Music has the power to ignite change—to encourage introspection and galvanize people.
Earlier this year Google.org grantee the Equal Justice Initiative launched the Lynching in America digital experience. This platform, built with support from Google, brings together the Equal Justice Initiative’s data and research on the 4,000+ victims of lynchings with the oral histories of families who still suffer the legacy of lynching today.
This week, Grammy-nominated artist Andra Day released a new cover of the anti-lynching protest song “Strange Fruit,” originally sung by Billie Holiday in 1939. Andra's cover—recorded to raise awareness for the Lynching in America project—encourages us to take an honest look at this painful period in American history.
Our struggle does not stop. It simply continues. Black history does not repeat itself. It evolves.
Since EJI launched the Lynching in America platform earlier this summer, the oral histories and site content have been viewed more than 35 million times. We’re proud to help EJI make this data and research more broadly accessible, and to support their efforts to memorialize the more than 4,000 victims of lynching and racial terror.
Tomorrow, Andra will perform “Strange Fruit” at the Global Citizen Festival, the annual concert in Central Park promoting freedom and justice for all. Tune into the live stream to watch her performance and join us in supporting EJI in their movement for truth and reconciliation in America.
