southern tree bear a strange fruit or blood on the leaf and blood at the root . strange fruit . a poem write by a jewish high school teacher abel meeropol . a song make famous by billie holiday . abel write it after he saw a photo depict the lynching of a black man in the south . something so beautiful come out of such a tragic event . shiver go down your spine when you hear billie holiday perform it . your eye get wet . you ask yourself why and yet you get no answer . how could something like that happen such a short time ago . and just because youre black . joel katz documentary from 2002 be very touching and very moving movie about one stain in american history . there be abel son and michael and robby and talk about the song and about their father . pete seeger sing a piece of the song and play with his guitar . again your eye get wet . amiri baraka and don byron and abbey wilson and cassandra wilson be also talk there . this movie make you mad and it make you sad . there be a stain you can not clean . here be a strange and bitter crop .