As I noted yesterday, legendary activist/folk singer Pete Seegar just turned 90. In my own little universe this coincided with a whole lot of exposure to William Grieder-also on Democracy Now! as well as two or three local radio shows-and the season (hopefully not series) finale of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, all of which had at least one common thread: the nurturance of an anti-hierarchical vision, which I'd like to ruminate on for a bit as the weekend moves toward a close.
Starting off with Pete Seegar, I won't quote him directly, but instead will repeat a brief passage by Dar Williams that I quoted in the Pete Seeger diary:
AMY GOODMAN: When do you remember first hearing Pete?
DAR WILLIAMS: Let's see. Well, you know, as Peter said, you know, there are certain things that are just in your DNA. So, who knows when any of us first heard Pete? But I do remember a friend of mine working at a camp for disabled kids. And I was just out of college, and I was, you know, trying to figure out what my contribution to society would be. And he showed up and was-he sang "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain."
And nobody really knew he was coming. It was a camp for disabled kids. You know, there was nothing-it was just he was there to sing music that would include people. And kids in wheelchairs were singing; kids were singing in sign language; kids with disabilities, with very limited abilities to, you know, participate, were participating.
All the counselors were in tears. I was in tears, because he was just-and I just thought, you know, that spirit of inclusiveness, that spirit of unity. Of all these different abilities, these kids who have this, you know, desire to express and be a part of it, he's completely succeeded. You know? And everyone was going, "Whoo-hoo!"
That's when I realized what his power was and that the power is-what Spalding Gray called like "horizontal." You know, it wasn't vertical, from on top of a mountain speaking down. It was radiating outwards. And that's when I realized that that's the kind of power, that if I ever had it, that's the way I would do it. So, my cognizance of his power was around then.
Horizontal power-the power of inclusiveness-that's part of the very essence of what Pete's life has been about, because it's true essence of what the left is about: power-with, not power-over. And, of course, that's true of the Net as well.
Legenday folk singer and activist Pete Seeger turned 90 last Sunday, and Democracy Now! had quite a show in celebration. I want to quote some excerpts of it, but I recommend you listen online-not just for the must, but also for the feeling in people's voices. I'm writing a lot about hegemony this weekend, and Pete's life and work strikes a very clear, very stark contrast with the workings of hegemonic discourse.
I'm just going to present clips of what different people had to say. I've chosen them to speak for me as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Bruce Springsteen, who sang Woody Guthrie's original version of "This Land Is Your Land" with Pete Seeger at President Obama's inauguration this year, headlined Sunday night's concert and began with a moving tribute to Seeger.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: As Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama's inaugural celebration, he told me the-he told me the entire story of "We Shall Overcome," how it moved from a labor movement song and, with Pete's inspiration, had been adopted by the civil rights movement.
And that day, as we sang "This Land Is Your Land," I looked at Pete. The first black president of the United States was seated to his right. And I thought of-I thought of the incredible journey that Pete had taken. You know, my own growing up in the '60s, a town scarred by race rioting, made that moment nearly unbelievable. And Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt. He was so happy that day. It was like, Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man. You just outlasted them. It was so nice. It was so nice.
At rehearsals the day before, it was freezing. It was like fifteen degrees. And Pete was there, he had his flannel shirt on. I said, "Man, you better wear something besides that flannel shirt!" He says, "Yeah, I've got my long johns on under this thing." I said-and I asked him, I said, "How do you want to approach 'This Land Is Your Land'?" as it'd be near the end of the show. And all he said was, "Well, I know I want to sing all the verses. You know, I want to sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, you know, about private property and the relief office." And I thought, of course, you know, that's what Pete's done his whole life: he sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we'd like to leave out of our history as a people, you know?
Jeff Blum, who is the Executive Director of USAction, has been a friend of mine for 25 years now - ever since he decided not to hire me for an organizing job in Pennsylvania. (I don't hold grudges, and he was too good a guy not to by friends with - even though he rejected me) We've been allies on a million issue and political campaigns ever since, and I've been a consultant for USAction on many projects since its founding.
He sent in a really nice post today about a movie that was provided by two other good friends, Lara Bergthold and Norman Lear, and is about one of my heroes, Pete Seeger, so I am biased about it in about four different ways. - Mike Lux
Those of you in Seattle, Madison, Minneapolis, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Austin, New York and Westchester, NY, you have an incredible opportunity coming up. Norman Lear, Toshi Seeger and Jim Brown have made a powerful documentary of Pete Seeger's life and work. The film is called, "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song," and it will have a limited theater showing this fall and appear on PBS in February, 2008.
As a child of the 1960's, this movie reviewed big elements of history, much of which I got to participate in - the civil rights, anti-Vietnam-war and environmental movements. It gave us Pete's personal history from childhood, including the incredible toll that the blacklist took on his family - he was banned from television for seventeen of the best years of his life. It showed his amazing impact, as one of the leading music makers throughout a turbulent era in America's storied history.
Best of all, it made my 22-year-old daughter and her boyfriend go make a list of causes they wanted to work harder to support - just what we all dream of and work for.
Go see it if it's going to be near you. Spread the word and maybe it'll come to more cities. Enjoy the humanity of this man and our movement at its best.
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