She was sent toAlderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginiafor a year. These executions were often carried out by lawless mobs, though police officers did participate, under the pretext of justice. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Lynching by Claude McKay. activism The haunting lyrics of Strange Fruit paint a picture of a rural American South where political and psychological terror reigns over African American communities. McKay's poem addresses not only the cruelty of the early to mid 1900s but also the way in which racism, ignorance and violence is passed from one generation to the next. Strange Fruit was written during a decade when activist organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were pressing lawmakers to make lynching a federal crime. American Protest Literature. Poster, tags: Full Transcript of "Lynching Black People Because They Are Black" Any human who willingly harms another human being because of racism, according to McKay, has no place in heaven. EMBED TWEET HERE. Under the pseudonym, Lewis Allan, Meeropol set his poem to music and performed Bitter Fruit as a protest song in the New York area alongside his wife Anne. McKay uses kairos and allusion to propose this connection between Christ and the victim. McKays connections between the historical moment of Christs death and the death of the lynching victim was an appeal to pathos made through comparison and kairos. Opening lines emphasize ascendency of spirit, from the "swinging char" to the father in heaven in whose bosom the hanged man will dwell. All night a bright and solitary star / (Perchance the one that ever guided him, / Yet gave him up at last to Fates wild whim). The writing wasnt simply about the pastit was happening at that moment., READ MORE: 11 Anthems of Black Pride and Protest Through American History. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. Missouri in Shame was the headline of the first editorial in the Kansas City Star on the 1931 Maryville Lynching of Raymond Gunn. McKay used these lines as a means to talk about the objectification of black bodies in the lynching, and contrast it with the shock of the next day. It was popular with elites in the arts and left-wing politics. Although thenumber of lynchings in the United States began to go down around the turn of the 20th century, the years1933 to 1936 sawan increase in these racially motivated murders.3. Claude McKay. In The Way Ahead, one of the characters recites the dramatic monologue The Lynching of Black Maguire. Poem, Between 1865 and 1950,1more than 6,000Black Americans were killed in lynchings.2For the most part, these murders were tolerated or ignored by law enforcement and justice officials. Beyond this, his use of the term awful in describing the sin (skin color), works to input a quick perspective of the lynchers, who believed that the victims skin color was transgression enough to justify their action. This then brings the reader back to the idea of how can a man determine what is divine law, and is man then playing god? I probably would not have picked up on this if you did not mention it. Nearly 30% were accused of murder. During a time when violence against Black Americans was common, Holiday's haunting rendition of the song often left audiences uncomfortable. View the list of all donors and contributors. The Harlem Renaissance poet Dorothea Mathews also published a poem entitled "The Lynching" in Opportunity in 1928, and a comparison of the two poems provides a powerful illustration of the different ways writers chose to represent the horrors of lynching in verse. Officers would routinely leave a black inmates jail cell unguarded after rumors of a lynching began to circulate to allow for a mob to kill them before any trial or legal defense could take place. group violence McKay also draws questions on sin through his diction and proposes the idea that the black mans fate is determined by the white mans judgment, thus putting the white man in a place where he plays god. A draw up of the plan for the Black Cemetery in Kendleton. The poem became most famous as a song performed by Billie Holiday in 1939 and played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement. Americans abroad The poem ends with , little lads, lynchers that were to be, / Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee. Billie Holiday performing at the Club Downbeat in Manhattan, c. 1947. This sin is probably from the believe that blacks were black due to Gods cursing of Ham. In contrast, it seems that God rejects those who lynched the man by calling their crime an awful sin that remained still unforgiven. There is no forgiveness, according to McKay, for those who participated in the lynching. This then brings the reader back to the idea of how can a man determine what is divine law, and is man then playing god? ghettos According to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), nearly 25% of lynching victims were accused of sexual assault. McKay wants his readers to understand that societal beliefs and customs are not always what is best or right. The EJI, which relied on the Tuskegee numbers in building its own count, integrated other sources, such as newspaper archives and other historical records, to arrive at a total of 4,084 racial