43 min listen
SF #90: African-American Poetry from 19th Century America, and Racialized Fear in Ebola Coverage
FromStrange Fruit
SF #90: African-American Poetry from 19th Century America, and Racialized Fear in Ebola Coverage
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
30 minutes
Released:
Oct 24, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
This week in Juicy Fruit, we of course talk about Annie Lennox, who released a cover of the iconic Billie Holiday song "Strange Fruit" in the same week she weighed in on Beyoncé's right to claim feminism. Later in the week, she gave an interview to Tavis Smiley in which she managed to explain the meaning of our titular song without even using the words black, African American, or lynching. And Ebola coverage remains wall-to-wall in the media, but how does the fear of the disease tie in to deep-seated fear of what was once called "the Dark Continent," and ideas about the "other" being scary and dangerous? Shonda Rhimes also gets a shout out for her no-nonsense dismissal of a twitter user's complaint that there are too many "gay scenes" in her shows. And for our feature interview, we speak with Erika DeSimone, co-editor of Voices Beyond Bondage: An Anthology of Verse by African Americans of the 19th Century. Often when we think of black Americans in that period, we think of people who couldn't read or write, because they weren't allowed to learn. But DeSimone's book dispels that myth—at the same time bringing to light beautiful poetry. "Something is very wrong that we have this huge treasure trove of literature, this whole poetry movement, that nobody has said 'Hey, let's pay attention to this,'" she says. We asked why this work has gone unnoticed for so long. "History is written by the winners," she explains. "And by and large the winners are not African Americans in this country."
Released:
Oct 24, 2014
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #39: New Basketball Camp Welcomes LGBTQ Kids; Chris Crass on Intersectional Activism: Miserable summer camp experiences are a staple in sitcoms and movies, where letters to home complain of mosquitos, inedible food, and obnoxious roommates. But for LGBTQ kids, the reality is often a lot less funny, and camp can be a scary place if you've been singled out as different. So teaming up with [GLSEN](http://www.glsen.org/)and with support from [NBA Cares](http://www.nba.com/cares/), friends to the show Darnell Moore and Wade Davis are [spearheading a brand new basketball camp this year](http://www.outsports.com/2013/6/25/4464174/nba-partners-with-you-belong-sports-leadership-camp-for-lgbt-youth)—one designed for LGBTQ kids and their allies. The camp is free and features a whole roster of NBA stars dropping by. It's called [YOU Belong: LGBTQA Youth Sports and Leadership Initiative](http://youbelonginitiative.com/), and Darnell took a few minutes on the eve of the camp's openin by Strange Fruit