder Robert Meeropol about his father Abel Meeropol and his anti-lynching protest song "Strange Fruit." This is a recording from the World Fellowship Center's June 28th virtual event, "Strange Fruit: the Inside Story" covering the history and origin of the song…

An alternative anthem that we love from Activist Artist, Jean Rohe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay1iC1zt24A.

#artistsasactivists #strangefruit

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Announcing a 2nd(!) opportunity next week to hear from RFC Founder Robert Meeropol: a new online event, "Strange Fruit, the Inside Story," hosted by the World Fellowship Center. As the son of Abel Meeropol, who wrote the music and lyrics to the anti-lynching anthem "Strange Fruit…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: The lyrics to "Strange Fruit" were not subtle; the song's author Abel Meeropol juxtaposed the "pastoral scene of the gallant south" against graphic depictions of lynching, which the article describes as a "sickening historical tale."

According to PBS, Billie Holiday began…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: "An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.” -Nina Simone #artistsasactivists #strangefruit

Which protest songs or other works of art were the most…

No more #strangefruit.

#artistsasactivists #justiceforgeorgefloyd

. . . . . . .
#Repost @…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: Billie Holiday was initially hesitant to perform "Strange Fruit," an anti-racist protest song written by a communist poet and teacher, Abel Meeropol. And for good reason. She "was (rightfully) concerned about being targeted at her performances" but tested the waters and eventually…

Strange Fruit Mention of the Day: "Many decades after it was first recorded by Billie Holiday, 'Strange Fruit' continues to be terrifyingly resonant. The song, which verbalizes the horrors of racism in the American South, has been covered countless times by artists across genres, from Tori Amos to Andra Day. But…

Artists as Activists Mention of the Day: In his fascinating review of Aaron Leonard's new book, The Folk Singers and the Bureau: The FBI, the Folk Artists and the Suppression of the Communist Party, USA—1939–1956, Mat Callahan explores the targeting of political organizers (including Ethel & Julius Rosenberg)…

Sharing this excellent piece about the history of the iconic protest song "Strange Fruit" for today's joint Strange Fruit & Rosenberg Mention of the Day: From the article, "In the 21st century, 'Strange Fruit' has lived on, sampled in the 2000 song 'What’s Really Going On,' in which the singer Dwayne Wiggins…