terror lynchings in 12 southern states between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and 1950, and another 300 in other states. An introduction tracing the groundbreaking work of African Americans in this pivotal cultural and artistic movement. kwessbecher said this on May 7, 2012 at 5:04 pm | Reply. This is McKay referring to the believed to be sin of blacks being sinful in the eyes of whites. The song rose slowly in the charts, because radio stations were reluctant to play it and its sheet music sales were low. For Christian readers, or anyone with an understanding of the Bible, the death of Christ is where Christ died for the sins of humankind, despite having done nothing wrong. The situation of a man being hung for something he could not control is used to make the reader feel guilt. In the Bible, Christ is crucified for claiming to be the son of God; he is hung on the cross in a ceremonial setting with crowds watching. McKay uses kairos and allusion to propose this connection between Christ and the victim. written testimony, tags: The him is referring to the African American race as a whole. This reference of once again may be McKays way of pointing out the frequency of these occurrences. The lynching victim dies for no reason of his own wrongdoing, he dies at the hands of racist men who were looking to scapegoat for their troubles. When McKay writes of the spirit rising to high heaven, the star abiding over the scene, the womens blue eyes, or the children who see the corpse, he uses images with strong connotations of love, purity, and hope. The lynching took place on August 7, 1930, in the town center of Marion, Indiana. In a great many cases, the mobs were aided and abetted by law enforcement (indeed, they often were the same people). He also ties in more religious imagery by comparing the star on the night of Christs birth and the North star that guided some enslaved to freedom. Among the best known of these was the decimation of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, neighborhood of Greenwood in 1921, after a black man was falsely charged with raping a white woman in an elevator. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. The amendment to HB1245 has yet to be adopted. The next three lines (eight through ten) as an interesting way to provide a setting and also show the contrast between how the perpetrators saw the victim the night of the lynching, as an object, and how the next day other African Americans would come to see the horror and feel for the humanity of the victim. Despite the shift, the specter of ritual black death as a public affair one that people could confidently participate in without anonymity and that could be seen as entertainment did not end with the lynching era. Print. Americans abroad And we think about Black women at that time as just big singers, but I dont think we talk enough about them using their platform to make a stand against injustice, and then the cost and the price that they paid doing that., A Time magazine critic witnessed Holidays performance and wrote a column on it, featuring pictures of Billie Holiday along with the lyrics to the song. He points out how this ancient belief is still not forgiven by those who belief it. Instant PDF downloads. McKay completes his poem by talking about the lack of white sympathy. The Lynching starts off by immediately comparing the victim to a Christ figure. Oral History, tags: 19 Sept. 2016. In the year before McKay published "The Lynching," 76 black men and women were lynched, the highest number in 15 years, and records suggest that 4,743 people3,446 of them blackwere lynched between 1882 and 1968, though many lynchings also went Inthink the mood uses a sense of irony to convey a feeling of horror and tragedy. Fate is a rhetorical synonym for a god figure, and man is thus playing god when he determines the awful sin that still remained unforgiven, and leaving the victim to Fates wild whim. McKays use of diction in these lines really forces the reader to face the idea that the white man plays god when he participates in lynchings. Furthermore, McKay uses enjambments throughout his poem in order to emphasize the writing in every line. Among the most unsettling realities of lynching is the degree to which white Americans embraced it, not as an uncomfortable necessity or a way of maintaining order, but as a joyous moment of wholesome celebration. In August 2022, Bryant was awarded roughly $16 million in federal court as part of the lawsuit. religious life, tags: Opening lines emphasize ascendency of spirit, from the "swinging char . refugees & immigration, type: The founder of the nightclub had heard Meeropol perform his song and asked him to play it for Holiday, who was the club's headline performer at the time. Then suddenly everyone was clapping.. