Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit - 1939

Strange Fruit was the first popular song that reached a mainstream audience which addressed the question of violence against black people in America and it made Billie Holiday, its original singer, a star. The song lived far beyond her death in 1959 and shaped protest music America throughout the 20th Century.Explaining History is funded through advertising and donations. For more content, journalism and ideas, visit the Explaining History Patreon page here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=763386 Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/explaininghistory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.