Kids don't have a little brother working in the coal mine. They don't have a little sister coughing her lungs out in the looms of the big mill towns of the Northeast. Why? Because we organized; we broke the back of the sweatshops in this country; we have child labor laws. Those were not benevolent gifts from enlightened management. They were fought for, they were bled for, they were died for by working people, by people like us. Kids ought to know that. That’s why I sing these songs. That’s why I tell these stories, dammit. No root, no fruit!”I don't pretend to be up on all the news about everything, but the fact that the May 23 death of Utah Phillips did not cross my radar screen until today is unusual indeed. I hope that it doesn't mean that his death went mostly unnoticed in the progressive news world. It shouldn't have. Phillips was a true dyed-in-the-wool liberal, the old-style kind, who believed in populist movements, workers' rights, and the power of song to bring about social change. Amy Goodman wrote a lovely tribute to the man. Read it here. Read his obituary here.
Anyway, another of the good ones is gone. I was going to wish him R.I.P., but something tells me that he wouldn't want that. So I'll just say that I'll miss you, Utah, and I'll do my best to keep carrying the banner. We need your message now, more than ever.
1 comment:
I was surprised to hear that he had died, too. He was a living link to the past, among many other things. WORT used to broadcast his stories and they were always entertaining and informative. He will be missed.
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