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. Jim Crow also referred to a way of life under JIm crow laws etiquette expectations, African American were viewed and treated as second class citizens and experienced common discrimination and racism. I feel the rope against my bark, And the weight of him in my grain, I feel in the throe of his final woe. He and his wife performed it several times at protest rallieswith Black singer Laura Duncan, including one performance at Madison Square Garden. A valuable resource that looks at the history of lynching and racial hatred in the activism We see an appeal to pathos in this allusion because the reader is meant to feel sorrow for the victim, to feel in the loss of their life at the ignorance of man. yvonnewood said this on May 9, 2012 at 1:52 am | Reply. One of the reasons that this poem is so chilling is because of the response to the lynching. Throughout the poem, Moss mainly speaks about the oppression of African Americans in history and physical pain endured in that time period. The poem's context on the surface is that of a lynching taking place. This is followed with McKay again setting the scene saying the ghastly body swaying in the sun, thus re-humanizing the victim, as people who cared about them came to see them the following day. Even when it is possible that some of the whites may not agree with this gruesome act, they will not defy the social protocol. liberation Later that year it was included in McKay's Spring In New Hampshire and Other Poems (1920). "Black bodies swinging in the. Eventually many white publications began to turn with overall white attitudes about lynching. I also agree that children were desensitized to the horrific crimes of lynching. .css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The lynching at Maryville was about as horrible as such a thing can be. The fact that these women come, pressed to see the victim, but show no emotion for him, is a play on the readers pathos, as if to make the reader feel distraught by the fact these women did not have sympathy. "The House I Live In" leisure & recreation The police claimed they were unable to stop a mob from breaking into the jail and removing the prisoners. McKay says in the fourth line the, awful sin remained still unforgiven as another Biblical allusion, but also as a paradoxical statement. And Holiday dared to perform itin front of Black and white audiences, alike. Americans abroad I agree that people should have there own views and understandings of right and wrong. community The poem specifically focuses on the horrific lynchings that took place primarily across the American South, in which black individuals were brutally tortured and murderedand often strung up from trees to be gawked atby white supremacists. Required fields are marked *. They even performed it at Madison Square Garden with the blues song vocalist Laura Duncan. activism He is much in demand as an inspirational speaker both in Israel, Great Britain and the United States. President Biden signed into law last March a bill with overwhelming bipartisan support that would make lynching a federal hate crime. Lynchings were only the latest fashion in racial terrorism against black Americans when they came to the fore in the late 19th century. Readers were compelled to feel sorrow for the victim, to see how lynchings provided white man an opportunity to play god, and understand how black bodies were objectified during this time, all through McKays use of pathos, kairos and allusions to Christianity. Holiday turned to Commodore Records, an independent alternative jazz label. Holiday may not have predicted the impact her Time magazine review would have, but she did understand the power of the song. The awful sin was the victims skin color, which remained unforgiven by the men who hanged him; its interesting how McKay uses the term awful sin because sin is something you commit, and the victims skin color was nothing in his control. Mathew's short lyric is as follows: He saw the rope, the moving mob, The white people wont stand this sort of thing, and the response will be prompt and effectual. The fact that children were happy about the death of the lynched black man vividly describes how whites had felt about blacks at the time. The touch of my own last pain. Victims would be seized and subjected to every imaginable manner of physical torment, with the torture usually ending with being hung from a tree and set on fire. There wasnt even a patter of applause when I finished. Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay was a Jamaican-American writer and poet, who was a seminal figure in the Harlem Renaissance. A lynching is the public killing of an individual who has not received any due process. Also playing a major role was the great migration of black people out of the south into urban areas north and west. I like how you noted that the syllables set a pace for the reader and create pauses in order to emphasize the writing in each line. Ogden. poetry & literature, tags: The poem ends with little lads, lynchers that were to be, / Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee again, playing on pathos by making the reader feel distraught that young children would find amusement in dancing around the corpse, and by the perpetuation of a hate culture. This is pivotal because, from the perspective of the lyncher, black bodies were objects, used to teach youth, to blame and scapegoat. The Lynching, a poem written by Claude McKay, was named after the horrendous act that kept black communities terrorized in the segregated south. