#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 Fruit’ because I hate lynching, and I hate injustice, and I hate the people who perpetrate it.”
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, jazz singer Cassandra Wilson, historian Robin D.G. Kelley, actor LisaGay Hamilton, novelist Beverly Lowry, and radio host Nick Spitzer join Elisa New to discuss the history of racism, violence, and artistic tradition in the American south."
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."
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 no acknowledgement for the most part about these lynchings. It's a little bit like those people have not been buried. We are offering a prayer up to them. To their memory."
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 well as gospel and spiritual music.
Rachel Gilks, Convener of Strange Weather, says that as well as bringing together people from all walks of life to sing together, ‘we’re very socially aware and want to do what we can for the planet and for Canberra.’
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 before a mob who jeered and cheered... The six who were lynched came to be known as the Newberry Six.
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.
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 two courageous attorneys.
Lakweshia Ewing of New Holy Temple Church of God in Christ told those gathered that the nation needs to address the root causes of injustice.
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.
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.
The goal is to raise money and awareness for the George Floyd Memorial Foundation. A non-profit organization started by Mr. Floyd's family. All the artists volunteered their time and talent for the Foundation and to advocate for racial justice.