Volume 6 Issue 9…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…March 7, 2003

Written by Abel Meeropol

Performed by Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

About Me: Jazz critic Leonard Feather called "Strange Fruit," with its haunting lyrics about a lynching, "a significant protest in words and music, the first unmuted cry against racism." Abel Meeropol, a white Jewish teacher in a New York City high school, wrote it. Known for her solemn ballads and heart-wrenching blues, Billie Holiday reluctantly debuted it before a stunned crowd at Cafe Society, New York City's only integrated club. Her performance sparked a much-needed debate about lynching and the repressive policies of Jim Crow segregation. The searing lyrics often upset club patrons and it became a weapon in continuing anti-lynching campaigns. In a 1971 interview Meeropol commented: "I wrote 'Strange Fruit' because I hate lynching, and I hate injustice, and I hate the people who perpetuate it." Used in 1972 Paramount film 'Lady Sings The Blues," Holiday recorded "Strange Fruit" on April 20, 1939.

Venue for an Artist Homepage

Research published by the Royal Society of Medicine (http://www.rsm.ac.uk/new/pr126.htm) suggests the spread of HIV infections in Africa is closely linked to unsafe medical practices. In a series of articles published in the March issue of International Journal of STD and AIDS, a team of specialists presents evidence challenging the assumption that 90% of HIV cases in Africa were sexually transmitted. According to Dr. David Gisselquist and his colleagues, the existing data show only about a third of HIV infections are sexually transmitted. Instead, "health care exposures caused more HIV than sexual transmission;" contaminated medical injections present the greatest risk.

Their findings show that African HIV did not follow the pattern of sexually transmitted disease (STD). HIV/AIDS increases while STDs declined. In one study, nearly 40% of HIV+ infants had mothers who tested negative. These children averaged 44 injections in their lifetimes compared with only 23 for uninfected children. Countries, like South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the best access to medical care, have the highest rates of HIV transmission. High HIV rates in South Africa paralleled aggressive efforts to deliver health care to rural populations. STDs are associated with being poor and uneducated, yet HIV in Africa is linked with urban living, education and high income. In one hospital in 1984, HIV among senior administrators was 9.2%, compared with the average employee rate of 6.4%.

The authors suggest several reasons why evidence has been ignored, including the West's preconceptions about African sexuality, the fear that people might lose trust in healthcare, and simple disbelief that medical practices could be so unsafe. (Sources: news.bbc.co.uk and ww.guardian.co.uk/)

Researchers working on an AIDS vaccine found it seemed to be more effective on blacks. More testing needs to be done, but researchers fear blacks will not volunteer for the clinical trials. The black fear of medical trials harkens back to the 1930s Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

The US Public Health Service used poor black men to study syphilis starting in 1932. These men were never informed of the true natural of their illness. Even after the discovery of penicillin in the 1940s, physicians left the disease untreated. Family members contracted it. When the study was exposed in the 1970s, more than 100 had died of syphilis or related complications.

Given this history, the reluctance of blacks to enter clinical trials is understandable. Moreover, in the case of AIDS, there is evidence that suggests it is a designer by-product of the U.S. Special Virus program. This special virus was added as a 'compliment' to vaccine inoculations in Africa and Manhattan. Shortly thereafter the world was overwhelmed with mass infections of a human retrovirus that differed from any known human disease; it was highly contagious and more importantly, it could kill. See www.boydgraves.com for more information about the development and spread of HIV. Hood Notes Homepage

Anderson, Marian (1897-1993)

The granddaughter of freed Virginia slaves, contralto Marian Anderson was born February 27, 1897. At six, Anderson, the eldest of three daughters born to hardworking churchgoers, sang in Philadelphia's Union Baptist Church choir. Her father and grandfather's deaths left the family destitute. Marian and her mother took menial jobs to support the family. The black community and various congregations raised money so she could return to school and take voice lessons. Blacks saw her as a major artist, but white reviews were often critical. Anderson's skin color figured prominently in everything written about her artistic ability.

In 1925, she won a voice competition and appeared with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Studies and a concert tour of Europe followed her successful debut. Since her race was not an impediment, she won critical acclaim. On returning to the U.S., she could not establish herself as a concert artist, because opera houses were closed to blacks.

In 1930, philanthropist Julius Rosenwald financed her study in Berlin, where she learned to fluently speak German. Briefly, Anderson returned to the US, but spent most of her time in Europe. When she returned to the US (1935), she quickly became one of its most successful classical singers, yet southern recital halls were off-limits to blacks. In 1938, Texas was the only state in which Anderson performed.

