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Remembering Voices of Resistance
Strong voices for peace have left us this year, people who used their art for social change, often at a high personal price.
Odetta was a legendary folk singer of the civil rights movement.
Considered the "Queen of American Folk Music," Odetta introduced audiences worldwide to African-American folk, blues and gospel music.
New Year's Eve was her birthday. She would have been 78. When Rosa Parks was asked which songs meant the most to her, she replied, "All of the songs Odetta sings."
Odetta sang "Oh, Freedom," an African-American slave spiritual, at the 1963 March on Washington. Early on, she attracted the interest of Harry Belafonte and Pete Seeger. Her voice, her talent with the guitar and the natural style in which she maintained her hair -- later to be dubbed "afro" -- set her as an icon of the civil rights movement. She told an interviewer in 2003:
"When I first started, I would sing these prison songs ... it got to a point where doing the music actually healed me ... it was music from those who went before. The music gave them strength, and the music gave us strength to carry it on."
She inspired Bernice Johnson Reagon, an early member of the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) Freedom Singers. She had been suspended from college in Albany, Ga., for civil rights protests, then went on to Spelman College, where historian Howard Zinn and his wife, Roz, brought her to folk music concerts by Joan Baez and Odetta.
Reagon recalls the first time she heard Odetta:
"In Georgia, where I grew up in the country, the roads were built by chain-gang labor. I knew the sound, because as the men worked, they sang. But I never thought I'd hear it coming from a concert stage ... when she sang prison songs or work songs. ... She was just what I needed to begin my life as a freedom fighter and as a Freedom Singer."
Reagon later went on to found the women's a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Another great liberation singer we lost this year was Miriam Makeba of South Africa, known as "Mama Afrika." She sang against apartheid, then went into exile for decades. Belafonte also helped her gain recognition.
In 1968, she married SNCC leader-turned-Black Panther Stokely Carmichael, for which she was blacklisted in the U.S. until the 1980s.
Soon after her death, I asked the Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu about Makeba. The South African archbishop smiled: "Her singing, her voice, helped many people to know a little bit more about the vicious apartheid system. She was just a tremendous human being, a great loss to us and to Africa."
Also blacklisted in 1968 was singer and actress Eartha Kitt, who died at age 81 on Christmas Day. In 1968, she was invited to a celebrity luncheon at the White House by Lady Bird Johnson, who asked Kitt about urban poverty. Kitt replied: "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They don't want to go to school because they're going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam." The first lady reportedly burst into tears. For years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas and was investigated by the FBI and CIA.
Another voice we just lost sang out from the written page. Harold Pinter died on Christmas Eve in London. Though too sick to travel to Stockholm to collect his Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, he sent a video address: "The majority of politicians ... are interested not in truth but in power. ... To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance. ... What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies." Pinter was referring to U.S. policy from Guantanamo to Iraq.
As these icons are laid to rest, their voices continue to inspire millions. Barack Obama will soon take the reins of the most powerful nation on Earth, promising change. But it will now take the actions of those millions, heeding these echoes of the past and transforming them into their own voices, to effect real change.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
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25 Comments so far
Show AllI would like Amy to remember A voice of resistece who she done wrong in 2008. I urge people to go back and reexamine her interview of the famous Australian Journalist Fisk? on the Fourtieth aniversary of the RFK slaying.
I am a great admirer of Amy Goodman's work, but she emphasized ONLY the negative aspects of RFK, and not the danger to the status quo that he represented in 1968. How Ironic that she is far easier on Obama who IS FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR to the right of RFK in both thought, actions and speech STARTING IN 1965 AMY NOT 1968 like you made him seem.
I continue to wonder at the lack of writing on the RFK Assassination even among those who research Cold War History and the assassinations.
THE BOBBY IN CHINA EFFECT: DID RFK'S IMPURITIES TO THE LEFT MAKE HIM MORE DANGEROUS TO THE RIGHT?
Recently while reading parts of Thurston Moores new book on RFK The Last Campaign, I was struck by RFKs response to ""left'" (I put quotes around it, because I think its highly debateable about which WAS really more left, and also because of the history of the controlled nature of "'left"' dissent in the form of psy-ops within US media during the Cold War) critics who blasted RFK for making some Law and Order sounds during the Indiana Primary. RFK's response was "If Gene McCarthy had ever done anything for Civil Rights he wouldn't need to show he cared about white people " NOT A DIRECT QUOTE. Now that by itself, sounds like pandering, but the author points out that RFK spoke to the same audiences about what was going on in the "inner cities" and said pretty much the same things that he said to black audiences.
Now which do you think would be more frightening to the Military Industrial Complex: a candidate with almost no major African American support, McCarthy, who also had no chance of winning the nomination, or a candidate that actually showed signs of TAKING THE OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE SOUTHERN STRATEGY EVEN IN THE VERY YEAR OF ITS BIRTH; Perhaps RFK's background at the center of power-- during tensest moments of the Cold War-- was seen as a much more dangerous threat.
He might take more of the center of the party in a new direction, without descendng into the identity politics that Democrats have been paid so well to never emerge from. Perhaps RFK was so dangerous because he would not roll over and conceed that Watts and rural Indiana WERE really opposites. He might have found a way to make class trump race as FDR to some extent did. Of course the New Deal Coalition was on much shakier ground in 1968, as
compared to the 1930's, but what comes accross in Moore's book is that RFK was not yet ready to let it crumble. Above all he was improvising; dangerously for those who wanted to continue the US movement rightward from a CFR multilatteral (1945-63) to American Security Council unilateral (1963-present) US foreign policy coalition.
