I know that there are so many disturbing, frightening and disgusting stories to discuss regarding President Baby Fists, but I find it fascinating that Donald Trump’s inauguration is going to be a total sh-tshow. It’s going to be so bad, you guys. No one wants to perform. The Radio City Rockettes are getting woke. Garth Brooks took a hard pass. Elton John laughed at the orange clown. Celine Dion – arguably the nicest person in the world – absolutely refused to appear. So what’s the latest? First of all, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir agreed to perform. Only much like the Rockettes, the organization had to say that the appearance isn’t mandatory, which is good because some of the members are vocally opposed to President Baby Fists.
Last week, Donald Trump caught a break when the famed Mormon Tabernacle Choir agreed to perform at his inauguration after seemingly every other musician on the face of the planet rejected him. Now, one singer has publicly announced her resignation from the official singing group of the Latter-Day Saints, writing that she could “never look myself in the mirror again with self-respect” if she remained in the choir.
Jan Chamberlin informed the choir president of her resignation in a letter which she later posted to Facebook, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “Since ‘the announcement,’ I have spent several sleepless nights and days in turmoil and agony,” she wrote. “I have reflected carefully on both sides of the issue, prayed a lot, talked with family and friends, and searched my soul…I only know I could never ‘throw roses to Hitler.’ And I certainly could never sing for him.”
According to LDS spokesman Eric Hawkins, performance at the inauguration is voluntary, and only 215 of the 360 singers in the choir are expected to attend. Chamberlin evidently felt that remaining in the group would be against her conscience after they performed, even if she didn’t attend herself. The Rockettes, who are also performing on a voluntary basis at the inauguration, have had at least one member speak up against Trump as well. “The majority of us said no immediately…Doing this would cause trauma for some people,” a Rockettes dancer said in a pseudonymous interview with Marie Claire.
So far, only the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Rockettes, and America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho have agreed to perform at this month’s ceremony. Barack Obama, in case you’ve already forgotten, had Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin.
You can read more about Jan Chamberlin’s refusal to appear here. I remember before the election, CNN did a series of pieces about how Trump’s candidacy was tearing apart the Mormon community. While Mormons are largely politically conservative, a significant chunk of them loathed Trump and everything he said and stood for. So it doesn’t surprise me that even in the deep-red of the Church of LDS, there are still so many people who don’t want anything to do with him.
Meanwhile, English singer Rebecca Ferguson was also approached to perform. She tweeted this:
Inauguration ceremony: I’ve been asked and this is my answer. If you allow me to sing “strange fruit” a song that has huge historical importance, a song that was blacklisted in the United States for being too controversial. A song that speaks to all the disregarded and down trodden black people in the United States. A song that is a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world, then I will graciously accept your invitation and see you in Washington. Best Rebecca X
Just FYI: “Strange Fruit” is about lynchings in the South. The most famous version of the song was done by Nina Simone. I feel strongly about how the song should really only be done by African-American women, but I admire Ferguson for speaking out and saying this. Updated note: Ferguson is an English singer and a woman of color, which is why I specified that I felt “Strange Fruit” should only be sung by African-American women. It’s an American song about a brutal and tragic American history, told through the perspective of an African-American woman.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I also feel that the song should be sung by a person of color. I bet the Trump Team would let her sing it too, because he probably thinks it’s some kind of insult to Hillary. I doubt he has any idea of the real meaning behind the song.
Lord, you guys, it’s really happening…
Rebecca Ferguson is mixed race, her father is black so I feel although she isn’t American it wouldn’t be offensive if she sang it.
I believe Rebecca was declining by way of a spot-on political statement.
Megan – I think you are right. Ferguson is an ex-X Factor contestant. Nice girl. Strong Christian faith (but not in that weird religious right American way). And a Scouser (from Liverpool). Scousers are known for black humour and I think this is her saying no with a Britisher/Scouser style piss-take.
I agree. She knew they would never go for that. I think she made a strong response (and hopefully it will inspire those that aren’t familiar with the song will do some research and see what was in our not-too-distant past).
