I SEE HISTORY THROUGH MY LIMITED VISION

Peace Begins With Peace
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1957 Part 1 Interview of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Judge Waring of South Carolina
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1957 Part 2 Interview of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Judge Waring of South Carolina
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1957 Part 3 Interview of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Judge Waring of South Carolina

The 3 interviews were uploaded at Youtube by: Supenmanu, Manuel from Germany

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Strange Fruit
Upload and text by: BedsUniversity of United Kingdom

As a child brought up in financially impoverished community, the artist remembers creating makeshift toys from the discarded items of others; old tyres being a particular favourite. Often such items were decorated in an attempt to personalise them.

In many cultures the "tyre swing", is associated with childhood memories of play, often being found in woodland clearings or near water.

The upheavals in 1980-90's South Africa witnessed the establishment of the 'tyre necklace', a punishment which involves placing a tyre soaked in petrol around the victim's neck and setting it alight.

These things, amongst others, inform the making of this work. The title of the piece and soundtrack references a dark period in American History.

"Strange Fruit" is a song most famously performed by Billie Holiday that condemns American racism, particularly the practice of lynching and burning African Americans that was prevalent in the South at the time when it was written.

In her autobiography Lady Sings the Blues, Billie Holiday suggests that she, together with Lewis Allan, her accompanist Sonny White and arranger Danny Mendelsohn put the poem, written by Abel Meeropol, to music.

The "strange fruit" referred to in the lyrics are the bodies of African American men hanged during a lynching. They contrast the pastoral scenes of the South with the ugliness of racist violence. The lyrics were so chilling that Holiday later said "The first time I sang it, I thought it was a mistake. There wasn't even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to clap nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping."

Southern trees bear a strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swingin' in the Southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees

Pastoral scene of the gallant South
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is the 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

Project work by 2006 graduate Terry Massiah.

Billie Holiday in video singing Strange Fruit

From: 29 year old Brazilian MonsieurBaudelaire

The Terrible Piece of History

Barack Obama had a white mother and a black father

Pastor Jane Fisler Hoffman

Peace