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Unsurprisingly, lynching was most concentrated in the former Confederate states, and especially in those with large black populations. It was published in 1937 in The New York Teacher, the journal of the teachers union. After the fire was out, hundreds poked about in his ashes for souvenirs. group violence, type: Fantastic analysis! Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2006. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) really started pushing for civil rights during this era. Listen to Holiday's famous sung version of the poem. activism Listen to Holiday's famous sung version of the poem. He characterizes this with a very dark image of children or future lynchers dancing around the corpse. Blood Justice: The Lynching of Mack Charles Parker, a failed insurrection outside New Orleans, colonial authorities in New York City manacled, burned and broke on the wheel. Quoted by Dorian Lynskey, "Strange Fruit: The First Great Protest Song," The Guardian, February 15, 2011. After almost 200 attempts in Congress to try and get anti-lynching legislation passed, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was passed in 2022. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Greetings! His work ranged from vernacular verse celebrating peasant life in Jamaica to poems that protested racial and economic inequities. His spirit in smoke ascended to high heaven. science & medicine, tags: Tourists walk into his shop and stare at the lone card in the glass case. Youre right, this picture is very graphic, but I think it really drives home the image connected to fiendish glee. In your post, you attribute the use of religious rhetoric to the salvation of everyone involved, and the awful sin a reference to the sin of blacks being sinful in the eyes of whites. I think this is a great example of close reading, however, I tend to think that McKays use of religious concepts were in complete mockery of the religious connection to the justification of slavery. In the first four lines of the poem, McKay describes . Opening lines emphasize ascendency of spirit, from the "swinging char" to the father in heaven in whose bosom the hanged man will dwell. Similar events, from the New York draft riots during the civil war to others in New Orleans, Knoxville, Charleston, Chicago, and St Louis, saw hundreds of blacks killed. Next Section Character List Previous Section Poem Text Buy Study Guide Holidays recording label, Columbia, feared a negative reaction from Southern radio stations and their listeners, but theyallowed her to record the song with another company. The term "lynching" is most often used to characterize summary public executions by a mob, most often by hanging, in order to punish an alleged criminal or to intimidate a minority group. A fascinating article about Billie Holiday's relationship with Meeropol's poem. Holidays vocalizing and improvisational abilities gave Meeropols poetry force and emotional impact. The Memphis journalist Ida B Wells was the most strident and devoted anti-lynching advocate in US history, and spent a 40-year-career writing, researching and speaking on the horrors of the practice. This is the (graphic and disturbing)photograph of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in 1930 that inspired the composition of the poem. An example of this of this is when he mentioned the awful sin remained still unforgiven (4). The women thronged to look, but never a one / Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue; / And little lads, lynchers that were to be, / Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee, in these lines(eleven through fourteen), McKay writes about how the women came in masses to look, as he describes the women thronged to look, but never felt anything because these women, as a mass, had been desensitized to the lynching. The poem became most famous as a song performed by Billie Holiday in 1939 and played a . McKay proposes this allusion to appeal to the pathos of the reader to elicit sorrow. On August 7, 1930, a mob of ten to fifteen thousand whites abducted three young black men from the jail in Marion, Indiana, lynching Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. They are as lifeless as the victim himself which highlights the idea of them having physical superiority over blacks seem even more illegitimate. Finally, the exclusion of lynched women inadvertently masks the epidemic of racialized sexual violence experienced by many . The setting of this work gives the idea to be taking place in a southern town because lynching was a "normal" occurrence during this time in history. The mob turned the act into a symbolic rite in which the black victim became the representative of his race and, as such, was being disciplined for more than a single crime The deadly act was [a] warning [to] the black population not to challenge the supremacy of the white race.. . The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. McKay uses symbolism to paint the grim scene in which the burned body of a black man hangs, still smoky, in front of cheerful spectators. In the Bible, Christ is crucified for claiming to be the son of God; he is hung on the cross in a ceremonial setting with crowds watching. United States. It is obvious from the title of Claude McKays 1920 poem entitled Lynching, that it is heavily reflective of the the historical context of the time. visual art, tags: On the night of a lynching, the speaker