Before I read the article I decided to google “strange Fruit” and of course the audio version of Billie Holiday singing it came up.When I first saw the title Strange fruit I did not have any idea what it  could be about. But After hearing billie Holiday singing it I realized it was about the social injustice going on in the world.Obviously As an African American who have previous experience with discrimination I understood  why  this song is so powerful but for others who can’t relate to it. it might take them much longer to understand that her purpose  in singing this song was to  brought  the issue of racial inequalities to the mainstream audience.

This song was written  in 1939. Around that life was just horrible for African Americans.They did not have any freedom. Their life was full with restrictions any little things if other race ( White American) oppose to what they said or did it  would have resulted in their death. In the article  strange fruit mentioned how Billie holiday was discouraged ‘After nine years of hard work” and felt” at a loss as to why the public had failed to respond to her” (182)Billie holiday’s musical genre is the blue. The blue  as we mentioned in previou s discussion in class, most of the blue songs were seens an indirect personal protest and were used to highlight pain ; domestic abuse,alcoholism , Racial inequalities  I believe due to the fact  she was trying to reach out to the individuals that were racist they did not care to listen to her song because racial injustice did not have any impact on their life.Most people if something doesn’t affect them they don’t care about it

Normally when I find out that artist aren’t the one who their songs . it make me think differently 
about them but  it’s different for Strange fruit. I find it really interesting that Strange Fruit was written
by Abel Meeropol who was Bronx jewish high school teacher. I found out that he wrote strange fruit
 after  seeing the picture of the  lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, 
Indiana.Although it Wasn’t african American the Holocaust was occurring around that period. The holocaust started 1933 around that time Jews were being killed just because they were jewish just like how African American were being killed just for being African American. “ But unless one is an incurable racist it is difficult to listen to Billie Holiday singing”strange fruit” without recognizing the plea for  human solidarity, and thus for the racial equality”(1940 this quote is saying that anyone with any compassion  should understand strange fruit and should understand that by lynching people just because of the color of the person’s skin  their human rights is being stolen from them. Abel 
Meeropol had a lot of compassion and a lot  understand of the issues that were occurring during those periods.