Archives for February 2021

Residence Life Diversity Committee Consider This: February 25, 2021

February 25, 2021 by Rachel Brinley

Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body 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,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And 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.
Author Abel Meeropol, 1937; First Sung by Billie Holiday, 1939

As Hulu premieres The United States vs. Billie Holiday on February 26, 2021, it’s important to note that the reason why the Federal Bureau of Narcotics used an undercover sting operation to silence her voice. Using her addiction was an easy way for the U.S. government to prevent her from singing Strange Fruit at the end of every performance – the lights would dim, a single spotlight on Ms. Holiday, and waiter service would cease in the club so patrons would solely concentrate on her for a few brief minutes. The government was worried the song would lead to protests and outrage and they succeeded in silencing her for a year and a half while she was incarcerated. Federal authorities refused to reissue her cabaret performer’s license when she was released from prison. The rest of her career was spent performing sold-out concerts in Carnegie Hall.

According to NPR’s The Strange Story of the Man Behind ‘Strange Fruit’, the song was written by Abel Meeropol in 1937 after seeing photographs of a lynching in Indiana. An English teacher, Meeropol was a white Jewish Communist from the Bronx. He was distraught and overwhelmed by what he saw so he wrote the poem and then put it to music and a club owner persuaded Billie to sing it.

Strange Fruit was awarded the “Song of the Century” title by Time magazine in 1999 and is considered to be one of the first civil rights protest songs.

References:
Biography – The Tragic Story Behind Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”
The Guardian – Strange Fruit: the first great protest song
Youtube – Billie Holiday – “Strange Fruit” Live 1959 (Reelin’ in the Years Archives)

Residence Life Diversity Committee Dig This: February 22, 2021

February 22, 2021 by Rachel Brinley

Did You Know These 4 Famous Black Women Had Their Beginnings in Dance?

Azaria Hogans is a Dance Professor here at MSU! She recently had the chance to create an article exploring famous African American women in dance, including Maya Angelou, Eartha Kitt, Zora Neale Hurston and Lena Horne. These women have impacted our world through music, poetry, literature and Broadway. Hogans explains how these four women got their start in dance and the way it has shown through in many of their works.

The performance arts have always been used as a form of expression. Some would argue that certain artists use dance as another form of protest against racism in America. Black Africans brought their dances to North, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Islands as slave labor starting in the 1500s. In the west these dance styles of hundreds of Black ethnic groups merged with white dances, forming the extension of the African aesthetic in the Americas. Dance has always been an integral part of daily life in Africa. In the Americas, it helped enslaved Africans connect with their homeland keeping their cultural traditions alive. Today we have seen how dance has shifted overtime from the Harlem Renaissance to our modern day movement styles. This article helps bring light to the legacy of African American women and their versatility in society.

Consider these questions:

How has dance impacted these women through life?
In what way do you see cross-cultural inspiration among these Women?
How did these women open doors for other black women in the arts?

Residence Life Diversity Committee Consider This: February 19, 2021

February 19, 2021 by Matthew McGhee

Diversity Committee Consider This Logo

James Baldwin was an African American essayist, novelist and playwright, who focused on race in America. This made him an important voice in African American Literature and history. Baldwin has created many works throughout his lifetime and interviewed many historical activists in the 60’s and 70’s. Some of his work includes “ If Beale street could talk” and I am not your Negro. The first work is a play that has turned into a movie, which you can find on Hulu or HBOmax, it uncovers a love story set in Harlem in the early 1970s. The title is a reference to the 1916 W.C. Handy blues song “Beale Street Blues”, named after Beale Street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee.Beale Street is the first Baldwin novel to focus exclusively on a black love story; it is also the only novel in his corpus narrated by a woman. Published at the tail end of the Black Arts Movement, it explores love within black life, centering on the emotional bonds holding two African American families together.

It was adapted as a film of the same name, written and directed by Barry Jenkins, and it garnered an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Regina King. The film was released theatrically on December 14, 2018.

The second work is a book that has turned into a documentary which can be found on Netflix. This Documentary is based on James Baldwin’s unfinished work called Remember this house. The film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin’s memories of the civil rights leaders. Many of these leaders have inspired Baldwin’s work throughout his life. Baldwin also discovered his sexuality as a queer black man, this is embodied in many of his works in the earlier stages of his life.

Residence Life Diversity Committee Dig This: February 17, 2021

February 17, 2021 by Rachel Brinley

The National Museum of African American History and Culture offers a free, unique, and almost endless opportunity to dig into African American History, Art, Culture, and more all from the comfort of your living room chair. I urge you to take the time to explore any or all of the following areas: Slavery, Segregation, Religious Groups, Politics, Photography, Music, Military, Literature, LGBTQ+, Justice, Hip Hop, Family, Education, Communities, Clothing and Dress, Civil Rights, American West, Activism, 75 Years of Ebony Magazine, and Latinx.

I’d like to share a few items that spoke to me, that peaked my interested to just keep exploring and getting lost in the art presented in this online museum. First, the Time Magazine cover that really makes you question if the photo was taken in 1960 or 2015. This made me question how far have we or have we not come since 1960? Second, after watching Netflix’s I am Not Your Negro, I was enthralled by the collection of artifacts about James Baldwin, and getting a glimpse into his life and legacy.

This compilation of art and culture is the perfect way to celebrate black excellence throughout history.

Residence Life Diversity Committee Dig This: February 15, 2021

February 15, 2021 by Rachel Brinley

Knocking Down the Fences is a short film documentary about the first female athlete recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. AJ Andrews is a black professional fastpitch right fielder who was playing for the Akron Racers when she won the award in 2016.

Rawlings is a global sports brand and manufacturer of baseball and athletic equipment. The Rawlings Gold Glove Award was created in 1957 and is given to the best player in each defensive position of both the National and American baseball leagues. For 59 years the award only recognized male baseball players but in 2016 the decision was made to include one fielder in the National Professional Fastpitch league.

The documentary also addresses the wage discrepancy between male and female players. According to the film, male major league baseball players on average earn 650x more than female players. AJ supplemented her less than $15,000/year softball salary by working as a coach and a sports commentator. During that time she was also a graduate student working on her master’s degree at Louisiana State University.

“…there are so many barriers already placed on women that if even one can get knocked down then young girls can believe they can knock down others,” AJ Andrews.