Efforts to open up the South began with Washington, DC's 4,000-seat Constitution Hall. Its owners, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), had adopted a 1932 rule excluding black artists and refused to grant an exception for Anderson. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, publicly resigned from DAR.

An alternate venue was arranged. On Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, 75,000 people packed the mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial to hear Anderson sing. The incident put Anderson and racial discrimination in the national spotlight; it proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of US race relations.

On January 7, 1955, Anderson debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Ulrica in Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball). It was the first black soloist performance. Anderson appeared seven more times at the Met. She toured Asia under the auspices of the US State Department. In 1958, she was an alternate US delegate to the United Nations. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) and Congressional Gold Medal (1978). Her 1956 autobiography is titled My Lord, What a Morning.

In 1963, Anderson returned to the Lincoln Memorial to sing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" as part of the March on Washington at which Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. Throughout her career, Anderson sang "Negro" spirituals. Her standbys, such as "Crucifixion," "Deep River," and "Tramping," invoked parallels between the plight of slaves and blacks under Jim Crow segregation.

Anderson retired in 1965 and spent most of her later years caring for her ailing husband. She received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. Marian Anderson died in 1993 at the age of 96. (Sources: www.findarticles.com, www.archives.gov and http://cybernation.com/victory/quotations/) Bit of History Homepage

By John Burl Smith

A young man, who volunteered for military service straight out of high school, I returned from Vietnam in 1966. Along with millions of slave descendants, I was victimized by segregation and Booker T. Washington's accommodation with it. Education for blacks consisted of being taught 'your place' and learning to accept that lesser status no matter the level of your skills, abilities and intelligence. The objective was to make blacks feel an obligation to prove themselves worthy of white acceptance. Accordingly, military service was a high water mark for any black man seeking to advance in America's segregated society.

Blacks were expected to be super-patriots and support the government regardless of its unfair, unjust and bigoted policies and actions. Greeted by civil rights and anti-war protests, returning veterans expected America to live up to its promises. Emblematic of thousands of black veterans, who survived fighting to bring freedom and democracy to Vietnam, we had to confront the lie of freedom, justice and equality for all that America's Declaration of Independence proclaimed but its Constitution denied. Most embraced Black Power and hoped to bring about a serious armed struggle built on a Ho Chi Minh model. Today, for me, responsibility for others and clearer visions of the value of life make war more than just a means to prove a point.

A disabled veteran and a grandfather, my greatest concern is what will happen to my grandchildren in a world dominated by leaders, like George Bush. War kills and maims people on both sides. American soldiers will die, and families will lose loved ones. However, not only will Iraqi soldiers die, thousands of innocent civilians will parish during America's "shock and awe" bombing onslaught. More Iraqi young people under the age of 15 will die than all soldiers combined. Two years after the war in Afghanistan, the US government still refuses to provide casualty figures of civilian deaths during bombing raids and ground fighting.

Bush's war rhetoric makes it seems as if only Saddam Hussein and his Republican guards will die. Moreover, US defense planners would have us believe America's bombs are so "smart" they can distinguish between soldiers and civilians. Conversely, Iraqis are smart enough to know that 250 thousand troops can not occupy and control a country of 25 million people, unless there are lots of Iraqis deaths.

Responding to humanitarian concerns, do Americans wonder what it is like to live with continuous bombardment for days? If they do, then ask the British or the North Vietnamese. Imagine reliving 9-11 for 100 or more days. What do you tell your grandchildren after the 10th day, then the 30th and so on? Children learn to live with such terror, but the ultimate question is what type of mentality does such an experience create? What will be its future expressions? Will it make war and killing a hair trigger response to minor provocation? T.H.I.N.C. about it!

An advocate of peace, I urge all Poets for Peace enlistees in its "war of words" to support the Code Pink 4 Peace international day of protest March 8, 2003. Speak out against war and speak up for peace in the world. Other Essays by John Burl Smith

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro wants to change is tripartite personality to include another super hero-- Daredevil. When questioned about this unusual request, it became apparent the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro has been affected by all the talk of war and the fear it engenders. Needing more powers to stop evil, he replied, "I could sense danger from miles away!" Back to the Bat Cave

Disgruntled wants to know: Candidate George W. Bush promised to use strict constriction of the Constitution as a litmus test for judicial appointments. If the Senate confirmed all his appointees, the courts will be filled with judges like those that put him in office. In the case of Miguel Estrada, the Hispanic community runs the risk of getting a Clarence Thomas. Is it in their interest to have a conservative Hispanic on the court that is silent when he should speak and a mouthpiece for the status quo when silence would be golden?

