Comparing Equality And Strange Fruit

Good morning/afternoon teachers and students. Racism was a major issue faced by many in the 20th Century. Feelings of isolation and being segregated as a result of being racially or ethnically different were common to many people at the time. Many poems and songs examine this issue of bigotry; two examples are Equality by Maya Angelou and the song Strange Fruit, recorded by the legendary jazz singer, Billie Holiday. Both of these songs examine this issue of racism, from different viewpoints.
Strange Fruit, written in third person by Abel Meeropol as a poem, it came to symbolise the brutality and racism of the practice of lynching in America's South. Likewise, Equality was written in first person, protesting oppression as well as reflecting about
In Strange Fruit, it describes the haunting scenes of lynching, a slow and compelling tone sung by Billie Holiday. In a similar way, Equality is focused on evading her dysfunctional circumstances as an African American in the past, “We have lived a painful history, we know the shameful past,” One significant difference between both songs is the haunting and incredibly dark lyrics represented in Strange Fruit, which contrasts strikingly against the feeling of a new beginning portrayed in
Equality incorporates assonance in places, such as shameful/past and message/change. However, rhyme is most evident, throughout Strange Fruit. The poem use of rhyme is deliberate and contributes to the feel of the text and subsequently, the issues it explores. Repetition is applied in both poems, “Equality, and I will be free”- emphasises the importance of the message. Correspondingly, the key words ‘strange’ and ‘bitter’ are repeated in Strange Fruit. These combined elements provide a sophisticated, thought provoking sound scheme for the