Thread by @abrahamcho

The most moving part of #FormedForJustice was the dance to "Strange Fruit"—beautifully devastating (can't remember the artist, help!).

Reminded me of this: a piano, entangled in a lynching tree, plays "Strange Fruit." By the strength of the Af-Am spirit, beauty arises from evil.

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

The dancer's name is Ernest Felton Baker. Watch the dance here on #Vimeo, but be prepared with a tissue, or seven. #FormedforJustice
vimeo.com/137656840?ref=…