Disgruntled feels: Conservatively compassionate! The family of Jesica Santillan, the young girl who died after botched double heart-lung transplants, will not receive a bill for the care provided by the hospital. When callers on a talk show mentioned lawsuit, a Bush supporter trashed her family for not being grateful the hospital took her case. His insensitivity is indicative of the conservatively compassionate tort reformers. There is no amount of pain and suffering incurred by members of the consuming public sufficient to warrant suing a hospital, doctor or other business for damages.

Disgruntled says: Ronald Reagan, a conservative icon, is credited with everything from ending the Cold War to laying the foundation for the 1990s economic boom; he was an actor. In contrast to the 'sagacity' of Reagan, actors and other artists today are called 'nitwits' and chided for expressing their 'uninformed' opinions. Yet, without the artistic community to scrutinize and to hold up to ridicule its brutish behavior, the USA would have no conscience, and would no doubt be a more savage nation. In a battle of wits between George Bush and Sean Penn, the actor would probably win. Moreover, it is the height of hypocrisy for Reagan conservatives to criticize artists for freely expressing their opinion. More Disgruntled Moments

Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA)

Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) is a compound composed of chromium, copper and arsenic. Registered with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) as a preservative, CCA is injected into wood to protect it from dry rot, fungi, molds, termites and other pests. CCA-treated wood is used around the home in decks, walkways, fences, gazebos, boat docks and playground equipment. Other uses include highway noise barriers, sign and utility posts and retaining walls.

On February 12, 2002, EPA announced a voluntary decision by industry to move consumer use of treated lumber products away from CCA-treated wood by December 31, 2003, in favor of new alternative wood preservatives. As of January 1, 2004, EPA will not allow CCA products to be used to treat wood used in most residential settings. Four companies, Osmose, Inc. of Buffalo, NY, Chemical Specialties. Inc. of Charlotte, NC, Phibro-Tech, Inc. of Fort Lee, NJ and Arch Wood Protection, Inc. of Smyrna, GA, produce CCA.

Arsenic is a known carcinogen. Scientific studies suggest it leaches from CCA-treated wood. The amount and rate of leachate depend on climate, acidity of rain and soil, age of the wood and amount of CCA used. Some chemicals may be dislodged from the wood upon contact with the skin. This is the danger posed by CCA-treated wood used in playground equipment that is found in parks and backyards all across the country.

EPA is evaluating the toxicity and potential exposure to arsenic from CCA-treated wood. It expects to release its risk assessment for review in 2003. In the interim, take precautions when working with CCA-treated wood. Saw, sand and machine outdoors. Wear a dust mask, goggles and gloves. Clean up all sawdust, scraps, and other construction debris and dispose of as municipal solid waste. Do not compost or mulch sawdust or remnants. Never burn, as toxic chemicals may be released as part of the smoke and ashes. After contact, thoroughly wash all exposed areas of your body. Wash your work clothes separately from other household clothing before wearing them again.

Clearly, some of these precautions should be followed after contract with CCA-treated playground equipment. For further information, see www.epa.gov. To report incidents to the EPA, contact the National Pesticide Information Center at 1-800-858-7378. News You Use

Strange Bedfellows

Tiger Woods, the defending Masters champion should expect a sea of protest in Augusta this April. Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, has ruffled quite a few feathers in her protest of the all-male membership rule at Augusta National Golf Club. Burk, a white woman, is planning a demonstration during the event. Rev. Jesse Jackson and a gaggle of angry women will join her. Opposition to the Burk-Jackson coalition includes the KKK and Women Against Martha Burk (WAMB). Protest politics makes for strange bedfellows.

Even queerer, Georgia Rep. John Lewis, the icon of the civil rights movement on Capitol Hill, refuses to join Dick Gregory in calling for the removal of Richard Russell's name from the Senate Office Building. Instead, Lewis, seen of late bowing his head in prayer with Bush during a photo op, is siding with Senator Zell Miller in defending Russell, an avowed racist.

Queerest of all is the media in bed with the government. An essential element of a true democracy is a free and unfettered press. Embedded and under the covers with the government, the media only report official propaganda, and the public remains ignorant. More propaganda is what US citizens can expect as the press has lost its critical lens in covering the Bush administration. Bush has not held a press conference to address serious questions, and the media are silent. Look closely at those briefings, when the media question administration officials from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Ari Fleischer, it is downright freaky! Politics Y2K3 Homepage

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