5th Note: Labor Labor Worker

The early American Labor Movement was a tool for the worker to speak out about the poor conditions they had been forced to work under. Joe Hill was song writer, dreamer, but most of all a poorly conditioned worker, he made it his duty/ privilege to find a way that he and his fellow workers could express to the somewhat cynical companies and the outside community just how bad, horrible, and unjust the conditions and terms they wrangled into working. His songs voiced the anger, concern, and worry of all the workers who had become tired of the companies n0nchilant attitudes towards the daily injuries and deaths the workers had become accustomed to.

In memory of Joe Hill, the singer, Paul Robeson told his story through his song titled “I Thought I Heard Joe Hill Last Night”. The song entails of a dream Robeson experienced one night in which Joe Hill appeared to him orating to him that “I will never die”. This vision led Robeson to tell all that even though Hill may be dead his songs live on and what he did for his fellow workers and those to come will remain, echoing throughout our society. Joe Hill remains a messenger for the workers and his fight lives on within every one of them.

The early American Labor Movement represents the need and importance of solidarity. Joe Glazer expresses the ideals of solidarity and necessity of it to the people of any defining group. Glazer goes on to tell that labor music is a universal message to all people whether you’re a worker, a bossman, politician, or pedestrian. Labor music uses words, contracts, and connections to spread and develop the meaning of their cause. Courtney Brown chimed that the power of music to validate a cause was exactly what the poorly conditioned workers needed during their callous times.

Joe Hills song “Should I Ever Be a Soldier” because it give another perspective to the poorly conditioned workers and labors. Soldiers experience the same hardships just slightly lessened because they are soldiers but they are held to I higher standard when their work is being surveyed.  I don’t believe that the soldiers should be paid more or get better benefits for their labor job because the non-soldiers work just as hard if not harder to compare to the soldiers and they face the same worries, concerns, and fears in the work place.

4th Note: Staten Celebration

To many people America is known as “The Potluck of Cultures” and that’s just what we should embrace. With so many different cultures collecting in one singularity it’s important for us as a nation to take advantage of the opportunities that such a diverse group may bring.  If we can learn to appreciate that diversity we can achieve a much higher sense of community and unity. If we can’t come together as a nation, community, or family we will cease to grow and develop which will cause us to wither, become distant, and crumble as a society.

The neighbors and families of Staten Island have found a great way to appreciate, understand, and embrace “The Potluck of Cultures” that we call home. After September 11 the inhabitants of the Island were torn between feelings of fear and anger which eventually led to a chauvinistic life style. The NYCID organized a meeting, to happen once a month, which would “Celebrate Diversity!” with the leaders of the civic, religious, and political communities. After several meetings they decided to spread these meetings for peace out to the community to help build relations between them and strengthen the communal ties. This event at Wagner College brought several opportunities for anybody willing to give good participation to local growth and development, teach their children how to grow diversely and complexly, and spread and understand the stories of their neighbors.

Westminster could learn a few things from the families of Staten Island because the student, faculty, and staff bodies here are so diverse and made of so many different people from so many different cultures. Knowing that we have such a small campus we have the potential to connect with those who don’t come from the same background that we do. Learning how to accept, understand, and embrace the lifestyles, religions, and quirks of our campus can enlighten us on how to become a community. Westminster College needs find some way to get its inhabitants involved in connecting with each other.

3rd Note: Diversity Lyrics to Blowin' in the Wind

Song lyrics about: DIVERSITY APPRECIATION AT WESTMINSTER COLLEGE.
How many ages must acceptance be taut 
Before we can see that they bend?
How many disciplines must one family stand
Before we stop and make amends?
Yes, how many feuds must the brotherly fight
Before they can truly be friends?
The answer my friend is hiding deep within
The answer is hiding deep within.


How enthused can you be when you don’t really know
The story of your neighbor’s belief?
How can you mindlessly sit on the side
When you could be part of their relief?
how many times can we turn our heads
Until we can properly see?
The answer my friend is hiding deep within
The answer is hiding deep within.

How many trails must society reverse
Before they see we can’t skive?
Yes, how many years must man have to fly
Before his castings are deprived?
How many batters will it take till we know
That diversity is ever alive?
The answer my friend is hiding deep within
The answer is hiding deep within.

2nd Note: Housewife Terrorists

                A Broadside ballad is not just any song but a song that engages and adheres to the listeners, singers, and followers to the significance of problem or issues that is greatly affecting a select group of people. Broadside ballads are usually written to the tune and melody of common well-known songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “Amazing Grace”, etc. and tell a story of pertinent political issues plague the people of land during a pivotal era. Most Broadside Ballads are used to relay a message, show the reasoning behind a view point, and persuade others to think more in depth about the major issues at the time.

                And now we have a dilemma! I can’t find a recording of the song I picked “The Housewife Terrorists” by Pete Seeger but I can definitely give you the link to the lyrics. http://www.peteseeger.net/housewife_terrorists.htm

Pete Seeger is a Musician, singer, songwriter, folklorist, labor activist, environmentalist, and peace advocate from Patterson, New York. Being born in 1919, Pete is currently 92 years old and over his life he has witness many political adversities such as the Vietnam War, Racism and Segregation, Pearl Harbor, Gulf War, and World War II all of which have sparked many of his widely known Broadsides. The Housewife Terrorists was written in 1966 in response to the Vietnam War. It tells of four mothers, Housewives, “Joyce and Aileen, Beverly and Lisa…” who one day after hearing that the Napalm barge was to be off to Vietnam they decided to protest against the entire war because they and many others were tired of their husbands and sons, and those of every American and Vietnamese, being unjustly slaughtered. The four women became a human fence barricading against the “fork-lift truck bringing out a bomb load…” They stood their ground until the local Chief, Chief Chew, was forced to arrest them. In the end they received” a suspended sentence /As long as we would obey the law” But they felt that it is our government that was really breaking the laws.

                I totally agree with the four women then the senseless violence of most war is just that senseless and unnecessary. In the song Chief Chew tell the housewives that they need to go through the legislative process and the Housewives retorted by saying that the president needs to go through the legislative process, I love this. It expresses that the government needs to keep itself in check or the people will because no one person or body of people can be above the law if the law is to truly be effective. The overall Ballad reveals that wars are not only a governmental matter but a national and family matter. 

Testing, Testing: Can you hear me now

This blog is mainly for my Mus 300 Music of Resistance, Revolution, and Liberation course at Westminster College. The reason I chose to take this class is because I Love Music. I love knowing why a song exist, why the artist felt the need to write or compose such a song, what sparked the interest or idea of a song, the story that the artist is trying to portray, and how it affects the listeners. I love to sing and I love to listen. I've been singing with a school choir since 5th grade, not including my church's choir, so that should tell you just how large a portion singing is to my life. I hope this course can help broaden my range of musical knowledge and understanding!