Rebecca Ferguson is Black…
Let us not assume that bc someone is English, he or she is not a POC. We are better than that.
I apologize for not looking into it further. When I read Kaiser’s commentary, “I feel strongly about how the song should really only be done by African-American women,” I assumed she was not a person of color. I see now that Kaiser’s emphasis was on the American part, as in, the song should be sung by African American women due to America’s racial history. In no way, shape, or form was I assuming that someone who’s English can’t be a person of color. My bad. I’m a frequent commenter, and I’m honestly a little disheartened by the fact that it was so easy to assume that I was making such an offensive assumption myself. But, assuming gets us all in trouble, as I have just learned.
As ergregious as the British contribution to the horror of African American history, it was a British (Irish born) person who wrote ‘Amazing Grace’ a song more often thought of as an African American gospel song.
We shouldn’t divide ourselves because where does it stop?
uhhmmm.. no, Amazing Grace is not a “song” it is a a Hymn and it was Written by English (not Irish Born as you claim) Anglican cleric John Newton who was born in Wapping, London in 1725
Mark: modern British = England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain (minus Northern Ireland) became a country in 1707 with the acts of Union 1706.
Whether a person is English or Scottish or Welsh, calling them British is also correct, just not specific to country within Great Britain.
Finally, my bad in thinking he was born in Ireland. I confused the country he was based in with where he had his spiritual conversion -Ireland.
It still doesn’t change my point that the song was written by a British person, yet is more closely associated with African American gospel. We are all enriched by this song as we are enriched by songs from other traditions and circumstances irrespective of our own history and backgrounds.
Ps: what is the difference between a song and a hymn when they are both sang in church? By your definition aren’t they all invoking god?
ITA that it’s very much an African-American song. I used to teach it (eg the lyrics and social/historical context) to my students and I’m white, so is that really different than a British woman singing it? Maybe? But she’s singing it in honor of a community. My instincts say that it should be performed by black singers (I think it’s hard to argue that a white person singing it is appropriate. Context matters) who are at least explicitly singing the song in empathy and with understanding–if not African-American.
Shambles, it’s ok! Sometimes my comments don’t even make the board. Your heartis in the right place and it’s not a good year if you don’t get razzed by Celebitchy (I mean that very sincerely, and a faithful reader since 2006)
Trump would approve it because it’s obviously about a weird homosexual.
There are few things I think should be only done by a single race, but that song becomes almost insulting, and ironic if not sung by a black woman.
Rebecca Ferguson is black.
My bad, I did not see that. Thank you for the correction
It’s on the article that Rebecca Ferguson is black.
Yeah, I agree.
If it wasn’t so damn horrifying that it’s actually happening, this would actually be funny. Part of the Rockettes… part of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir… and a kid from a reality TV show who’s too young to understand anything more than trying to become famous.
And who may or may not have complete control over her career choices yet.
That’s why I’m glad she hasn’t gotten slammed. She is still a minor.
For someone desperate for approval, respect, and admiration, all of this public rejection must be killing Trump. And that concerns me greatly because he is a toddler monster who expresses all negative emotion as anger, which has suddenly become very dangerous.
yes.
So well said and so true.
He’s going to implode. I think Mike Pence will be president within the year.
And that is an equally frightening thought.
Oh it’s hideously awful, but it’s still better than Trump. Pence is not going to start a nuclear war because someone said something mean about him.
Mike Pence is truly vile, but his focus would be on domestic policy, which can reversed down the road. Trump’s insane foreign policy agenda will not easily be reversed. So I guess Pence would be the better option.
Now I have to go disinfect my brain for even thinking that.
I cannot stand Pence, but he can behave in public and not Tweet foreign policy. Cheers North Korea.
Pence would be horrific in many ways, particularly because of his domestic policy. Reversing it down the road doesn’t help the next 40 years. Imagine the most extremist, right-wing Supreme Court denying rights to anyone who isn’t white, straight, male, and Christian. That’s Pence’s ideal USA. As written elsewhere, Trump is the guy who robs and/or assaults you, Pence is every judge who let him get away with it.
