Original subtitles

out of here her name is chanel she

never knew her father her mother just disappeared last year and her brother

overdosed on drugs three months ago now she's living with her grandmother who

loves her very much but doesn't have any idea how to talk to her so chanel is

terribly angry yes but she's something else too She's a survivor, and she just

needs somebody to help her find that out.

Turn out.

You miss one more day, they'll kick you right out of school.

Who cares?

I'm going to be a rap star, and I'm going to make it. You can't even make it

the 10th grade.

You're going to pull out a Bible and start preaching like my grandma? Your

grandma's a nice lady.

She's a bad girl. She's all you got.

I got my music.

Just get out of my face.

I got as much right as you do to take this bus.

I ain't waiting for no bus.

Well, I'm going to the library to finish my thing.

What'd I say?

Chanel is due tomorrow.

We gotta go to the museum and... pay.

I got business to do.

Chanel, you shouldn't be doing business with Lamont.

Well, that ain't none of your business. Chanel!

You were supposed to come straight home after school.

I know, Grandma, but something came up.

I gotta go. Where?

To the museum. I got to write an essay.

Tell her about the essay, Renee.

Hey, Mrs. Bishop.

Everybody's supposed to find a piece of themselves in history and do the

research at the museum.

See, I'm telling the truth.

Well, maybe you'd like to tell me the truth about what happened to those $20

bills I had in my purse this morning.

I don't know nothing about that.

I want you to swear to me on this Bible you didn't take my money.

Okay. I swear.

You think I'm stupid.

You think because my eyes are bad I can't see what's going on?

But if I catch you smoking marijuana one more time... Come on.

I got errands. And I want to make sure you get off at that museum.

Get on the bus.

in my damn way.

That is one very angry young woman.

My assignment?

Yeah.

There must be a lot of pain and loneliness underneath all of that

Well, the only reason that she's walking into this museum is to make a drug

connection.

She has no intention of going in here to research a school, let's say.

Oh, I think I know what this is.

Yeah.

It's going to be hard on her, but she has to see it.

Tess said she's a survivor.

Oh, she is.

But the drugs that she's about to buy, they don't know that.

Chernelle could be dead by midnight.

When you walk down...

Heavy burden, heavy load I

will rise and I will walk with you I'll

walk with you Till the sun don't even shine Walk with

you Every time I tell you I'll walk with you

Believe me, I'll walk with you.

Give me a break, Lamont.

What can I do?

My grandma was standing right there.

You know what she's like? I mean... Yeah, I got the money.

Okay, one hour.

There's a bench near the entrance.

I'll be sitting there.

And hurry, I'm running low.

How am I supposed to compete with headphones and rap music?

Look at me. Why would she listen to me?

Well, she probably won't.

But she might listen to Lady Day.

Monica. Chanel listened to it.

How'd you know that?

It's on your backpack.

What are you listening to?

Someone tells me this ain't your style.

Oh, yeah.

Oh.

Terribly angry, isn't it?

It tells the truth, lady.

So does mine, Billie Holiday.

Never heard of her. She was a woman, a jazz singer.

Look, I gotta go. I've got homework.

Give me that back.

I thought you had homework to do.

That's my last page.

Good.

Hey, give that back.

I will. I don't keep things that don't belong to me.

I think I'll hold on to it until you finish your homework.

You've got to be kidding.

Actually, I'll help you finish your homework. From what I understand,

even harder.

So, what is your assignment anyway?

Find a piece of yourself in history.

Well, that shouldn't be difficult.

Everyone has a history.

You just have to look around a little.

You know, I wouldn't be surprised if that exhibit over there didn't get you

going.

What is it?

Maybe you should see for yourself.

I ain't leaving his bench.

Okay. We could just start our research right here.

You and me and Billie Holiday.

She smoked marijuana, too, you know. Not to mention... Well...

Lady's never on time.

She is always worth waiting.

She has the place down every night.

Even when she's all juiced up.

Who says I'm juice?

I ain't juice, Leo.

Not yet.

Hey, Billy, we got a thong in here.

Hold your horses, boy.

Here, Leo.

Give me a drink.

Sorry, lady. You know I'm under orders.

I heard that you needed a piano player.

You look a little pale to swing with our kind of music.

Really?

See, I heard this was an integrated nightclub.

Man, what kind of square are you? This ain't nothing but ginger ale.

What y 'all laughing at, huh?

Y 'all ain't nothing but a bunch of dead beasts, a lot of you. Come on, Billy.

You always feel better when you sing.

Keep singing.

You know what? Rehearsal's over. Just pack it up.

Pack your stuff. Just get all of you. Get out.

Scram. Beat it.

You know, with a shiner like that, I think there's been enough beating for

day.

