Born in 46, this movement against fascism has been going on my whole life. Pete Seeger and Rev Martin Luther King were heroic figures to me. I was in High School sixth period when President Kennedy was assassinated. Then Bobby Kennedy was also assassinated. I received a top tier education in the state of Michigan and have been voting for the liberal idea of democracy my whole life. These songs take me back to my teens. Thank you for educating young people on their meaning and how desperately dangerous it was to resist fascism. Unregulated capitalism always ends in fascism… Study world history.
Unregulated capitalism is a useful tool to maximize profits at the expense of the working class. It is more like crisis of capitalism along with deregulation that ends in fascism. The capitalist class along with the political duopoly have been working on leading the US into a fascist state.
It blows my mind that MAGA thinks donny and his billionaire buddies care anything about them. Have these poor people never noticed that all the right does is take.
16 years ago my son came running into the room, "You've got to listen to this, papa," he implored and called up a song sung by Pete. "Do you know him, dad?," he wanted to know. I explained my father's union-relationship with Seeger and how mom used to sing along with his recordings. My having become a farm-worker organizer in the '70s was largely due to him. Paul Robeson Thanks for the video. Love.
I signed an I.W.W. Union card in solidarity while was working in the national office of S.D.S. In Chicago. While there I also attended C.O.R.E. demonstrations in protest of de facto school segregation. Our shared struggle is as old as greed itself. Keep the faith!
Fox journalists believe musicians, artists, athletes should stick to singing,dribbling, painting, anything but critize politicians and government. But, history shows these are the people that are the real leaders. They do it on principle, often at the expense of their careers and their life.
Jordan Peterson do a psychoanalysis on Piers Morgan who is a white feather brigade disgusting psychopathic cun*t. Piers Morgan is a white feather brigade disgusting psychopathic cun*t. Piers Morgan should prosecuted for aiding and abetting criminals but that would mean finding judges that's not impervious to evidence. The white feather brigade are still about today, they call people spineless pussies or claim they don't have balls, claiming they are not real men, that they are cowards if they don't do what they want. It's a psychological manipulation tactic. Piers Morgan @piersmorgan "Imagine being scared of having a safe, well-regulated, 4-second vaccine shot, when previous generations braved gun shots for years on end to save us all from tyranny? Anti-vaxxers really are a bunch of spineless pussies." Anyone that disagrees with the ministry of truth "experts" has to be demonised and slandered with pejorative name labels like "COVID deniers" & "antivaxxers" don't they you disgusting psychopathic piece of sh$£it? Piers Morgan should prosecuted for aiding and abetting criminals but that would mean finding judges that's not impervious to evidence. It's a disgusting psychopathic piece of sh$£it?
Crisis of democracy Michael Tsarion with David Whitehead on American Freedom Radio 05/20/2013 1:27:55 it looked like man might free himself at this point because he I mean what I mean is free himself commercially and if you free yourself financially and commercially then you free yourself intellectually and that's what they were worrying about at the American experiment they tried to bring in the troops that didn't work so they had to find other ways to dumb down the population and they bloody well succeeded but it can be turned around it absolutely can be turned to a round Progressive Radio News Hour - Dennis Rancourt - 2-8-14 a new paradigm. They've understood something,they understood that with that,you know,economic freedom came freedom of thought and independence,of action and choice and democracy. And so and it gave rise to the sixties and seventies, where people revolutionised the structures of their institutions and soon. Universities became more liberal and so on and so on all the workplaces and unionism and so on. And they realised that they could lose control and that they had largely lost some control and they needed to regain it and the way to do it. They called it a crisis in democracy. And the way to do it was to squeeze down economically and also make gut universities so that you're not teaching thought and real knowledge. And instead you're teaching you you you're doing obedience, training and indoctrination. Democracy was regarded as entering into a crisis in the 1960s. The crisis was that large segments of the population were becoming organized and active and trying to participate in the political arena. p32,Excerpted from Media Control, 2002 the prisoner - fall out " This session is called in a matter of democratic crisis.... opens