Throughout history, music and other forms of expression such as literature and art have been used to describe the ideas of the time. Throughout American history, we have seen music represent political, social, and cultural issues. American history has had darker times, and creating something beautiful even in the worst of conditions seems to be a commonality. One of the most important movements in American history was the civil rights movement, which grew out of the racism that continued after the Emancipation Proclamation and led to the creation of many inspiring works. Two of these works were Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" and Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," which showed the struggles of African Americans over the two decades. The music showed the harsh realities of anti-black racism in the 20th century and people's opinions and experiences about it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday (1939) is a chilling story about racism in the American South. In these racist areas, random people of color are hanged and left to rot under the blazing sun. When sung, the chilling tale comes to life and bodies can be seen hanging from trees. The message is unchanging, and at that time in history it was quite common. There are references to "strange fruits" which are a way of representing those who are victims of lynching and how mistreated they are. The tone of the piece is that of casual conversation, making it seem like a normal, everyday topic at that. “Here are fruits that the crows can gather, So that the rain accumulates, the wind sucks, So that the sun rots, the trees fall. Here is a strange and bitter harvest (Holiday)” showing how badly the corpses of the latter were mistreated. the poor unfortunate souls were. The problem was that not only were living African Americans mistreated, but their bodies were not even removed from the trees in which they had died. These lynchings described in the song from the late 1930s did not stop for many years. In 1976, the farmer's daughter, Ruby Bond, was interviewed about her young life and leaving her home in Mississippi. When asked about her parents' decision to move North, she said, "I knew that after we got here, my mother and father were telling me that if I went back to Mississippi, they would hang my need on the first tree ( Bond). » This ties in with the lyrics of the song, proving that there was no misleading information from Ms. Holiday. Another injustice that African Americans faced during this era when Jim Crow laws separated the two races. were public, often sadistic, killings carried out by mobs. Between 1882, when reliable data was first collected, and 1968, when lynchings had become rare, there were 4,730 known lynchings, including 3,440 black men and women. Most Lynch Act victims were hanged or shot, but some were burned alive, castrated, beaten with clubs, or dismembered. By the mid-1800s, white people made up the majority of victims (and perpetrators); however, during the period of Radical Reconstruction, blacks became the most frequent victims of lynchings (Dr. Pilgrim). » Jim Crow laws created an idea known as separate but equal. laws gave white people the idea that their actions were right.