You gonna call your lady?

They ought to treat you like one.

Guess I just got bad luck with men.

Always did.

Even my daddy ran out on me before I was born.

What'd you say your name was again?

Andrew. Oh, man, that ain't no name for no piano man.

Look, they call me Lady Day.

And from now on, you're...

My ginger man.

Now let me see how you mess with them keys.

with you the first time I looked into them there eyes. And you have a certain

little cute way of playing with them there eyes.

They make me feel so happy.

They make me feel so blue.

I'm falling, oh, stalling in a great big way for you. My heart

is jumping. You started something with them there eyes.

You'd better look out, little brown eyes, if you're wise.

They sparkle, they bubble.

They're going to get you in a whole lot of trouble.

Oh, baby, them there eyes.

Hold up.

Hold up.

I like music that tells the truth.

The uglier, the better.

Because that's the kind of music I'm going to sing someday.

Then keep listening, Sharnell.

Because the truth isn't always so easy to speak or think.

Hey, where is everybody?

Up here.

You're on time.

Where's Andrew?

With the poster of her?

Now I know why you're on time.

Well, I don't. I don't get that cat.

He's a hit musician and a gentleman.

You mean he's not your type?

Bingo.

What are you doing?

Stringing up Hitler like he deserves.

Can't think with that thing in the room.

Come on, Billy.

We're making a political statement.

That's what we do in this joint. Take it down.

He's giving me the creeps.

Okay, okay.

Lady.

I need to talk to you. Hey, Ginger Man.

What do you got good for me? A song.

And it was written just for you.

Ooh, a love song?

Blues.

Billy, you've never sung a song like this.

Nobody has.

It's called Strange Fruit.

What does that mean?

Take a look.

It was a song that no one wanted to sing and no one wanted to hear.

Some depressing love song?

No, it wasn't about love at all. It was about hate.

It was about the terrible, ugly truth.

And there...

This is it, Sharnell.

The reason the song was written and the reason that it had to be sung.

This is the strange fruit.

So what?

Sharnell, how can you just walk away from something like that?

Look, I got somebody waiting for me. Won't you go inside? I'll catch up with

later.

Hey. Yo, you kept me waiting. I'm a busy man. I'm sorry, but I'm here now. I got

the money.

And I don't want none of that kid stuff, neither.

Oh, so you ready to graduate?

Mm -hmm. Sharnell, I need to speak with you.

Hey, yo, cool out, Snow White. You better go before the police start

someone to arrest.

Oh, man.

Lamont, wait.

Oh, you setting me up?

It ain't like that. I'll get rid of her.

Please.

Okay. Got some business to take care of across town.

It's going to take a couple hours.

I'll tell you what.

I'll pay you.

When this thing beeps, I'll be waiting outside.

All right? Don't worry. I'm going to be here.

Yeah, you better be here.

Alone.

Stay away from me, Monica.

Just give me my joint and walk on. I can't just walk away from someone who's

about to throw her life away.

What do you know about it?

I know that people take drugs to stop the pain.

But sometimes pain is important.

Too important to ignore.

Like those pictures.

A bunch of black people hanging from trees.

What's it to you?

The question is, what is it to you?

Oh, I get it. I'm black, supposed to be all weeping and wailing. Not because

you're black.

Because you're human. Those pictures go beyond color.

All through the 19th and 20th centuries, black Americans were tortured and

burned and hung from tree limbs.

There was a time when lynching black people was a form of entertainment.

Those images were used on postcards.

They were as common as photos of Niagara Falls.

Yeah, well, all that happened before I was born.

What does it have to do with me?

I've seen death.

I found my brother Wesley lying in his room.

Mouth like a screen.

We had a deal. Give me back my joint.

Your brother died of an overdose?

I should think that you would be fighting against drugs, not fighting to

them. I don't fight for nothing except my music.

Look, if the drugs don't kill me, something else will.

That's the way it is.

Unless you're a wife or somebody special like Lady Holiday or whatever you

follow. Her life wasn't any easier than yours, Sharnell.

And she had a chance to make a stand once, like you do now.

And I'm not leaving here until you understand that.

Andrew, I've been singing since I was a kid.

Straight corners, brothels, dives.

But now people pay good money to hear me sing.

Wear fancy clothes, gardenias in my hair.

They're one of your songs about moonlight, dreams, stuff that make them

good.

And here you come with this.

No colored person would dare sing it.

No white person would care to sing it.

Why should I?

Cause, lady.

When did all this happen?

About the time your grandmother was the age you are now.

It's kind of hard to think of her as being young.

Perhaps you two have more in common than you know.

My grandma's from down south.

I wonder if she's ever heard the song.

No one would have heard it if Lady Day hadn't found the courage to sing it.