Trump is the more frightening figure, and he’ll carry out the Pence domestic policy so it really would be – not better – but slightly less bad under Pence than Trump.
Don’t count on the Senate to impeach Trump, however. They let him get this far and have no sense of boundaries.
Did you see the “Kid President”‘s response to Trump’s New Year’s tweet? It really made obvious how much more mature this child is compared to our President-Elect.
I’m from Indiana and, yes, people should be very afraid of Pence. He accepted the vp running mate slot because he hated being governor and was most likely going to lose if he had run for governor again. He loves the noxious role of denouncing everyone who doesn’t subscribe to his cruel ideology, but acts wounded when people call him out for it. Just like Baby Fists. When he was in Congress he had a posse of like minded half wits to stand behind him, so he wasn’t alone. As governor, he couldn’t stand the fact that he was held personally responsible for his actions.
Baby Fists and Pence are very similar.
This thin skinned tweeting tangerine must be about to rupture with anger and embarrassment! Now he’s seeing no matter how famous and rich he is, no one wants to be near him. What a mess him being elected is!
He’s incapable of embarrassment. Unfortunately, the heart rate of sociopaths actually goes down when they’re attacking.
I really love that line from the Mormon singer though…. “I could never throw ‘roses to Hitler’. And I certainly could never sing for him.”
Because performing for this absolutely revolting pig of a human being is, in a large way, giving him and his repugnant bigotry a stamp of approval. Everyone has to stand up to this monster. Every effort matters, and will help, no matter how big or small.
And as a Canadian watching this mess from north of you guys, I GREATLY appreciate every act of courage I see when Americans stand up to Trump, and speak out against him and what he stands for. The world needs to see that this is not what America is about, so speak out, and do it loudly. And always remind people that most of America chose Hillary Clinton’s message of positivity and inclusiveness, by 3,000,000 more votes.
I don’t know why he’s having trouble booking people. I’m sure he has supporters who can sing. Maybe he’s being too cheap to pay their expenses?!? Or they know how he stiffed those little girls who sang and danced for him ….
Nah, he is busy closing deals that will fill his greedy pockets with even more money. The latest is with Indonesia, I think.
Blimey, absolutely everybody must have declined if they’re contacting somebody who came 2nd on X Factor 5 years ago (I was rooting for her!). This is a really classy refusal, because there’s no way she’ll be allowed to sing ‘Strange Fruit’.
is Rebecca not a brown woman? cause to me she looks as though she might be mixed… either way, Rebecca Is Invited to all cookouts in perpetuity!
She is a WOC. Her dad is Jamaican.
She is a WOC but please stop saying Jamaican=Black. Jamaican is a nationality and they have a huge asian and white community not just black.
I’m sorry Ellebee, I won’t make that mistake again.
She is, her father is Jamaican.
Mixed race. Or biracial is the right term in the US? I forget. Mixed race to a Briton anyway.
She is saying a big fat no to the gig by mocking him with the song choice, QQ.
For the uninitiated: Rebecca Ferguson is a WOC. And a great singer too. I’m just surprised that Trump actually asked her to sing at his inauguration.
Why? Everybody else in the United States turned him down. I’m actually baffled why some country artists, Kid Rock, and Ted Nugent haven’t been announced. They are hardcore Trump supporters.
Just seems really random to me. Why Rebecca Ferguson and not, say, Paul Potts or Kathryn Jenkins if he’s going across the pond for singers? They seem more his ballpark. Unless he thought this Rebecca Ferguson was the blonde, Swedish, white actress Rebecca Ferguson and that she could also sing.
The randomness of asking Ferguson also stuck out to me. I worry that we’re being played and that some big country artist will be performing. I know trump hates to look bad, but he does love to con people. I really, really hope I’m wrong and that big country artists are also turning him down left and right.
Ted Nugent is mess his pants crazy (literally). I can imagine they don’t want him playing live because you never know what horrific thing he may say or do. Plus, how would it look for one draft dodger to be playing for another draft dodger?