the president. banging down his gavel to bring the assembly to order." The status quo wouldn't want a democratic crisis or a crisis of democracy like they had in 1968, would they? control, control ,control. lol I lot of so-called baby boomers like to give a kicking to the younger gen-x it would seem. lol In the 1970s, I simply did not recognize the extent to which the 1960s “youth revolution” had terrified our ruling Elite, or that they would try to prevent future upsurges of radical Utopianism by deliberately “dumbing down” the educational system. What they have produced, the so-called Generation X, must rank as not only the most ignorant but also the most paranoid and depressive kids ever to *infest our Republic. I agree with outlaw radio star Travis Hipp that the paranoia and depression result inevitably from the ignorance. These kids not only don’t know anything; they don’t even want to know.* They only realize, vaguely, that somebody has screwed them out of something, but they don’t have enough zest or bile to try to find out who screwed them and what they were screwed out of. Fortunately, this Age of Stupidity cannot last very long. Already, most people know that if you want a good TV or VCR, you buy Japanese; for a good car, Japanese or German, etc. Eventually, in order to compete, the Elite will have to allow a bit more education for American youth, before we sink fully to the level of a Third World nation. Wilson, Robert Anton Prometheus Rising . Hilaritas Press, LLC.. Kindle Edition. * infest is a interesting word to use, they seem to be personifying people as viruses or biological contaminants. "be seeing you" hand gesture was used on the beatles yellow submarine single cover along with the devil horns, lots of symbolism in those hand gestures. Here's more symbolism for you guys, do you recognise the November 5th, election day or should that be night symbolism .
"Fox journalists" lol Piers Morgan is a white feather brigade disgusting psychopathic cun*t. Piers Morgan should prosecuted for aiding and abetting criminals but that would mean finding judges that's not impervious to evidence. The white feather brigade are still about today, they call people spineless pussies or claim they don't have balls, claiming they are not real men, that they are cowards if they don't do what they want. It's a psychological manipulation tactic. Piers Morgan @piersmorgan "Imagine being scared of having a safe, well-regulated, 4-second vaccine shot, when previous generations braved gun shots for years on end to save us all from tyranny? Anti-vaxxers really are a bunch of spineless pussies." Anyone that disagrees with the ministry of truth "experts" has to be demonised and slandered with pejorative name labels like "COVID deniers" & "antivaxxers" don't they you disgusting psychopathic piece of sh$£it? Piers Morgan should prosecuted for aiding and abetting criminals but that would mean finding judges that's not impervious to evidence. It's a disgusting psychopathic piece of sh$£it?
Pete Seeger was an angel on earth. He treated all people with respect. He must be turning in his grave about the Republicans wanting an authoritarian fascist theocracy government. Notice they never call it that but their project 2025 is their blueprint. RIP Pete you are missed.
I met Pete when I was a little boy... I was being loud and obnoxious at a swimming hole in upstate NY and he came over and quieted me down. My mom was so excited that he spoke to me and I didn't get it. She told me he was a great man and she was right.
My grandpa was an original labor organizer & then a civil rights marcher. We sang all the songs together as a family for many years. Grandpa always said if there’s no music, it’s not a movement. I support so many movements but I long for the music and I hope it comes back in a big way.
Thank you! Here's to the incredible courage of the stout-hearted individuals who fought, and continue to fight for a fair chance and against the machine designed to squeeze all it can out of people for one more dollar of profit.💙🇺🇸🇺🇦🌎
No, it actually read "This Machine Kills Fascists", unless perhaps he had another one with the message toned down, but that is doubtful for Woody. I donated a very good electric guitar and amp in 2012 to the Bronx VA which had the same motto on the top. I hope the young Vets appreciated it! :)
Local# 88 Boston Sandhog ,retired, rank and file member in good standing. Proud to be a Union miner still attending monthly meetings. As other retired members have expressed their interest and feelings about Unions being available to the next generations, we have the uniform opinion that Unions are necessary in America for the common man to have a chance at a fair wage living, rules for working conditions, and severance, pension, annuities, medical coverages, Collective Bargaining, Death benefits. Unions pave the way for non union people since they benefit from the higher labor conditions and treatment advanced in Union Contracts.
