Billie Holiday Sings Strange Fruit (1959)

 

Strange Fruit was a blues song protesting lynching released in 1939. Billie Holiday would sing the song regularly during her career. During the Great Depression African Americans were subject to persecution not only by the state, but by vigilante and terrorist groups. The Black Legion and the Ku Klux Klan attacked African American communities. Billie Holiday's singing expresses the sorrow and fear living under violent conditions. The victims in the song are compared to fruit. The context shows how there was a disregard for the value of African American life. When Billie Holiday performed the song again in 1959, America was changing. The murder of Emmett Till sparked a movement for civil rights. The resistance never stopped and music is a part of movements for justice.  

Nelson Mandela Sings South African Liberation Song (1990)

 

Liberation songs were used during protests during the fight against Apartheid. Music does play a role in spreading a message or organizing people for a cause. South Africa's fight against white minority colonial rule gave birth to a number of liberation songs. The video shows Nelson Mandela in 1990 singing with supporters. This liberation song was by the ANC's military wing Umkhonyo we sizwe. Critics claimed that it was anti-white and encouraged violence. The African population was fighting for survival against Afrikaners taking their land and a campaign of state terrorism. Basic rights were restricted, the black majority was segregated, and the police state used lethal force. Resentment of the oppressor is only natural. The armed wing of the ANC was activated because there was no means of fighting the Apartheid regime through the courts. When Nelson Mandela was released, it was a major turning point. He went to being a political prisoner to the president. South Africa would have its first democratic elections in 1994. 

RIP Aretha Franklin