Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit “is probably one of the greatest songs composed telling the chilling story about lynching. A little unknown fact is that it was written by a Jewish man by the name of Abel Meeropol. Initially “Strange Fruit” originated as a poem written by Abel Meeropol, as a protest against lynching of African Americans. Meeropol meet Holiday in a bar, where she read the poem, and decided to make the poem into a song. The record made it to No. 16 on the charts in July 1939. This song is probably Holiday’s most famous song she ever sung throughout her whole life. In the end Strange fruit forces listeners to relive the tragic horrors of living in America as an African American. The vivid lyrics paints a picture that causes a person …show more content…
He starts of the song with the lyrics “Cold empty bed, springs hard as lead” this describes how Armstrong is living in a bad condition. This is an everyday lifestyle for Armstrong he sings “Feel like Old Ned, wish I was dead.” “All my life through, I’ve been so black and blue.” Old Ned is the slang term for the devil, which just like Armstrong is living in hell, but this has been they why he lived his whole life. This song may seem odd to his white audience because he was always seen as a happy Black person who can play jazz. The song continues, but it touches on the racism he has to deal with, because he is black.” My only sin...is in my skin” like African Americans today being black is considered something negative despite your behavior. The only bad act that Louis has ever did wrong is having black skin, which cannot be changed and is given to him from birth. The last stanza in the song is interesting because he says “How would it end...I aint got a friend …My only sin...is in my skin…What did I do...to be so black and blue?” This notes that oppression has Armstrong feeling helpless, and wondering how will this misery end. Louis Armstrong like many African Americans today live with the psychological and depression caused by racism in …show more content…
The main character Dan Freeman, who is the first black CIA agent with the goal of using guerrilla welfare to end white supremacy. After 5 years, he leaves the CIA to work in his native Chicago hometown for a social services agency. By night, he 's using his CIA training to teach a street gang to be the vanguard in an upcoming race war. This movie is basically based on the black power movement in the 1970’s. The movie touches on characters that are uncle tom’s, sambos and coons and how they are against the revolution for black Americans. In the end the movie talks about how the viewer must be ready for the revolution when it comes to their town. This music showed the positive image of both black men and women working together to down the racist system. In conclusion the spook that sat by the door by Sam Greenlee showed positive images that black women and men can relate with their
Although it is unknown if this brought the humor it needed, we can infer that Armstrong took this popular humorous piece, and manipulated it into an emotional and meaningful song. The title “Black and Blue” originally meant black skin, and a “blue” feeling of sadness. These meanings are relevant to this day in Armstrong’s rendition of the song, but blue may have also represented the bruises he may have received after being abused for his skin
“Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday conveys the inhumane, gory lynchings of African-Americans in the American South, and how this highly unnatural act had entrenched itself into the society and culture of the South, almost as if it were an agricultural crop. Although the song did not originate from Holiday, her first performance of it in 1939 in New York City and successive recording of the song became highly popular for their emotional power (“Strange fruit,” 2017). The lyrics in the song highlight the contrast between the natural beauty and apparent sophistication of the agricultural South with the brutal violence of lynchings. Holiday communicates these rather disturbing lyrics through a peculiarly serene vocal delivery, accompanied by a hymn-like
For Stanley, the blues tell the stories of the African-American community. Some of the stories talk about the harshness of their lives, but they also talk about the good times they had. [People] play the blues to get rid of the blues not to get them." (Lamb, 1). When people play or even listen to the blues, they are letting all of their worries go. They are not worrying about their job, the bills, or their kids. They are just trying to enjoy the moment when the blues are playing. The blues are some people's release from the stresses of their lives.
He was known as the Father of Jazz. He was most notable as an entertainer, however, he was a soloist that provided improvisations in regards to tunes. Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World” is the first song that comes to many minds when discussing jazz. He is also well known for his scat singing, However, he also had a political side. In his song “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue,” Armstrong talks about the color of his skin as a bad thing and how blacks were treated. In World War II he fulfilled by performing for the soldiers during a recording
In the play A Raisin in the Sun, the author introduces various symbols as the play progresses, representing the dreams and desires of the characters. Among all these symbols in the play, the names of the characters illustrate each character’s personality best. Although symbols are usually physical objects that represent an abstract idea or thought, names have become symbols in this play, including Beneatha’s own name and George Murchison’s nickname for Walter Lee Younger, Prometheus.
In “The Flowers,” by Alice Walker, the flowers are used throughout the story to symbolize the beauty and naivety of childhood. In the beginning of the story the author shows the main character Myop walking down a path along the fence of her farm. Myop sees “an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges…” The flowers are bright and colorful, reminding the reader of an innocent type of beauty often associated with them. This suggests the flowers were inserted in the story by Walker to reveal how young and innocent Myop appears to be. Later in the story, after Myop had discovered the dead body of a man who seemed to have been hung “Myop laid down her flowers,”. As Myop put down the flowers she was also putting down the last of her innocence.