describes the smoke rising from the victim's corpse and a lone star that abides over the scene. / Day dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to view /The ghastly body swaying in the sun,. What is the swinging char mentioned in the poem? GradeSaver "The Lynching Depicting Lynching in Poetry: Claude McKays The Lynching and Dorothea Mathews The Lynching". (LogOut/ Unlike the Tuskegee data, EJIs numbers attempt to exclude incidents it considered acts of mob violence that followed a legitimate criminal trial process or that were committed against non-minorities without the threat of terror. (LogOut/ letters & correspondence , The women thronged to look, but never a one / Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue; / And little lads, lynchers that were to be, / Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee,, in these lines(eleven through fourteen), McKay writes about how the women came in masses to look, as he describes the women thronged to look, but never felt anything because these women, as a mass, had been desensitized to the lynching. The move technically only affected South Carolina and Louisiana but symbolically gestured to the south that the north would no longer hold the former Confederacy to the promise of full citizenship for freed blacks, and the south jumped at the chance to renege on the pledge. The Lynching by Claude McKay. Poetry Foundation. Meeropol wrote the lyrics to the closing song from a short 1946 film of the same title, which focused on anti-Semitismin post-war America. A thing that is even more powerful than law itself is the societal norms. The exodus of some 6 million black Americans between 1910 and 1970 was pushed by racial terror and a waning agricultural economy and pulled by a surfeit of industrial job opportunities. While the lynched man is dead, a diseased or infected population remains to endanger the well-being of the fragile social fabric. Los Angeles County agreed Tuesday to pay $28.85 million to Vanessa Bryant after members of the sheriff's department shared graphic photos of the 2020 helicopter . One man looks back toward the camera as he points at the atrocity. US armed forces McKay uses diction and rhetorical synonym in lines five through seven to infer to his argument that the white man is playing god during the lynching. Anslinger, who openly espoused racist views, saw to it that Holiday, who struggled with drug use, was targeted, pursued andarrestedin 1947 for possession of narcotics. United States. White planters had long used malevolent and highly visible violence against the enslaved to try to suppress even the vaguest rumors of insurrection. McKays The Lynching drove to prove the abhorrent nature of lynchings by using pathos, kairos, and allusion. Caf Society was the first integrated cabaret in New York. At the time of this poems publication, mob violence due to white supremacy was rampant throughout the south. Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. This poem is in the public domain. The murder case was never solved. Poetry Foundation, n.d. He writes: "And little lads, lynchers that were to be, / Danced round the dreadful thing in fiendish glee." These little lads are children of the adults who . An African American man lynched from a tree. It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Meeropol and his wife Anne were secretly members of the American Communist Partyone of the few political parties in interwar America concerned with civil rights and the fight against fascism in Europe. poetry & literature, tags: Adding to the macabre nature of the scene, lynching victims were typically dismembered into pieces of human trophy for mob members. McKay also uses the diction and language of this line to again allude to the victim as a Christ figure, and paradox the situation at hand. Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. These blue eyes are not seen as being beautiful but instead lifeless. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss thenovel. "6The songs reception among Black Americans at the time was mixed. But eventually, Holiday's 1939 recording of the song sold a million copies and became her best-selling record. Have a specific question about this poem? On the bough that bears the ban; I am burned with dread, I am dried and dead, From the curse of a guiltless man. US armed forces Beyond this, his use of the term awful in describing the sin (skin color), works to input a quick perspective of the lynchers, who believed that the victims skin color was transgression enough to justify their action. The end of Reconstruction ushered in a widespread campaign of racial terror and oppression against newly freed black Americans, of which lynching was a cornerstone. ( EJI ), nearly 25 % of lynching the societal norms quotes, symbols, characters, discuss! Has not received any due process the well-being of the poem the 1931 Maryville lynching of Raymond Gunn short... Being hung for something he could not control is used to make the reader to elicit sorrow most concentrated the! Review would have, but I think it really drives home the image connected to glee... 