“Blood on the leaves, and blood at the root. Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze. Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.”
The words belong to a poem by Abel Meeropol, after he witnessed the photograph of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith being lynched. While the poem mentions the Southern breeze, the lynchings happened in Marion, Indiana. Photographer Lawrence Beitler snapped this photo, not to show the horrors, but because he would sell thousands of copies over the next few weeks.
Later Abel would set his poem to music by his wife Anne Shaffer who would then play as Laura Duncan sang. Strange Fruit was later popularized by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. It is the most beautiful song about lynching. I just wish it was the only one.
There is a long and storied history of songs about the horrors of lynching. In 2025 another song about lynching was released. Kurt Jantz, sometimes known as Forgiato Blow is a musician? He’s from South Florida and went to Admiral Farragut Academy, that’s a private school. He’s released probably hundreds of albums at this point, and they’re all about Donald Trump. Because his career without Trump did not exist, and during Joe Biden’s presidency, it also did not exist. He’s a grifter. It’s why his content is just angry and full of lies. It’s why all the covers are just copies of actual artists. If Drake wants to get some credibility back, he should probably sue because this dude stole at least three Drake covers that I saw. Morally and artistically bankrupt.
Anyway, he released a song called “Good vs Evil” with country singer JJ Lawhorn. In the song Kurtz flatulates lyrics like “Who would've thought thе girl who left the danger in Ukrainе would get her life taken riding' on a train by a nigger”
Head over to Ultrx Blxck's YouTube channel for more history videos like this one. You can also read transcripts right here.
"History is written by the winners," is a phrase that is often repeated. However, it's not true. More often than not the losers write history. What we're left with is a sterilized view of history that does a great disservice to us all. These retellings are often filled with outright lies such as a George Washington's wooden teeth or are told in a way that would make the average person view it as too complicated. I'm here because history doesn't need to complicated, but it needs to be told, and told truthfully.
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