He decides to not listen to her new reform and him and his friends rebel by throwing a party. The party has white people dressed up in black face and are imitating black people which shows the racial problems on their campus are far from being solved. The movie storyline was interesting and since it was social satire it made the plot outrageously funny, but also addressing a serious problems we have on college campus. I showed interest in the film because of the character Sam played a unique role on a majority white campus. I would consider the movie a must watch and would definite refer it to the African-American kids who seem to not fit their predominately white
“Mockingbirds do nothing for us but sing all day. That’s why it’s a sin to kill one” (103). To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells of a small town life, disrupted by an unfair trial of a black man accused of rape.It has many underlying points, like the children trying to meet Boo Radley and new friends in the summer. As named in the title, the mockingbird is used several times to symbolize innocence destroyed by evil, the mockingbird is an innocent animal doing nothing but singing, while the one who shoots it down is the evil one destroying all innocence. The mockingbird represents certain characters throughout the story who have been metaphorically “shot down”.
...Songs" Du Bois wonders, "Would America have been America without her Negro people?" Apparently he concludes it would not. In his aim to represent the African-American people to mainstream America, Du Bois offers his own narrative, in a variety of voices, to represent the whole. His various means of expression represent his particular experience, which is in many ways exceptional and outside of the norm for his time. This sets him apart from the mainstream of black America, yet also highlights his experience of dualism as an African American. Despite the fact that as a cultured Northerner he has access to the resources of white America, his testimony shows that he is "bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of them that live within the Veil."
Billie Holiday was an influential jazz singer with a rough childhood, that allowed her to confide in music for comfort. At the age of 18 Billie was discovered by a producer after a performance in an Harlem jazz club. . "Strange Fruit" is considered to be one of her signature ballads, and because of controversy that surrounded it, some radio stations banned the record—helped make it a hit. This song made me feel sad, because as an African American, I cannot imagine being murdered so painfully for being the color that I am. I am angry, disturbed, and frightened by the vivid description of the the bodies swinging from the trees because of something they cannot help, like a biological shade
...rtoon is one of guile and cunning. Much like singers at the time were known for sliding into notes and pitches, Armstrong slides artfully into themes of racial injustice in America, while maintaining a safe distance from provoking the audience. He merely leaves the interpretation there for those who seek it. For others, the cartoon can be read on the surface, which is probably what most of the audience saw when they viewed the cartoon short. Way too many African Americans of the era viewed Louis Armstrong as a sellout due to the fact that he didn’t politicize his ethic identity within his career; ultimately, Louis Armstrong did what he had to do, to do what he loves – share his music talents. However, this in no way came at the expense of him having his own opinions on American culture. He simply had to demonstrate these conceptions in an artful and smooth manner.
Many years ago, Abel Meeropol famously wrote “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...” The purpose of this poem was to describe the heinous lynching of African Americans in the south. They would be strung up to a tree and hung in front of crowds of hateful people spewing ignorance with no regard for human life outside of their own race. Sometimes their neighbors and loved ones would be present as well, while they struggled to free themselves and gasp for air before they eventually die. Although lynching is better known as the act of hanging a body up to a tree, there are also other acts that fit into the lynching
Louis Armstrong’s work appeals to humanity in various ways because he exemplified African Americans does have legal rights within the state itself to commit acts in public that would regularly be regulated centuries ago! Louis Armstrong was seen as a political item because in the past there was segregation. The momentum Armstrong built was very open to the public, “Armstrong’s “manhood” was never tarnished or bruised because it was always right in front of everyone without ambivalenc...
Billie Holiday was an African-American jazz singer and songwriter.Billie Holiday was the biological child of Sadie Fagan and Clarence Holiday. Sadie was thirteen when she had Billie. At the same time, Clarence was an irresponsible father who did not care about his daughter's Billie. From Billie's early life, she grew up in a broken family. In other word, she had no father to support throughout her childhood and her mother who was struggling financially as a teen mom that often neglect the time to take care of Billie. Therefore, Billie's childhood was missing love from both parents. Aside from that, Billie traveled from place to place along with her mother in order to survive. For example, Billie's mother worked as a server on the passenger railroad. Holiday was take care by her half-sister aunt named Martha Miller. Holiday was frequently running away from school. As a result of that, she was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd for nine months starting from March 19, 1925.Later on, she was released on October 3, 1925 to her mother who had opened a restaurant called East Side Grill. As a young girl, she did not receive much of formal school and Holiday was forced to drop out of school at the age of eleventh. Holiday's mom discovered that her neighbor named Wilbur Rich was raping her daughter's Billie. Once again, Billie was placed to the House of the Good Shepeard in protective custody as a state witness in the rape case. She was then released in 1927 and worked as an errand in a brothel. One year later, Billie's mother moved on New York City to find a better job as a prostitute in Harlem. On 1929, Billie also moved to Harlem to become a prostitute. Billie was fourteen when she was prostitute for $5 per client. Unfortunately, the...
Louis Armstrong’s rendition of “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue” altered various components of the original tune as he incorporated several jazz techniques typical of the 1920’s and pulled the piece out of its original context of Broadway. Doing so greatly changed the piece as a whole and its meaning, to call attention to the necessity of civil rights for the black population. Armstrong’s life was not purely devoted to music. As a civil rights advocate for the black population in the U.S., he grabbed the attention of the government through his fame and helped to bring equal rights to his brethren. But at times, Armstrong allowed his actions to undermine the importance of African American civil rights, which created negative sentiments