Video by: MonsieurBaudelaire
Video Description:
Rare Live Footage of one of the firtst
anti rascism songs ever.

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Tags: antiracism billie black fruit holiday jazz singers strange white  billie holiday strange fruit See more videos uploaded by MonsieurBaudelaire

Comments for this video on YouTube

She is for sure ... ( 3 days ago by cabock2008)

She is for sure crying a little in this song. Damn. What an amazing song.

i remember my mum ... ( 2 days ago by shantiapaz)

i remember my mum playing this song

I can feel the pain ... ( 2 days ago by MeTooU2)

I can feel the pain. So powerful!

Do you really think ... ( 2 days ago by tranmere789)

Do you really think that these members of mob lynching people were christians? This song is one of the most important in history. And you know what? A heard it first time when i was kid. But still understood what Billie was singing about. It's amazing coz my motherlanguage is not english. It has universial message to all of uss.

expresses a verry ... ( 2 days ago by 1957attilazaborszky)

expresses a verry dark side of afro american history

When she cries out ... ( 2 days ago by Dl234ivi5)

When she cries out near the end.... It sends chills down my spine. She has so much emotion - she's wonderful.

AFRO?!?!?! what the ... ( 2 days ago by NikkieDe)

AFRO?!?!?! what the????

wow just the ending ... ( 2 days ago by NikkieDe)

wow just the ending...and you can see the pain...i've never

Excellent! This ... ( 2 days ago by jzzeffect)

Excellent! This video was recorded at BBC in London, England late in her career. It's obvious that her vocal range had diminished by this time, but the depth of feeling and emotion that she gave to her art was at it's peak. Many people know about her abusive relationships and drug use, but few people know that her insistance to get this song recorded brought worldwide attention to the crime of lynching in America. Lady Day was a pioneer in the fight for civil rights.

this song was ... ( 2 days ago by Kreiness)

this song was written by jews

oh my gawd really? ... ( 2 days ago by LuluBomber)

oh my gawd really? no wonder its so amazing

ha. what? ( 2 days ago by Kreiness)

ha. what?

edit: just one jew ... ( 2 days ago by Kreiness)

edit: just one jew, actually. wiki the backstory on this song. very interesting.

you must be ... ( 2 days ago by lorimneal)

you must be referring to darkwingduck. no doubt she had seen lynchings and was coloring the song with her experience.

wow....does anyone ... ( 2 days ago by kellflo)

wow....does anyone notice how everyone clapped very briefly at the end and just as suddenly stopped?

and what? ( 1 day ago by LVISANGEL)

and what?

thats retarded, ... ( 1 day ago by uniiverselove)

thats retarded, what about all the white slave masters who raped black slaves? Reasoning for mixed/mulatto children who were ostracized for being of White and Black ethnicity. You cannot say the official reason was that- Tell me where you read that shyt.

my comment ended up ... ( 1 day ago by uniiverselove)

my comment ended up in the wrong place..oh well. this song is brilliant, this lady is unbelievable.

It's written by ... ( 19 hours ago by qnom10)

It's written by Lewis Allen idiot !

It's written by ... ( 19 hours ago by qnom10)

It's written by Lewis Allen idiot..

You think the KKK ... ( 8 hours ago by amyjohnson11)

You think the KKK are going to mention slavemasters raping the black slaves? They had an agenda, and they skewed things to suit that agenda, including framing black men for supposed 'crimes' so that it smokescreened the true reason behind the lynching, ie pure race hatred.

IT DOESN'T MATTER; ... ( 7 hours ago by omeca)

IT DOESN'T MATTER; Obama was elected so there is no such thing as racism anymore.

i wish that was ... ( 4 hours ago by Blabersmakavitch)

i wish that was true but we all no its not

Actually there are ... ( 2 hours ago by bennt55)

Actually there are a lot of statistics showing an increase in hate crimes and racism for our generation. im glad for Obama's victory, but just remember those guys that wanted to assassinate him in Tennessee. racism is alive and well in America, but hopefully Obama will help put an end to that