@rocio -gt. That is a good one, maybe he thought he could grab her P***** while she sings. After all, he thought she was white, Swedish and young. JUST THE WAY HE LIKE THEM.
They probably asked her because she is not as famous as the people you suggested. They already asked so many better known people who told them to no so they maybe thought trying someone less famous might work because they would want the exposure. Plus, they probably thought having a woc would look better for them and couldn’t find anyone in the US.
Since we are living in the Cheeto Mussolini era, i highly recommend these helpful chrome extensions
-Drumpfinator
-Make America Kittens Again
Highly recommend the kittens one, although it doesn’t seem to quit at just Trump pics. On any given day, half of the pics on Celebitchy are kittens. It’s like it knows kittens are my sedative.
Also, there are extensions to change “alt-right” to something more accurate.
– Alt Right to Butthurt Nazi Brigade (my favorite)
– Stop Normalizing Alt Right (turns it to “white supremacy”)
RealDonaldContext will add commentary/facts to Trump’s Twitter.
Billie Holiday’s version of the song was also memorable. Her version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which I didn’t know existed until now. Here’s more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit
Inauguration Day is going to be a very productive workday for me, no TV, no streaming the event, except for the time that I’ll be leaving voicemail messages for politicians at all levels of government.
Right?! I’m going to get so much work done that day cause I’m going to do a media/social media black out. Seeing any pictures or video from that day will probably make me sick to my stomach.
Dropping by to second Billie Holiday. I read the Simone reference and thought, “What?”
Holiday’s version is haunting.
Yes, Billie Holiday owns that song.
Yes, her version was the one I learned in school. Both women are amazing artists though.
Billie Holiday’s version is the only one I’ve heard. Such a gut wrenching and historical song. Drump’s followers will probably start using the term at his rallys while claiming they are not racist.
Yeah, it’ll be like, “Who you callin’ a fruit?”
Yes, Billie Holiday’s version is by far the most famous.
Twitler has to bow down to the demands of a woman to sing her song of choice, her way at his inauguration. Billie Holiday is smiling from above. Way to go Rebecca!
Not to nit-pick but I always think of ‘Strange Fruit’ as a Billie Holiday song. She also wrote it.
She sang it first, but did not write it.
oops, thanks for the correction.
A man called Abel Meeropol wrote it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Meeropol
I LOVE Abel Merpool for being an Ally when it cost BIG time and for adopting the Rosenberg children when they were given up on by even their relatives due to the fear of prosecution etc
He was an amazing man, at times like this it’s something to hang on to that there are people still like this around – there has to be..
She absolutely did not write it. That honor goes to a Jewish public school teacher from New York who was aghast at what was going on in America at the time. It was actually originally a poem.
And “inspired” by a photo of a grotesque double lynching, I think.
The movie ‘Lady Sings the Blues,’ the Diana Ross biopic about Billie Holliday, has a scene of her riding on the bus past lynching victims … cuts to her performing the song. Very powerful.
I remember hearing this amazing song for the first time in the film 9 and half weeks with Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke, I have Billie Hollidays version and Nina Simone’s both on Greatest hits cd’s, both versions are good, but my favourite is Billie Hollidays.
This is why we should be careful with blanket statements about who can or can not sing a song, talk about topics, etc. Instead of saying this woman shouldn’t sing the song (because she’s British) we should celebrate the song & her bringing it up. We should celebrate the Jewish man who was an ally to woc and could so eloquently empathize that he wrote a poem & then a song that means so much.
Thanks for commenters education on the song. What a great story and man!
I really hope the public at large will not watch it nor talk about it. He will be insane. If there are any negatives he will spend his first day in office tweeting about how jealous everyone is of him and how mean they are.
Building that wall will have to take a back seat.
It’s like a train wreck, you don’t want to look but……I think the audience will start out big then dissipate. No matter the disdain for this person, we have to hope those with sane minds are watching closely no matter how hard I personally try to avoid him. I started hating Sylvester Stallone for going to his NYE’s party. I’m sure there are a lot of closet supporters.
