Here is a 2003 sculpture in honor of Ellison

"...I lived rent-free in a building rented strictly to whites..." (2078). The following image is a visceral reminder of the history of segregation and Jim Crow laws in the 20th Century U.S.:

click on this link from the Library of Congress to see more images. Consider also the song "Strange Fruit," recorded by Billie Holliday in 1939

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 the 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.

"Then somehow I came out of it, ascending hastily from this underworld of sound to hear Louis Armstrong innocently asking,/ What did I do/ To be so black/ And blue?" (2082). Composed by Thomas "Fats" Waller with lyrics by Andy Razaf, this song has a complex history.

Version sung by Louis Armstrong

(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue

Cold empty bed...springs hard as lead
Feels like ole Ned...wished I was dead
What did I do...to be so black and blue

Even the mouse...ran from my house
They laugh at you...and all that you do
What did I do...to be so black and blue

I'm white...inside...but that don't help my case
That's life...can't hide...what is in my face How would it end...ain't got a friend
My only sin...is in my skin

What did I do...to be so black and blue

(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue

Longer version

Out in the street, shufflin' feet,
Couples passin' two by two,
While here am I, left high and dry,
Black, and 'cause I'm black I'm blue.
Browns and yellers, all have fellers,
Gentlemen prefer them light,
Wish I could fade, can't make the grade,
Nothing but dark days in sight:

Chorus 1: Cold, empty bed, Springs hard as lead,
Pains in my head, Feel like old Ned.
What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?
No joys for me, No company,
Even the mouse ran from my house,
All my life through, I've been so Black And Blue.

I'm white inside, It don't help my case
'Cause I can't hide, what is on my face, oh!
I'm so forlorn, Life's just a thorn,
My heart is torn, Why was I born?
What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?

'Cause you're black, Folks think you lack
They laugh at you, And scorn you too,
What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?

When you are near, they laugh and sneer,
Set you aside and you're denied,
What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?

How sad I am, each day I feel worse,
My mark of Ham seems to be a curse!
How will it end? Ain't got a friend,
My only sin Is my skin.
What did I do, to be so Black And Blue?

"'We of the younger generation extol the wisdom of that great leader and educator,' I shouted, 'who first spoke these flaming sounds of wisdom: 'A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel'" (2091). Does this paragraph sound familiar? Compare Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Address of 1895, reprinted in Up From Slavery and featured in your Norton C (761-763).

"'Social...' 'What?' they yelled. '...equality--' The laughter hung smokelike in the sudden stillness." Compare Washington's Address: "The wisest of my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly..." (763).