Thank you for covering this incredible sing. My Great Grandfather was in the Harlan County War. He was later killed in the mine as well as his son later on. Rip Gilbert and Billie Collett. I'm voting for Harris for you. Teri Woolum Lefevers.
If you aren't taking care of the least among us you're failing us all. If you allow the rights of one to be violated today then tomorrow they'll come after yours.
Which Side R U On comes originally from a hymn called "Lay the Lily Low". My life was shaped by Pete Seeger. My folks were union folks and when I was 3, maybe 4 in 1943. After a concert at the labor hall, Pete and a bunch of folks came to our house in Kalamazoo, MI for an after party. I was in bed, but on hearing music, I was out of bed like a shot. I was on the second floor & was looking thru the banister and my dad told me to get back to bed. But Pete told me to come on down, which I did. I sat on his lap while he kept singing. By the end of the evening, I was a future folk singer. I started collecting songs right then. I've never stopped. We moved to San Francisco & whenever Pete came to town, we went. At 6 we went to the Mountain Theatre for a production of Alice in Wonderland. Before the play there was a strolling minstrel, Bash Kennet from New York. I followed her around for over an hour & by the time she was finished, I had learned the tune and the first 2 verses of Barbry Allen, a very well known folk ballad. I've been collecting, performing & teaching folk music ever since. Thanks for this video. Pete was a story teller, a person of conscience & his songs will live for centuries. The other song he sings here is "I come & Stand at Every Door", the Child of Hiroshima, which was adapted for Vietnam. Oakland
“This land was your land, now this land is my land, ‘cause we stole the Manhattan Island, the great Sioux Nation, now in desecration, this land was stole from you for me”
Thank you for bringing the legacy of Pete Seeger to light again for a generation who has never heard of him. He is the epitome of a person not only espousing certain values but living them and speaking them openly until his death. He did not speak only in the p!aces where his views were shared by like minded people, he sought change and put himself out in front to fight wrongs wherever he saw them. Another person you should cover is Woody Guthrie and by extension his son Arlo.
A boomer from California continues to nourish and celebrate the hippie spirit who my heart embraced at a very early age. I have never doubted which side I was on. After decades of fighting, I sought refuge and solace elsewhere. I continue to keep apprised of the situation and vote.
People forget the working class, leftist messaging at the core of folk music and country. The battle of Blair mountain is a story as American as apple pie. And is a testament to the working class struggles of coal country in Appalachia. If only current day conservatives actually listened to the words sang by their favorite “old” country artists.
“Long violent history” by Tyler Childers is a modern bluegrass song that paints a 1 to 1 comparison of the battle of Blair mountain to the killing of George Floyd. Tyler is a king and one of few modern country artists I love! Can’t forget the highwaymen, Dolly Parton and others for being working class royalty as well
@@ashelfishisttortle Yep! My mom listened to Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and many more. I didn't want to hear it, because, by the time I was old enough to notice that country music was on her playlists, I'd heard too much of the truck-and-flag obsessed new nonsense and had assumed that it'd always been that way. It was only after I started reading lyrics sleeves that I understood that those old country singers were actually ABOUT something of any substance! 👏🏾✨
@@ashelfishisttortle yes, it reminds me of the irony of Paul Ryan saying he listens to Rage Against the Machine when he works out. Does he hear the words at all?