Trump wanted Stallone for his head of National Endowment for the Arts. Stallone turned him down. So it does not surprise me Stallone was at the NYE party.
I’m not watching and i know many people who will do the same. I hope it is the lowest rating inauguration in television history. Trump will be furious.
I’m wondering how many people along the parade route are going to turn their backs as the motorcade goes by.
OMG – now THAT would be worth watching/doing!!!
Black armbands, please.
That would be so representative of what over half the voting population feels, turn your backs and @WATP: Black armbands is the cherry on top. Somebody start the hashtags. Get this trending. Something will happen, it always does concerning him. Just hope there is no violence.
Props to Rebecca Ferguson and I feel really bad for Jackie Evianco. That 16 year old may have the #1 christmas album but still she will never have the recognition as a famous singer after she sings at Donald Trump’s inauguration “tisk, tisk”. On the other hand, I am very proud of the singers, most of the Rocketts and nearly all the Mormon Tabernacle for not being there at “Hitler 2.0” inauguration, and this is just the being of people who have the sense enough to know that FASCISM is not allowed on this earth anymore.
Thank you so much, the good people of America and fight the good fight and I hope Europe (the breeding ground for Fascism and NEO NAZI SHITHEADS) follow suit.
Nope there were Fascist in the US before WWII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism_in_North_America#United_States
Some of them took their ‘inspiration’ from the Nazis’s nobody was really spared the lunacy but Hitler had a head start due to the social/political conditions in Germany created after WWI
WHY is she performing?? The optics are spectacularly bad, her Wiki page and other social media make her seem like a nice person, and it’s not like she’s hurting for opportunities to sing. Just puzzling all around.
Don’t know her or who her manager is, but is it possible her manager is Pro-Trump and therefore thought it a good idea for her to sing. Just a thought.
I hope she was being sarcastic.
There is no way in Hell a man who was endorsed by the KKK is going to allow a song about lynchings to be sung.
Don’t you think it was her middle finger to him?
Exactly.
It was a “no way”. She knew they would never agree to it. And a little “fu” in there too. Good for her.
Do you think Trump actually knows what that song is about?
She’s a Person of color.
Also I agree this song should be sung only by people of color– despite the fact that it was written by Abel Meeropol, a white man. The history behind the song is fascinating btw. Meeropol was a communist, and he and his wife later adopted the orphaned children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
And yeah, this was exactly how she refused to sing for the Cheeto Mussolini. Spot on.
I’ll sing at his inauguration. It will be a shitshow. My singing will make people run for the hills. They’ll try to stop my incessant squawking but I will prevail. They will have to end the ceremony just to end the pain I have created. Cheeto will go back to his bed and weep. As he weeps he will wipe cheeto dust on himself to regain his confidence. Then he will go on a flurry of tweets about how bigly I ruined his day and how yuge of an ass I am.
Can I get tickets 🙂
@LLamas
Lol! I haven’t listened to any news since the election. Simply can’t stomach listening to anything about Prez baby fists. Not even NPR.
Llamas, you are my Monday hero!
We can do a duet! I have a horrific screeching singing voice. What shall we perform?
Thank you ladies! 🙂
We should perform an original!
When I read this headline I thought Drumpf had requested Strange Fruit and was all set to be outraged… thank goodness it was just Rebecca Ferguson showing more awareness of the racial and cultural history of the United States than the freaking President-Elect.
Trump is the kind of guy who would read that letter, google Strange Fruit, see thr Annie Lennx cover and invite her to sing it. And Annie Lennox is exactly the type of clueless bitch to accept the invite and pat herself for being “a bridge”.
Really no need to bring Annie Lennox into this. She’s a significant advocate for people with HIV and promoting access to contraception in Low income countries, among other things. You may not agree with everything she says but she’s certainly not a “clueless bitch”.
Lennox did a cover of Strange Fruit. On the press tour for it, she professed not to know what the fruit was, or what the song was about. She said that it was a protest song, and she ascribed the autobiographical to Holliday (i.e. hard to be a woman, an artist, a black woman, an addict) who didn’t even write the song. Not a word about lynching. When confronted, she said that she thought that everyone knew already, and why get involved in a game of Chinese whispers. Further evidence that she really doesn’t get the power of words.
