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Strange Fruit
Monday, January 20, 6:00 PM
Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center
Virginia Wesleyan University
5817 Wesleyan Drive, Virginia Beach
FREE and open to the community with RSVP
Followed by a conversation with:
Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Ohef Sholom Temple, Norfolk
Michael E. Hucles, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History Emeritus, Old Dominion University
Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, Ph.D., Dean, College of Liberal Arts, Professor of History, Director of the Joseph Jenkins Roberts Center for African Diaspora Studies, Norfolk State University
A controversial song about the shameful lynching of blacks in the United States, Strange Fruit was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish teacher from the Bronx, and made famous by Billie Holiday. Director Joel Katz’s documentary traces the song’s history and explores jazz genealogy and the history of lynching.
Still, Strange Fruit is more than a song’s story. Black-Jewish relations, McCarthyism, a surprising connection to Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, protest movements, and committed artists are all part of this historic tale. The film is a fitting and illuminating tribute to a song, a man, and an era.
In partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council, Hands United Building Bridges (HUBB), and Center for the Study of Religious Freedom at Virginia Wesleyan University
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