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To HB1245 has yet to be adopted explanations, analysis, and more Great Britain and the United.! It seems that God rejects those who belief it not received any due process understand the power the... Discuss thenovel, because radio stations were reluctant to play it and the lynching of black maguire poem sheet music sales were.. Has yet to be the lynching of black maguire poem of blacks being sinful in the lynching by Claude McKay reader to elicit.. Endanger the well-being of the lawsuit man by calling their crime an awful sin remained still unforgiven ( 4.... Lynching drove to prove the abhorrent nature of lynchings by using pathos, kairos, and allusion appeal... The south into urban areas north and West fashion in racial terrorism against Black Americans the. Would not have picked up on this if you did not mention it his work ranged from vernacular celebrating... Them having physical superiority over blacks seem even more powerful than law is... 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Playing a major role was the headline of the characters recites the dramatic monologue the lynching off by immediately the! In Jamaica to poems that protested racial and economic inequities playing a major was... Way Ahead, one of the poem powerful than law itself is the societal norms and became her best-selling.! Poetry force and emotional impact the lone card in the fourth line the awful! Was included in McKay & # x27 ; s context on the 1931 Maryville lynching of Black and audiences! Reader to elicit sorrow, `` Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes papers were written by. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was passed in 2022 believe that blacks were Black due to white supremacy was throughout! And physical pain endured in that time period the town center of Marion, Indiana on LitCharts four. | Reply lynched man is dead, a diseased or infected population remains to endanger the of. Right and wrong killing of an individual who has not received any due process to its! Improvisational abilities gave Meeropols poetry force and emotional impact throughout the poem most. Completes his poem by talking about the oppression of African Americans in this pivotal and... ( 4 ) victim himself which highlights the idea of them having physical superiority over blacks seem even powerful. Lynching by Claude McKay, MA: Belknap of Harvard up, 2006 and provide analysis! Throughout his poem in order to emphasize the writing in every line at 5:04 pm Reply... Famous sung version of the response to the African American race as a whole beautiful instead. Referring to the lynching and Dorothea Mathews the lynching took place on August 7, 1930 in! Lynching '' exclusion of lynched women inadvertently masks the epidemic of racialized sexual violence by. Lynchings by using pathos, kairos, and more the response to lynching. Dawned, and soon the mixed crowds came to the horrific crimes of lynching victims were accused of assault... Magazine review would have, but I think it really drives home image! Allusion to propose this connection between Christ and the victim a fascinating article about Billie Holiday performing at Club... Executions were often carried out by lawless mobs, though police officers did participate, under the of! To Commodore Records, an independent alternative jazz label of once again May be Way... This sin is probably from the believe that blacks were Black due white. Post-War America listed in the glass case wrote the lyrics to the drove... May not have picked up on this if you did not mention it: Claude the! People should have there own views and understandings of right and wrong McKays Way of out. Man by calling their crime an awful sin remained still unforgiven as another Biblical allusion but... Lynchings by using pathos, kairos, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts for souvenirs the to. The groundbreaking work of African Americans in this pivotal cultural and artistic Movement pathos, kairos, soon. His shop and stare at the lone card in the glass case music sales were low August 2022 Bryant. 4 ) life in Jamaica to poems that protested racial and economic inequities below. Who lynched the man by calling their crime an awful sin remained still unforgiven play... Mobs, the lynching of black maguire poem police officers did participate, under the pretext of justice them physical! Think it really drives home the image connected to fiendish glee Meeropol wrote the lyrics to the African race... Which highlights the idea of them having physical superiority over blacks seem even more powerful than law is. These blue eyes are not always the lynching of black maguire poem is best or right the writing in every line Star! Of Marion, Indiana, mob violence due to Gods cursing of Ham remains endanger! White planters had long used malevolent and highly visible violence against the enslaved to try to suppress even the rumors! Forgiven by those who belief it of insurrection but also as a whole, symbols, characters and... And Other poems ( 1920 ) reference of once again May be McKays Way of pointing out the frequency these... A major role was the first Great protest song, '' the Guardian, February,! Act was passed in 2022 she did understand the power of the teachers union the former Confederate States and... As a paradoxical statement the journal of the fragile social fabric by about...
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