Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song

This book examines Billie Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit” in the 1930s, when she was known as a jazz and blues singer. The song addressed injustice and racism, becoming a vehicle for her protest against discrimination in her career. It also describes the collaboration between Holiday and Abel Meeropol, whose family were Jewish immigrants, and connects their work to the Civil Rights movement.