Chuck Darwin<p>On This Date:</p><p>On 20 April 1939, US jazz singer <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/Billie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Billie</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Holiday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Holiday</span></a> released the song <br>"<a href="https://c.im/tags/Strange" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Strange</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Fruit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fruit</span></a>." </p><p>The song was originally written as a poem by a Jewish songwriter, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Abel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Abel</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Meeropol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Meeropol</span></a>, <br>who wrote it in protest and response to the photo of <br>the <a href="https://c.im/tags/lynchings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>lynchings</span></a> of J. Thomas <a href="https://c.im/tags/Shipp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Shipp</span></a>, 18, and Abraham S. <a href="https://c.im/tags/Smith" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Smith</span></a>, 19 in Marion, Indiana.</p><p>Meeropol performed this poem under a pseudonym, Lewis Allan, with the name "Bitter Fruit" and eventually published this work in a teacher’s union publication under the title "Strange Fruit." </p><p>Meeropol got it handed to a nightclub owner who showed it to Billie Holiday.<br>---</p><p>Southern trees bear a strange fruit<br>Blood on the leaves and blood at the root<br>Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze<br>Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees</p><p>Pastoral scene of the gallant South<br>The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth<br>Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh<br>Then the sudden smell of burning flesh</p><p>Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck<br>For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck<br>For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop<br>Here is a strange and bitter crop</p><p><a href="https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/12659/strange-fruit-released" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">stories.workingclasshistory.co</span><span class="invisible">m/article/12659/strange-fruit-released</span></a></p>