#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 brother Michael Meeropol.
#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.”
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 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.