Billie Holiday used to close her act with the song Strange Fruit.
The "strange fruit" referred to in the song are the bodies of African American men hanged during a lynching. They contrast the pastoral scenes of the South with the ugliness of racist violence. The lyrics were so chilling that Holiday later said "The first time I sang it, I thought it was a mistake. There wasn't even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to clap nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping and cheering."This haunting song sung by the great Billie Holiday reminds us of a tragic time in our history. I do not have anything to say about it except that I cannot understand it and I am sorry that it happened. We must never forget it and we owe all people the right to be free and secure in their persons.
I do not understand why it is necessary for people to think that it is all right to put others down. It seems like a human characteristic that some segment of the population must be mistreated. The Jews were persecuted by Hitler and his henchmen. Nero blamed Christians, Africans were held in captivity and then when they were granted freedom they were persecuted and mistreated by unfair laws. Women are held as inferior in many societies in our world and not allowed the freedom everyone should enjoy. Today it seems that gays are the new segment of our population that must be the scapegoat for the religious extremists. These people seem to think that they have to have someone to hate to make themselves feel bigger or more worthy.
I used to have a home made sign up in my classroom.
You can't hold yourself up by putting others down.
Billie Holiday had a tragic life. She died at age 44. She had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with only $0.70 in the bank and $750 (a tabloid fee) on her person.
2 comments:
alas, it is as old as man - the fear of the 'other kind' and need to put them down lest they 'overwhelm' us.
I hope we keep working on it as nothing in life is to be feared, only understood.
Bro. Jay, you and I are both old enough to remember hearing Billie Holiday on the radio and occasionally seeing her on the primitive television sets of the 1950s.
"Strange Fruit" remains, for me, one of the most eloquent documents to arise from a period in our history all Americans need to deal with. Of course, the fact that "Lady Day" was one of the consummate musicians of the 20th century makes the work (it's FAR more than a "song") all the more effective.
I cannot listen to "Strange Fruit" very often--though I used to teach it regularly. It is simply too powerful to be used every day.
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