A young woman's response to the lynching of her lover.
"Strange Fruit"
Choreography by Pearl Primus
Performed by Dawn Marie Watson
"Strange Fruit" sang by Billie Holiday
Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Lewis Allen
Strange Fruit lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Music Sales Corporation
Strange Fruit: Plays on Lynching by American Women
by Kathy A Perkins (Editor), Judith L Stephens (Editor)
This anthology is the first to address the impact of lynching on U.S. theater and culture. By focusing on women's unique view of lynching, this collection of plays reveals a social history of interracial cooperation between black and white women and an artistic tradition that continues to evolve through the work of African American women artists. Included are plays spanning the period 1916 to 1994 from playwrights such as Angelina Weld Grimke, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Lillian Smith, and Michon Boston.
Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith
Wikipedia: Strange Fruit is a 1944 bestselling debut novel by American author Lillian Smith that deals with the then-forbidden and controversial theme of interracial romance. Its working title was Jordan is so Chilly, but Smith retitled it Strange Fruit prior to publication. In her 1956 autobiography, singer Billie Holiday wrote that Smith named the book after her 1939 song "Strange Fruit", which was about lynching and racism against African Americans. Smith maintained the book's title referred to the "damaged, twisted people (both black and white) who are the products or results of our racist culture."
