Strange Fruit

                  Prior to reading “Strange Fruit”, I had no idea who Billie Holiday was, or what “Strange Fruit” was. As I began reading it, I found it really amazing how she had used music to address the issues of ‘racial injustice’ and focused her whole repertoire around it. The mix of the blues and jazz was a great combination for the issues she was addressing. When I read that her father had died because of the care he could not receive due to the segregated hospitals it broke my heart. By the time he had reached Dallas, and was able to sick medical attention it was too late. He had pneumonia and passed way. When this happen, it really made me think more about segregation and why it had even existed. How was it ever right to allow someone more rights than another because of their skin color? How was it right to not receive medical attention because of the color of your skin? What I liked about Billie Holiday, was that after this had happened to her personally, she had become even that much more passionate about what she had done in her career. She loved what she sang about and how she perceived herself, and I think that is a very important trait to have as an artist. Although those were some of the things that stuck out to me in the reading, another thing had also stuck out to me.

                  “Billie Holiday’s recording of “Strange Fruit” achieved something far greater than the permanent preservation of her most important song, the aesthetic centerpiece of her career. Eventually, millions heard her sing this haunting antilynching appeal- more people than herself would have imagined (197)”. This quote really stuck out to me because millions had heard this song and it had influenced many to open the public’s eyes on not only the issues with lynching, but also the issues with racism. This was amazing to me because issues that people had to become aware of, she made that happen. She had a huge impact on those issues and people had tried harder and harder to have something done about it. Holiday wasn’t only out for herself because the issues were relevant in her life; she was trying to protect everyone. The song, “Strange Fruit” really did make people aware of the issues going on at the time.