I grew up listening to Pete Seeger, Phil Oachs, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Utah Philips, Joni Mitchel, Ian & Sylvia and so many other American protest folk singers. I was taught the meaning of the songs, understood the violence, suffering, protests, labor arguments, and the importance of the First Amendment, Labor Unions, and VOTING! I sent my son to the Chicago School of Folk Music for guitar lessons. I am a member of the MATU Cadre and have been a lifetime activist. I've joined Labor Unions, helped to form one at a place of employment, formed a tenants' council in a building I lived in, volunteered with Equality Illinois and rode as a support vehicle for BLM Marches in my city. The one thing I have always believed in is the power of using one's voice. To stand up to be recognized and heard. Even though I served in the military, I did so because I felt it was my duty as a member of society in this nation: Of, For & By the People!
I am with Mother Jones, Pete Seeger, US workers and a secure life for those who have made us the wealthiest nation on the globe. Vote union, buy USA made and look for the Union label.
Where have All the Flowers Gone and Turn, Turn, Turn are two of my favourite long ago songs. Peace and love, unions and civil rights were to goals and aspirations. Still are!
I never realized how much my favorite guitar legend, Richard Thompson, resembles the older Pete Seeger. I thought it was R.T. at first in your thumbnail. Richard Thompson wrote a haunting song circa 2006, inspired by the Iraq War during George Dubya's presidency, called "Dad's Gonna Kill Me". The "dad" he's referring to in the song is BaghDAD... "Out in the desert there's a soldier lying dead, vultures pecking the eyes out of his head, another day that could have been me there instead, nobody loves me here, nobody loves me here, Dad's gonna kill me..." I don't know if you've done any deep dives on John Prine's music yet, but he has several powerful songs protesting war, and greedy rich oligarchs. "Paradise" is his song about how coal mines and "Mr. Peabody's coal trains" destroyed his childhood home by "hauling it away". His best-known Vietnam protest songs are, "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" and the heartbreaking ode: "Sam Stone". Sam was a soldier in Nam who came home from the war with a deadly habit to help him cope: "Sam Stone came home To his wife and family After serving in the conflict overseas And the time that he served Had shattered all his nerves And left a little shrapnel in his knees But the morphine eased the pain And the grass grew round his brain And gave him all the confidence he lacked With a purple heart and a monkey on his back (chorus) There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose..."
My Catholic Grandmother said I was named after St. Peter, which I never questioned. After she died, my Dad told me they just told her that and I was really named for Pete Seeger.
Thanks for making his voice known to a new generation. It's such an important voice that all of us can seek solace, strength and inspiration from, especially in these times.
First heard Billy Bragg's version of "Which Side are You On" when it came out in 1985 and discovered Pete's after that. Then Florence's original version more recently. Here in Australia the Band "Redgum" wrote some of the best Protest Songs in the late 70's. The tile of their first Album says it as clear as a Bell "If You Don't Fight You Lose". While it's not a song, Sharan Burrow former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and later the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2010-2022) had a weel know saying. Sharan said it to Joe Biden at a Climate Summit in 2021 "There are NO Jobs on a Dead Planet". So go Vote for those that support Clean, Sustainable, well paid Union Jobs, Universal Health Care and Education. Cause in this case IF YOU DON"T VOTE everyone loses.
I sang alot of his songs in my high school music class in the late 70s. That wonderful music teacher sang his last song a few months back. Rest in peace
These MAGA people had better grow up, stop acting and dressing up like clowns and come to grips with the reality that is facing all Americans before it comes down on them like a mud slide in Harlan County.
Dear young people. Read all you can about facsim and authoritarian movements. A good place to start is On Tyranny, a quick read by Dr. Tim Snyder. The book gives many examples of how tyranny from the past has led to the fascist view of many current politicians on the right...and please vote.
Buffalo Springfield ~ For What It’s Worth - “…there’s a man with a gun over there telling me up got to be beware…” thank you for this video. It was awesome to see Pete!