I used to like her, but no more.
I think the song was made famous by Billie Holiday. Nina Simone did put out a version much later.
Katy Segal also did a great version of Strange Fruit for Sons of Anarchy. I agree that this song should be sung by an African American.
I actually think that performers at a presidential inauguration should be from that country. It’s a very patriotic event, so why have performers from other countries? Just my opinion.
I’m Canadian, I loathe Trump, and I’m laughing a little at the lack of interest in performing for him. Serves him right: no one wants to be associated with Hitler 2.0 ( even several of my German friends call him Hitler!)
LOL is that an acceptable thing to do in Germany now? 🙂
Germans are exceptionally aware of their history, and are committed to never have it happen again. Trump brings up a lot of feelings for many Germans. In my opinion, if any group of people can discuss Hitler, it’s the Deutsch.
Being German, I would say that it’s neither unacceptable nor acceptable, just inappropriate at most times. I doubt Trump is going to start systematically killing off whole groups of people, so it would make Hitler seem harmless in comparison, which makes the comparison inappropriate, but who am I to judge? His use of (social) media and over-simplification probably has certain similarities to the propaganda used by the Nazis.
Personally, I call Trump a little cry-baby, but I am only judging from his tweets. He certainly has the means to change the world in a fundamental way has rarely been seen in history. Let’s hope he won’t be able to.
Kris, I see your point. It seems that my German friends are comparing Trumps behaviours and opinions as he comes into power with Hitler’s political views when he came to power. Of course, the systematic killings didnt start for several years after he came to power.
Both men came to power on a political platform of wanting radical change, believing certain ethnic groups aren’t ‘real citizens’. They both spoke of mass deportations, showing blatant racism and general ethnic profiling (Jews vs Muslims/ Mexicans). Etc.
I’m not saying they are one and the same, but there are some similarities. Of course, Trump’s presidency would never evolve into mass genocide, thankfully. This was just an interesting discussion I had with some German friends in Berlin last fall.
People who will lose access to health care via losing insurance will die, but it won’t be as obvious as a targeted genocide. Women who lose access to safe abortions will die too, but again it won’t be as clearly a targeted initiative. Except it is. More black people, especially men, will be murdered by police. More mass shootings, which tend to be kill a lot of young adults. And on and on. In short, reactionary policies that don’t value life, but hide it.
@Superstef, I don’t recall any prior inauguration having a single non-US performer, so that may be a better indication than any of just how many people in this country want absolutely nothing to do with this guy. The organizing committee must’ve run through every American A, B, C and D-list performer and now they’ve had to go wider in their search. Of course, they are trying to spin the lack of A-list talent by saying they want nothing to do with those liberal elite showbiz types in the first place, but most people aren’t buying it.
Normally, the US Poet Laureate composes and reads a poem about patriotism, democracy and/or unity etc. etc., but our current Poet Laureate is pretty outspoken about his experiences being the son of migrant farm workers in California, so maybe he’ll sit this one out too.
Thanks for the insight, Jetlagged. Very interesting indeed…
Or he could write an awesome poem along those lines and his captive audience will have to sit there and smile.
I hope the Coronation sucks/is poorly watched and attended and gaffe ridden, I hope he falls on his face and that twitter memes the F*ck out of it and surely the gifs of Melania and tiffany visibly cringing and bristling at any actual touch from that Orange Groper in Chief
Good visuals. I’m also hoping for these things to happen. Maybe he’ll get the words to the oath wrong; I could see that happening.
oh You know this Idiot, Is absolutely possible they’ll need to redo in private quarters
I hope it snows
…hard!
