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Friday, May 11, 2012

Lynching

Strange Fruit
Composed by Abel Meeropol (aka Lewis Allan)
Originally sung by: Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
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
The 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

Reconstruction


13th Amendment: Freed the slaves
14th Amendment: Declared all African Americans to be free and full citizens
15th: Amendment:Said that a citizen's right to vote cannot be denied because of race