Pete Seeger
Folk musician
Banjo player
Singer of songs of unity
He sang songs of joy
He sang for the unions
For the workers and the downtrodden.
He sang songs for change
Civil Rights songs. Folk songs.
He sang for the people
And he also served his country
In the US military—a corporal during World War 2
Fighting Hitler, the Nazis, and the Fascists
And when he came home, he founded the Weavers
A folk music quartet, which rocketed to the top of the charts.
They sang for the unions.
They sang for social justice and progressive politics
Joseph McCarthy began his witch hunts in Washington.
Hundreds of actors, artists, and musicians were blacklisted across the country.
That included the Weavers. They called them subversives.
They were watched by the FBI.
And they folded.
McCarthy dragged Pete Seeger in to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
He refused to answer.
But was found guilty of contempt of court.
He was banned from playing on television and over the radio.
He was banned from performing almost anywhere.
But he played on.
Performing for kids.
Performing in festivals.
He taught people to play the banjo.
He recorded instruction videos and song books.
He worked as a music teacher in schools and summer camps.
He traveled from university to university across the country
Singing despite the protests from conservatives
Because of the blacklist.
They said he was Un-American.
But he was more American than anyone.
Reviving the songs of old
Re-singing the music that rang from the porches of weatherbeaten homes across the hillsides of America.
He recorded folk album after album.
He helped to transform “We Shall Overcome” into a civil rights anthem. He sang it on the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
He helped to inspire the folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
And he continued to play and sing throughout his life.
His music and his legacy plays on.
Pete Seeger was born on May 3, 1919.
He died at the age of 94, in 2014.
This is episode 28 of Stories of Resistance — a podcast co-produced by The Real News and Global Exchange. Independent investigative journalism, supported by Global Exchange’s Human Rights in Action program. Each week, we’ll bring you stories of resistance like this. Inspiration for dark times.
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Written and produced by Michael Fox.
Resources:
Here is a great 2007 PBS documentary about Pete Seeger’s life. It’s called “The Power of Song”:
This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Michael Fox.