Remembering Pete Seeger

[candrew]

Remembering Pete Seeger on what would have been his 100th birthday.

3 May 1919 - 27 January 2014.

Always optimistic about the world, Pete Seeger was an inspiration to generations of songwriters and activists around the world.

“Songs are funny things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells. I always believed that the right song at the right moment could change history.” ~ Pete Seeger

Pete Seeger helped make this world a better place.

 

[mh]

Here’s a song by him ( where have all the flowers gone ) that I learned a while back. A lot of people covered this song so it’s nor particularly well known that he wrote it

https://youtu.be/RaHeAa0_Uqc

 

[Another Reader]

Used to watch him on PBS back in the 60's I think. I always liked him. His traditional leftist politics went out of style in the 60's, but watching him was always sort of a history lesson.

 

[Beststash]

His traditional leftist politics went out of style in the 60's, but watching him was always sort of a history lesson.

Curious which of his leftist politics went out of style? I think he was an activist till his death on on pretty much the same issues we were facing in the 60's. We need another Pete Seeger to "plant the seeds" of activism these days.

 

[candrew]

We need another Pete Seeger to "plant the seeds" of activism these days.

+1

Throughout his life, Seeger's activism involved a willingness to take a stand when doing so was unpopular and came at great personal risk. His appearance in 1955 before the House Un-American Activities Committee (McCarthy hearings) where Seeger - rather than plead the 5th - refused to answer under oath any questions related to his personal associations, philosophical, religious or political beliefs, his past voting record or other personal affairs. Seeger's refusal to answer questions led to an indictment for contempt of Congress. Several years later, Seeger was convicted in a jury trial of contempt of Congress. Fortunately, an appeals court ruled the indictment to be flawed and overturned his conviction.

 

[Another Reader]

Curious which of his leftist politics went out of style? I think he was an activist till his death on on pretty much the same issues we were facing in the 60's. We need another Pete Seeger to "plant the seeds" of activism these days.

He was a member of the YCL and the Communist Party at one point. The activists of the 1960's largely repudiated the Old Left.