THE SOCIAL HISTORY OF A SONG
These are the opening words to one of the world's most famous protest songs. Its music and lyrics were written by Abel Meeropol (pen name Lewis Allan), a Bronx public school teacher — but are often attributed to Billie Holiday, who first sang "Strange Fruit" in 1939 at Barney Josephson's Café Society, New York's first integrated nightclub.
The history of this anti-lynching song explores the alliance between American Jews and African-Americans in the struggle for civil rights.
With:
Billie Holiday, Amiri Baraka, Abbey Lincoln, Pete Seeger, Cassandra Wilson, and Michael and Robby Meeropol.
(2002, 57 minutes)
For more information, visit the PBS website:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
