Harlem Renaissance: The Strange Fruit By Billie Holiday

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Harlem Renaissance Essay
For centuries, African Americans endured unjustified oppression and stereotypes. Starting in Harlem, New York, the Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and political movement and a time for African Americans to redefine their image. It was when they developed and explored new and different forms of creative expression that would reflect on how their race had been treated. Through literature, art, and music, artist of the Harlem Renaissance used these forms as an outlet to express their feelings and to embrace black culture which ultimately lead to social change.
Artists used literature in the Harlem Renaissance to embrace black culture and to illustrate the struggle of living as an African American in America. …show more content…

For example, Billie Holiday’s song “The Strange Fruit”, protested the lynching of African Americans. She sings, "Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze / Here is fruit for the crows to pluck / For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck / For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop" (lines 9-12). Her use of metaphors help listeners understand the pain that African Americans went through. Essentially, Holiday’s song struck so much emotion and perfectly portrayed the suffrage of African-Americans and thus promoted social change. Moreover, “Roll Jordan Roll” written by Charles Wesley, was a song sung by slaves that are about them seeking freedom. It is said: ”I said roll, Jordan, roll / Roll, Jordan, roll / My soul ought to rise in heaven, Lord / For the year when Jordan rolls” (lines 5-8). This song was sung to spread hope among others slaves. “Roll, Jordan, Roll” alludes to the Biblical reference of the River Jordan, which Israelites used to escape from Egyptians to enter the Promised Land. The River Jordan can be interpreted as The Mississippi River or The Ohio River to signify a direction of an escape. If they used these rivers, they were able to flee to Canada to be free. Therefore, this song contributes to social change because slaves sang this song to represent the crossing from persecution to freedom (Historical Society). As a result, music played an important outlet of expression for African Americans because it argued against social injustice by showing their struggles faced by African

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