Tidbits - May 1, 2014 - Happy May Day

Portside
Portside salutes May Day - rallies around the world; The Internationale in 40+ languages; May Day and labor history tools; Reader Comments -Cecily McMillian Trial Update -= Trial ends tomorrow; Net Neutrality; Chris Hani's political legacy; Ukraine; Israel and Palestine; Paul Robeson, Jr.; UPDATE - Northeastern University has backed down on the suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine; A Seeger Fest to Honor Pete and Toshi, and It's Free - July 17 - 21

Friday Nite Videos -- March 21, 2014

Portside
The Myth of the American Dream. Turn! Turn! Turn! Big Bang Gravitational Waves Discovered. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The House Rent Boogie.

Turn! Turn! Turn!

Pete Seeger created this complex song simply by adding a title, concluding line and music to verses from the biblical Book of Ecclesiates. Here is the the Byrd's (most popular) version.  

The Story of American Folk Music

This telling begins with John Lomax and Huddie Ledbetter, then moves on to Woody Guthrie, the seeds of the protest movement, Pete Seeger and left politics.

labor

Pete Seeger had profound impact on labor movement

Ross E. Weingarten The Poughkeepsie Journal
Pete Seeger marched and performed at hundreds of rallies for different unions over the years. "Pete has always had an interest in the labor movement and has been associated with unions," said, Henry Foner, who had known Seeger for more than 60 years. "Whenever there was a problem that a union had, Pete was always available."

Tidbits - January 9, 2014

Portside
Reader Comments - Pardon for Snowden; BDS and Israel; Turkey; NAFTA; North Carolina; Bill de Blasio; John Handcox; Philadelphia schools; Art Spiegelman; Obamacare; Announcements - Memorial for Steve Kindred -NYC -Feb.8; Pete Seeger gets first Woody Guthrie Award -NYC - Feb.22; Student activists scholarships available; Preserve Mother Jones monument in Illinois; Save the Village photo exhibit -NYC; This week in history - largest slave revolt in U.S. history

Film Review - Dave Van Ronk's Ex-Wife Takes Us Inside Inside Llewyn Davis

Terri Thal The Village Voice
Dave Van Ronk's ex-wife, Terri Thal, reviews the film, Inside Llewyn Davis. Llewyn Davis differs from David. - there are so few similarities. The Coens say the movie isn't about Dave, and they are correct. Most of the acting is very good. Oscar Isaac is excellent -- he's real, and he brings pathos and anger to Llewyn Davis. His performances of David's songs are good. The music? It's done well, but the movie never shows how it comes about.

The Climate Movement Is Singing for Our Lives

Linnea M. Palmer Paton Waging Nonviolence
Saturday's Draw the Line held over 200 demonstrations across the United States - it was a day of action marked by song - a phenomenon that is starting to become a major feature of the climate movement.

labor

Labor History Songs CD Full of Old Favorites

Paul Buhle Labor and Working-Class History Association
The Union Makes Us Strong takes us back, and that's not at all a bad thing. There's a purity of sound here that is moving, along with a professionalism and delivers the goods. "The Union Makes Us Strong by Peter K. Siegel and Eli Smith is a wonderful collection of old favorites, enlivened by some fancy banjo, fiddle and mandolin work and by the sweet harmony of the two singers, " writes labor historian Paul Buhle.
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