Hey, ginger man.

You want some ginger ale?

No. I'm going to ask Leo to put some coffee on. No, no, no. I don't want

Or booze.

I can't think that long.

Not tonight.

Not no night.

I'm not... You help me.

Five minutes, Miss Halliday. Okay.

Lady.

Let me freshen up the other pill.

Oh, boy.

Guess I just can't do nothing right tonight, huh?

That's long.

Won't let go.

Man, I just can't start remembering what it was like down south.

I was the black singer with the white band, sneaking through the back door,

drinking from the colored only water fountain.

things out of that buff window.

I can't get it out of my mind.

I saw strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree.

Couldn't it?

Please help me.

I need some reefer.

Lady, no. You don't need that stuff.

Come on, man, don't be such a square.

See, a lady always relies on her piano man to hook her up.

I can't do it.

Man, you're just a dumb, sweet old white boy.

You don't know what a lynching's really like, do you? Yes.

Yes, I do.

Then help me, please.

Billy, Billy.

Bank us if you want.

I swear I'm going to go out there and I'll find someone who will.

Miss Holiday?

Okay.

All right. See, you, you just give me what I need.

Then Billy's going to sing a song real pretty for you.

Please.

I just want to know one thing.

Did she end up like my brother?

Billie Holiday did eventually die from drug abuse, but that's not the point of

trying... Chanel, no, let me finish my story. I already know how it ends.

How it always ends.

What's the difference between being strung out and strung up?

Your grandmother's on her way.

Oh, man.

Who told her about her?

You sell me out? No, they found some ID in your backpack.

But you should be grateful that the museum called her and not the police.

I'd rather spend a night in jail than listen to her preach.

Thou shall not this, thou shall not that.

I can't do nothing right around her.

Maybe she's just worried you're going to die like your brother did.

Probably will.

But what about your dream?

What a dream.

Being a singer.

It takes a lot of courage to carry on, Sharnell, when life is hard.

But drugs don't give you courage. They drain it away.

Billie Holiday knew that better than anyone.

That's why her great act of courage almost didn't happen.

Lousy song.

You deal with her.

Really?

What you got there?

Gardenia's man, where's the stuff?

It's on the way. What do you mean, on the way?

I mean that a friend of mine's bringing it.

Give me this, okay?

You're gonna cut yourself.

Cut myself?

Man, every word.

Every note of that song's a piece of sharp glass tearing at my gut.

And I can't sing it unless I get some help.

Now you said you'd help me, ginger man.

I believed you.

Good evening, lady.

This is my friend Tess.

She's the one?

I'm going to leave you with Tess for a while.

I believe you have some private business to attend to.

You got stuff?

I certainly have.

How much you got?

As much as you need. But I have to warn you, lady, it's very powerful.

Oh, is that good?

Heaven on earth, but you can't drink it or sniff it or shoot it in your arms.

What?

Are you jiving?

God is not jive.

God?

Five minutes is all I'll need.

Hold up. Hold up. You mean to tell me the lady was waiting for a fix and all

gets is that test woman tripping about God?

Maybe my grandma will believe the story of this whack, but not me.

Chanel, I'm waiting for an explanation.

Don't have one.

You took my money out of my purse, didn't you? Just like your brother

used to.

God help you.

Yeah, we was just talking about God.

I'm Monica. You must be Chanel's grandmother.

Yes, my name is Georgia.

How do you do, Monica?

Under different circumstances, I'd be pleased to meet you.

Charnelle, I'm at the end of my rope.

I don't mean to interfere, but... Since when?

Charnelle has to write an essay.

Her assignment is to find a piece of herself in history.

Now, the museum is closed, but I think I could make special arrangements for you

to see... I don't need to see no more pictures of black people hanging from

trees. What?

There are pictures of lynchings in a museum?

Yeah, a bunch of them.

Who needs to see stuff like that?

Maybe you do.

For what?

Because you're alive.

And you don't seem to appreciate that.

I

can't

make out what it says.

Read it to me, please, baby.

Lynching of live Daniels, August 3rd, 1920, Center, Texas.

God rest his soul.

Can we go home?

Not until you've seen every last one.

Is that a woman?

It says here it's Laura Nelson.

Who was hung alongside the sun that she tried to save.

My feet are tired.

How dare you complain?

How dare you not cry?

Okay, it's sad.

But I got my own business to be sad about.

This is a human being.

born with the God -given right to love, laugh, and be remembered, just like you.

Look at him closely, Sharnell. Tell me what you see.

A black kid hanging from a pine tree.

A bunch of white kids watching.

A little girl in some stupid sailor dress.

A white sailor dress?

He's smiling like he's at a picnic or something.

There's a man with her.