I hope it’s that mushy sleet/snow cant drive on it or have a parade at all thing, and he probably wouldn’t cause that hair is literally a dirty cotton candy sculpture
I also hope his coke drip really acts up as he’s getting sworn in, on Mike, I hope his sad tie looks overlong and ridiculous and that the self tanner starts sweating off of him on camera, I hope the people that attend Turn their backs on him like a wave but back turned ( though most likely we’re just gonna see a lot of seig Heils and whatnot)
3 words: William Henry Harrison.
I hope it is really windy too and that hamster fur gets blown around into a sticky mess next to one ear, exposing the whole bald top of his head. I hope that he gets out of the limo to do a walk about and slips in slush and lands on his butt in a giant slush puddle. And then he freaks out and starts screaming at Melanoma and the Secret Service detail.
Much could go wrong as it was reported he is writing his own inauguration speech. Could be really interesting!
I think I’ll wait for the Baldwin version.
+1,000,000,000 to all the suggestions.
It will never happen. He will never let her sing that song and I doubt she is serious.
I think I’m still in shock that this p*ssygrabbing corrupt conman won. He got away with everything but I’m hoping all his nastiness, stupidity, lies and meanness will catch up with him and he will be impeached before or shortly after the big day. Anyway, the only thing I will be watching for are the protests I hope are underway.
Even though I despise Orange Julius Caesar, there is no way I’m missing out on this CF on Jan 20th.
It’s going to be an epic cheesefest when Baron Bomburst of Vulgaria is crowned and the “talent” sings his praises. Just imagine his tiny hand on the bible or whatever else they use to inaugurate. Lips pursed into a butthole just as Alec Baldwin described. First Lady Ivanka the Terrible and foreigner Melanoma along with the Menendez Brothers. Epic I say….epic for Emperor Zero.
The most famous recording is not Ms Simone’s – but the one by Billie Holiday.
The song was written by Abel Meeropol, the man who adopted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg’s children after they were put to death for alleged treason in the 1950s.
While I’m here let me applaud this site for being the most intelligent pop culture site on the web. Happy 2017 to all.
Why would the song only be sung by African American women, slavery and all it’s horrors was not confined to America. It is a shared history that people of colour all over the America’s, Canada included (yes Canada had slavery) and the Caribbean suffered. Many black British people of colour are descendants of Caribbean immigrants and therefore, slavery is part of their history too, so this song would be just as relevant and meaningful t them. There’s a reason BLM has taken hold in the UK and Canada as well, because we are all bound by a common history and experience, despite borders.
This is all true, and well said, but that particular song was inspired by the lynchings of American black Southerners that took place during the mid-20th century. The writer saw one particular photo, in fact. It is strongly associated with mistreatment of black people in America after slavery.
@Who are These People. Look Here. It doesn’t matter what Strange Fruit was written about the lynching of Black Southerners. It matters to all Black People in and around the world. It matters to me, as a black woman because it touch my heart with the pain of Billie Holiday and Nina Simone’s voice as they sing this wonderful and masterful song. It should help everyone, black, white, asian, indian and indigenous come together and say that RACISM IS NOT ALLOWED IN THIS WORLD, that tyranny is not allowed in this society and fascism is not going be incited in the lives of the people of this world. That should matter.
Yet not the same. Southern trees bear strange fruit–this is not about slavery. It’s about Jim Crow. This is the context of lynchings. Lynchings were extrajudicial–vigilante justice. This is not the same as during slavery, when a slave owner could do what he liked with his slave (see slave codes for nuance).
I know other places such as the Caribbean had awful experiences with slavery. But those were not American ones. The American experience with slavery and it’s aftermath through the present is unique to the US.
I have never been able to listen to Billie Holiday singing that song without starting to weep.
If it is sung at trump’s inauguration I don’t know how I will feel about that. I’m just so heartbroken about all of it.
What a brilliant response! I got chills reading it.
I think Alec Baldwin’s offer to appear and sing Highway to Hell still stands.
And in his SNL makeup, singing it as Trump’s POV. I would particularly love three of the lyrics:
Hey Satan paid my dues
I’m on my way to the promised land
My friends are gonna be there too
LMAO @President Baby Fists! That inauguration with be a shit show. Ms Ferguson was delivering a clear message that I hope sunk in.