My suggestions for a couple of good protest songs to cover "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" and "Sam Stone" by John Prine. I'm an old Screaming Eagle Infantry squad leader so of freaking course I'm anti war. Remember, folks, nobody prays for peace like a grunt. We don't start 'em. That's the guys in the shiny suits and ties who never spend one day in a foxhole!
@@miapdx503 WRONG. Refusing to "serve" is a courageous act when the military is doing anything other than defending us from an invader, and that has been the situation for the past 60 years. North Vietnam, Panama, Grenada (!), Afghanistan and Iraq were never a threat to our sovereignty yet our troops invaded them. Stop drinking the kool-aid.
Ironically, given how much the establishment hated Seeger, I first encountered him on kids television programs like Sesame Street and Kaptain Kangaroo. I later came to deeply admire him for his untiring activism and desire to help his fellow human beings.
@M_SC i understand the establishment to be the ruling government of the United States, who branded Seeger a communist, hauled him up in front of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, and tried to blacklist him from working anywhere.
My grandfather was a coal miner in Pennsylvania in the 20s and 30s, and got black lung. My 90 year old aunt told me the other day that when the union finally got the pension for black lung it saved the family from financial ruin. Pete Seeger is one of my favorite folk singers. It is a shame that you could play him singing the song in his prime. He retired from performing when his voice gave out.
This is so important to know! Our country needs to protect our Democracy, our books, our true history, our children, and their minds! We need to fight for our lives, our freedoms, and our Democracy! 💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙🇺🇲💙
@@Katkatburg3223 Something wrong with Democracy? Really Kat? Please expound on your problems with American Democracy? Citizen representation by elected leaders? Voting by the citizens? Elections every 2 to 4 yrs to keep leaders from "Owning" the elective office? Or is the "Democracy" interfering with your Agenda, so do tell us your problems with America.
It’s a song that covers many battles. Joe Lindsey has it song at the end of his Ukraine podcast! Thank you for the insight of the origins of this song!
Pete Seger was an American hero ❤ now as then we need to decide "which side are you on"??? United we stand ✊️ or divided we fall 👇 it's our choice ✌️🙏🤝🙏🤲❤🤍💙🤲
The billionaires are roaring with laughter ,as we fight one another for crumbs ! Meanwhile they build their rocketships and load up with mantoys and boys ! When will we learn 😔
Many years ago, I saw a documentary on Pete Seeger. In his very old age, he went out regularly to hold up protest signs on the street during the Iraq war. I wonder how many people saw him and muttered, "Crazy old man," not knowing it was Pete Seeger, a true American badass!
Pete Seeger is a personal hero of mine. It was one of the great moments of my life to get to 'sing along' with him at a Labor Day march in D.C.. I knew that he was a target of the FBI, but never had heard that the genesis of that was his letter protesting the proposed deportation of Japanese Americans. In your life, you either have principles and ethics or you don't. Pete did. I try really hard to maintain mine. Would that this was the first test for leaders instead of expediency.
Slavery is not dead in the USA. Nowadays, the workers are thrown a pittance. Don’t forget….. ‘Federal Reserve data indicates that as of Q4 2021, the top 1% of households in the United States held 30.9% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the wealth held by billionaires in the U.S. increased by 70%, with 2020 marking the steepest increase in billionaires' share of wealth on record.’
Fantastic! So wonderful to hear it repeated! Tell more stories about him and his contribution to the progressive movements. Such as his sloop that traveled the Hudson River. Main piece of the environmental movement. Seeger was a historical part of the continuation of Woody Guthrie. His most important song which we all know was This Land is our Land. How many people know Woody Guthrie wrote it and why. Seeger sang with him!
Sam Cooke's A Change is Going To Come. Which probably got him murdered, but when I was listening to it as a little kid it was already after his death and I didn't know that part.
Solidarity Forever! I’m standing with the union. You’ll get pie in the sky when you die…. Cryptic?? Labor movement history is worth knowing. History rhymes.