Amen. 💙

That’s a difficult memory to process. She probably meant well. 💙🙏

Interesting. Thank you. 💙

Yes. He was an interesting person. I plan to do a thread on him in the future. 💙

You’re very welcome. 💙

Thank you. 💙

Thank you. 💙

Thank you. 💙

You’re very welcome. 💙

Thank you. I haven’t researched him yet. I will make a note in my spreadsheet. 💙

Thank you. 💙

They have nothing new to say.

Side note 2: Abel Meeropol used the pen name Lewis Allan in memory of his two stillborn children. In addition to “Strange Fruit,” he wrote “The House I Live In,” a patriotic song recorded by Frank Sinatra that advocated for religious and racial tolerance. I will write a thread on him in the future.

Billie Holiday - "Strange Fruit" Live 1959 [Reelin' In The Years Archives] YouTube video by ReelinInTheYears66

Side note:
Here is the 1959 footage of Holiday singing “Strange Fruit.” The raw emotion is palpable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DGY...

Billie Holiday at a recording session in 1939. The film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” chronicles the government’s efforts to suppress the song “Strange Fruit.” She never stopped performing it despite the relentless harassment. Photo Credit: Charles Peterson / Hulton Archive / Getty Images.

“Strange Fruit” was one of the first musical assaults on racism. It served as a declaration of war on injustice and a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. The recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress in 2002. /end

Billie Holiday (center) with her pianist, Bobby Tucker, and her road manager, James Asendio on May 20, 1947. She had been arrested at the U.S. Commissioner's office in Philadelphia for heroin possession. This incident was part of a long struggle with substance abuse and legal harassment she faced throughout her life. She was handcuffed to her hospital bed while dying of cirrhosis of the liver at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City in 1959.

Holiday faced severe threats, surveillance and government harassment for singing “Strange Fruit.” Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner Harry Anslinger used her known addition to initiate a campaign of persecution that involved stalking and multiple arrests and persisted until her death. /7

Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit."

Holiday re-recorded the track for her album Lady Sings the Blues. Haunting live footage exists from 1959, the year of her death. Her performances were intentionally harrowing. She would often sing it in darkness, with one spotlight on her, and no encore, leaving audiences shocked into silence. /6

Billie Holiday's recording of "Strange Fruit" on the Commodore Records label.

Holiday’s primary label, Columbia, refused to record the song due to its controversial nature, but allowed her a one-session release on the independent Commodore label. A powerful live version was captured at Philharmonic Hall in Los Angeles during a “Jazz at the Philharmonic” set. /5

"Strange Fruit" (1960) by Valerie Maynard.

The “strange and bitter crop” hanging from “poplar trees” refers to the bodies of lynched Black people, shocking the audience with descriptions of “bulging eyes” and “twisted mouth.” The song highlights “blood on the leaves and blood at the root,” emphasizing the deep-seated nature of racism. /4

Cover of a video about "Strange Fruit." Many images illustrating the song show lynching more explicitly.

Originally titled “Bitter Fruit,” the poem confronts Southern racial violence and lynchings, which were common during that era. It juxtaposes the beauty of nature with the brutality inflicted on African Americans, contrasting the “scent of magnolias” with the horrific “smell of burning flesh.” /3

Abel Meeropol was the son of Jewish immigrants who fled Russian pogroms. He taught high school English in the Bronx neighborhood where he was born, and wrote "Strange Fruit" as an expression of his strong anti-racist views.

The song was originally a poem written in 1937 by Jewish teacher Abel Meeropol under the pseudonym Lewis Allan. Meeropol, who was a high school teacher from the Bronx, was deeply disturbed by a 1930 photograph showing the lynching of two Black men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, in Marion, Ind. /2

Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit" in 1947. The song became one of her biggest hits. Photo credit: Library of Congress.

#ResistanceRoots

Today in history, 1939: Billie Holiday first records “Strange Fruit” for the independent label Commodore Records. The song, which protests the lynching of Black Americans, became her biggest-selling record and a definitive anthem of the Civil Rights Movement. /1

Tom Adelsbach on Instagram: "BREAKING: President Trump attempts to prove that he truly is the new Messiah by walking on the water of the famous Washington Monument reflective pool in Washington, DC. ... 8,926 likes, 472 comments - tom.adelsbach on April 17, 2026: "BREAKING: President Trump attempts to prove that he truly is the new Messiah by walking on the water of the famous Washington Monument ref...

Ah! He walks on water (self-powered.) 🤣🤣🤣
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory

We can’t afford two more years of unchecked power
—President Obama. 🇺🇸
Virginia answers back TOMORROW, April 21, 6 AM–7 PM. Same day registration available at your polling place. Vote YES to stop gerrymandering & protect fair House seats for our future.
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1/ UAE’s message is basically: “Backstop us, or we’ll route more oil and trade in Chinese yuan.” That is not noise. It is leverage aimed at the dollar’s global role. When that role erodes, the U.S. loses a hidden subsidy that helps keep borrowing cheap. #DV1 #ProudBlue #Voices4Victory #USDemocracy

A black and white print of the Statue of Liberty with boxing gloves, with the caption: MAGA IS Rigging the Midterm Election FIGHT BACK Virginia VOTE YES APRIL 21

Virginia, let's make history tomorrow! #VoteYesVirginia

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@carolecadwalla.bsky.social we were never consulted about AI, this is a good point 👇

Ukraine’s drone pilots hit Russian targets from 500km away New internet-based guidance system allows operation of unmanned aerial vehicles far from battlefield

With Russian attacks growing in intensity & Ukraine facing a shortage of air-defence missiles, UAVs have proven to be a cheap & effective solution. As of March, they were responsible for 70% of all Russian drones shot down in the Kyiv region.

archive.ph/2026.04.20-0...

www.ft.com/content/9287... ⬇️

Deep Water Horizon

Oilfield disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010

The same company with less safety measures goes deeper in more dangerous waters

Approved by 47

Anything to make money & endorse fossil fuels