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How Odetta Revolutionized Folk Music

Sasha Frere-Jones The New Yorker
She animated the horror and emotional intensity in American labor songs by projecting them like a European opera singer.

Songs of Justice, Songs of Power

Tom Morello New York Times
Defiant and hopeful, these songs have an unapologetic mission: to fan the flames of discontent by lifting the spirits of those fighting for a more just and humane planet. The songs live on wherever working people stand up for their rights...

Was Folk Music a Commie Plot?

Mat Callahan Monthly Review
U.S. music was shaped to a considerable extent by people the government sought to destroy. Even as it mounted an effective attack on the Communist Party, the government was unable to erase the influence of musicians with which it was associated.

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Barbara Dane’s Life of Defiance and Song

Jenn Pelly New York Times
The 93-year-old musician, co-founder of the political label Paredon Records, looks back on a history of resistance. If you see your country “making horrible mistakes, you have to speak up,” she said. “You’re colluding with it if you don’t speak up.”

Tidbits - Jan. 21, 2021 - Reader Comments: He's Gone, Trump is GOP Past, Present and Future; 'Tax the Rich' to Raise State Revenue; DC Statehood; Trump as Citizen Kane; Rosenberg Children; Woody Guthrie; Student Activist Scholarship Applications;

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Reader Comments: He's Gone, Trump is GOP Past, Present and Future; 'Tax the Rich' to Raise State Revenue; DC Statehood; Trump as Citizen Kane; Rosenberg Children; Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land'; Student Activist Scholarship Applications;

Folk Singer Arlo Guthrie Reflects On A Life Spent Making Music

Lauren Daley WBUR
Born in Brooklyn in 1947, the oldest son of folk icon Woody Guthrie and professional dancer Marjorie Mazia Guthrie, Arlo grew up surrounded by folk legends — Pete Seeger, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, to name a few.

Tidbits - Dec. 17, 2020 - Reader Comments: Georgia Runoff Information, How You Can Help; Chanukah Is About Resistance; Community Control of Police; History of Racism in Policing; Chasing the Vaccine; Phil Ochs Song Night; Resources, Announcements; more...

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Reader Comments: Georgia Runoff Voting Information, How You Can Help; Chanukah Is About Resistance; Community Control of Police - Taos example; History of Racism in Policing; Chasing the Vaccine; Phil Ochs Song Night; Resources, Announcements; more..

Friday Nite Videos | November 27, 2020

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Militias | Trevor Noah. Barack Obama Visits the Twins | Reaction to Bob Dylan. What Made Maradona a Latin Icon Beyond the Soccer Field. Rudy Giuliani Vows to Continue His Legal Failures on Behalf of the President. Let It Go: A Parody.
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