He's all dressed up, too.

In a straw boater hat.

That's her daddy.

The boy has the face of an angel.

Grandma?

His name was Earl.

But it says here, luncheon spectators unidentified.

How come you know his name?

Because, Sharnell, you're not the only one in our family to lose a brother.

Well, I guess I finally found that piece of myself in history.

You happy now?

No, but I believe this was supposed to happen.

How come you never told me about this?

I don't know. Maybe because you're already so full of hate.

And look what happens when that takes hold.

You see, he was more than my brother.

He was my teacher and my best friend.

I guess I was as close to him as you were to your brother.

You still miss him?

Every day.

But Earl gave me a great gift.

You see, Daddy and Mama never had time for schooling.

But Earl learned to read.

And he taught me.

Oh.

He was so smart.

Everyone in town said so.

That girl in the picture?

Annabelle.

I used to jump rope with her.

The man in the hat, that's her daddy, Mr.

Skaggs. He owned the pharmacy and Earl ran errands for him. He mowed his lawn,

shined his shoes.

Turns out he was trying to build up enough credit to...

to buy me a birthday present.

And after Earl earned every penny, Mr. Staggs let him bring it home.

Then he started telling folks Earl had stolen it.

But he didn't.

I turned seven years old on that terrible day.

He gave me my present.

But before I could open it, our house was surrounded by happy

dogs and men with picks and crowbars and guns.

And I started to cry, here it is, take it back.

But those men said they wanted nothing after colored hands had touched it.

And as they dragged him away,

Earl made me promise I'd hold on to

his birthday present and remember every word.

Every word of what?

I didn't understand until I opened his present.

This. This is... This is what gives me peace.

This is what taught me how to forgive.

You forgive them because it says so in here?

Because he said so.

In here.

Save white people.

I'm leaving, and no one's making me stay. Fine.

Walk away and leave everything that happened here today behind you.

I bet I will.

Just know this.

The drugs that Lamont will sell you tonight will kill you.

I never told you his name.

You're a narc.

No, I'm not.

But I do know that you're about to graduate into much harder drugs and a

much shorter life.

Okay, what's your point?

I want you to have all the information you can before you make your choice.

Just like Billie Holiday heard the truth before she made hers.

I can't do it, Andrew.

Yes, you can.

You just remember what Tess told you, lady. God is here.

He's right here.

You are never going to walk alone.

You're never going to sing alone.

For my last number, I want to sing something new.

Something I have been inspired

to share with you.

It's called Strange Fruit.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit.

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.

Black bodies swinging in the southern

breeze.

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree.

Pastoral theme of the gallant sound.

Oh, she sang the song. I mean, big deal.

It was a big deal.

Night after night, people came to hear her sing that song.

She always finished with Strange Fruit.

She wanted to make sure that people went home thinking of the killing that no

one could stop or even talk about.

That song became her anthem.

That first night that she sang Strange Fruit, she had no idea how the audience

would respond.

Or even if she'd sing the song again.

Till one person ever gets to clap?

She never found out who it was. But she always said it was the one gesture that

changed everything.

That it wasn't a white person. You're right.

Yeah, right.

That was you.

Yes, it was.

What's going on? I'm freaking out here.

No, sure, now.

You're talking to an angel.

You're an angel?

God sent me a white angel?

God sent you a messenger in human form with white skin.

He doesn't want you to look at me. He wants you to listen to me.

And what are you going to say? Quit doing drugs and love white people?

Quit hate and love all people.

For God made them all.

And he loves them all, mistakes and all.

And he loves you too, Sharnell.

Why?

Because you're his little girl.

I don't belong to nobody.

That's not true.

He created you.

You are his.

And he is yours.

If you'd only hold on to him instead of the hate and the drugs.

You have every reason to be angry, you know.

But when anger turns to hate, it becomes a noose around your own neck.

The more you hate, the tighter it becomes.

You talk about what others have done to you.

What about what you were doing to yourself every time you used drugs?

I'm just trying to get by.

Hold on to a dream.

Until what? Until you kill yourself?

Your grandmother's brother was your age when his life was ripped away.

He had no choice.

But your brother did, and so do you.

God wants you to choose life and then to live to testify that you did.

Testify?

Billie Holiday told the truth for her generation.

God wants you to do the same for yours.

How can somebody like me make a difference?

Billie didn't think that she could make a difference.

But with God's help, she did, and so can you.

You mean I can really be a singer?

Oh, yes.

Yes.

And you can do much more than Billy did.

You can survive.

It's time for you to make

your decision, Sharnell.

You ready to graduate, young lady?

Forget it. I got homework to do.

Hey, Sharnell, don't walk away from me.

Where you going?

Go home, Grandpa.