This week (April 20) marks the 86th anniversary of Billie Holiday's first recording of "Strange Fruit," the anti-lynching protest song written by Abel Meeropol (RFC founder Robert Meeropol's father).

In her honor, we share this wonderful piece in which the NYT invited ten writers and musicians to discuss their favorite Billie Holiday song/recording. Through their eyes we bear witness to her artistry and conviction and gain a window into how personal many of her performances were.

On this day in 1915, the talented, iconic blues singer Billie Holiday was born. The activist artist performed and popularized Abel Meeropol's powerful and haunting anti-lynching protest song, "Strange Fruit."

Happy birthday to James Baldwin, the extraordinary Black queer author, poet and civil rights activist, whose life and legacy we celebrate today.

In his honor, we share this intriguing article by The Atlantic praising the brilliance of his letters. The piece begins with a correspondence in 1974 between Baldwin and Abel Meeropol, his one-time high school English teacher who wrote "Strange Fruit" and, along with his wife, adopted the sons of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg:

Today marks 65 years since the death of Billie Holiday, whose famous rendition of "Strange Fruit" was named Time Magazine's "song of the 20th century". Written by Abel Meeropol, father of RFC Founder Robert Meeropol, it was a strong condemnation of lynchings and racial terror in America. Holiday regularly performed the song and refused to stop, even after the FBI made her a target and hounded her until the end of her life.

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day via Harlem World Magazine tells the origin story of the protest song, "Strange Fruit." It begins with Abel Meeropol's penning of the original poem, "Bitter Fruit," which he wrote as an expression of his horror about the lynchings of Black Americans during that era. Later on in the late 1930s, Billie Holiday was introduced to the song and began to perform it in nightclubs, eventually recording it and making it one of the most iconic American protest songs ever written.

Last weekend marked the 85th anniversary of Billie's Holiday's recording of "Strange Fruit," a protest song against the lynching of Black Americans, written by Abel Meeropol (father of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol).

Holiday's recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978, well after her death in 1959. Time Magazine named it "Song of the Century" in 1999, and according to Mississippi Today, the British music publication Q included it among their "10 songs that actually changed the world."

Happy (almost) birthday to activist artist Billie Holiday, born on April 7, 1915. The talented, iconic blues singer performed and popularized Abel Meeropol's powerful and haunting anti-lynching protest song, "Strange Fruit."

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day is an event on Thursday, February 8th that we've really looking forward to attending. There's still time to register for "The Billie Holiday Symposium," at Hunter College's Roosevelt House (both in person and on Zoom). The gathering celebrates "the artistry of Billie Holiday and the publication of Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday's Last Year, a new book by Paul Alexander."

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day comes from Miami, Florida where a new art exhibit “Strange Fruits: Homage to Purvis Young” debuted, featuring a collection of works by local and international artists paying homage to celebrated artist (and Miami native) Purvis Young. The artists were invited to contribute pieces that speak to the Black experience and/or in the spirit of Young's work.

Today's Strange Fruit Mention of the Day is courtesy of The Black Wall Street Times and highlights a fascinating upcoming in-person and virtual program at The Guthrie Center: "Tri-City Collective, in partnership with Tulsa Artist Fellowship and the Woody Guthrie Center, will present 'Strange Fruit: The Art and Activism of Billie Holiday,' a live in-person and virtual discussion, on Saturday, December 16, 2:00-3:30 p.m. at the Woody Guthrie Center. The event, which is free and open to the public, coincides with the Woody Guthrie Center’s exhibition entitled Billie Holiday at Sugar Hill."