Why does Amy Goodman and Companies insist on emphasizing the contrast of RFK '68 with RFK '61--while quoting disproportionatly from the latter-- and never bring up the contrast between RFK '1968 and the Corporate Democrats of today?
Was Bobby killed because he touched the REAL third Rail of American politics: the rule that says Race OR Class: NEVER BOTH!!!?
I type this because I am growing weary of one-sided Kennedy bashing from foundation funded leftists. Yes criticize them for what is true,by all means, But you have been censoring the other half of the story for too long. Much of it comes from Sy Hersh and Richard Helm's old friend Sam Halpern of the CIA.
--------
Please read JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, or people will remain thinking that the Presidents Chosen by Wolf Blitzer will change everything, and we-- as a species will devlove into quivering lime Jello, and not even cold quiverin
I would also recommend: THE LEGACY OF SECRECY by: Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartman.
I appreciate Amy Goodman's column. We should celebrate people while they are still alive. As Howard Zinn pointed out in "People's History of the US" and in speeches, including the fine one on DemocracyNow today (from Nov.8,2008 given in Binghamton,NY at the Univ.), it's many people, regular people,artists, famous and not famous, "telling the truth...from experience". We learn history and we use it.
Nice piece from Amy. Moving into 2009, let's remember these important voices who left us and more importantly, LEARN from them!
- Chris
For more independent views you can visit:
http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com
http://chriscommons.blogspot.com
Bring America Back !!!! Kudos to Ms Goodman, and to CD for the memories of what profiles in courage really mean. The recall does my baby-boomer heart good !
****When Amy says the CIA & FBI investigated Eartha Kitt, is that the same CIA that was an occupant of Building #7, World Trade Center, NYC up to 9/11/01 ??
Known otherwise as the Saloman Brothers Building ! Just curious.
Is that the same FBI which failed to investigate 9/11 as a crime ?
**Also thanks to oujiQualm34 for the first post on this thread. If I may try
to pull out ouji's hidden message that , early on, They learned to use "patsies"
to cover up political assassination. Blaming Sirhan B Sirhan for the RFK killing is very close to blaming a cave dwelling boogieman and 19 airline school flunkouts for pulling off the technical genius which was 9/11 !!
***"They" love 'Patsies', how to create them, and how to steer mainstream media to always point to that ...'good ol' lone gunman strategem!!
***Also, ouji==I am not aware that Wolf Blitzer chooses presidents, but I do know that we, as a species, are already devolved to quivering lime jello ! LOts of bloggers in here like to refer to 'us' as .."Sheepeoples" or Sheeples.
In 1996 Harold Pinter wrote:
"There is the question of human rights. I myself don’t believe in the relativity of human rights…In Cuba I have always understood harsh treatment of dissenting voices as stemming from a ‘siege situation’ imposed upon it from outside. And I believe that to a certain extent that is true. But equally apologists for Israeli actions have also stressed a siege situation brought about by external threat. Mordechai Vanunu is a dissenting voice in Israel and was sentenced to 18 years solitary confinement for disclosing Israel’s nuclear capacity to the world."
On April 21, 2004, upon release from prison Vanunu stated:
"I’m not speaking in Hebrew. If Israel doesn’t let me speak to foreigners I am not speaking in Hebrew. I am Mordechai Vanunu, the man behind the Sunday Times article from 5 October 1986. The article about Israel’s nuclear weapons…
"All this bullshit, blah blah blah, about secrets, is dead. My case is dead. The article was published. There are no more secrets. All the secrets were published and is in the hand of the whole world. All the world, every state, 180 states received these secrets. I am now ready to start my life.
"I am not harming Israel. I am not interested in Israel. I want to tell you something very important. I suffered here 18 years because I am a Christian, because I was baptised into Christianity. If I was a Jew I wouldn’t have all this suffering here in isolation for 18 years. Only because I was a Christian man."
In 2004, Amy Goodman interviewed Vanunu after his release from 18 years in jail for telling the world the truth that Israel was nuclear in 1985.
Amy’s interview was major testimony against Vanunu in the first ever FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL in the ‘democracy’ of Israel.
On July 8, 2008, Israel convicted Vanunu on 14 counts-from over a hundred interviews he gave foreign journalists in 2004.
His Supreme Court appeal has been put off until 2009.
The Global Face Book effort: The Times They Are a’Changin’- FREE Vanunu Mordechai! Was established on November 15, 2008.
Excerpted from the Groups Description introduction by VANUNU MORDECHAI JC:
”…a man of peace, a symbol. KIDNAPPED IN ROME SEP’ 30 th.1986…AFTER 18 YEARS IN ISRAEL PRISON… still a prisoner of fear and revenge. VANUNU…is waiting in East Jerusalem to leave;…be really free-to live…group objective is to help VANUNU… to enjoy in full his human right and to promote confrontation and a new mental approach toward the Palestine tragedy. Open your minds, stop hate.”
Coordinator of Global V Day, Angeleo Fanton wrote:
“A day will be dedicated in defense of Human Rights in general and in support of individuals being victimized by governments in particular, all in the name of Vanunu being as he is an archetype of the problem. But this problem is universal. It involves all governments, from Vanunu to Guantanamo to Darfur, all the way to Gaza…”
The Times They Are a’Changin’- FREE Vanunu Mordechai! Now!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52776865024#/ group.php?gid=52776865024
Eileen Fleming, Author, Founder WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Mahmoud Darwish's name is conspicuously missing. Why? He was eloquent. His people are being annilihated by American Jewery while Ms. Goodman so piously wrote her essay. Her essay comes across as a diversion from the real issue: The annilihation of Palestinians in Palestine by American Jews.
Bring America Back !!!! Well, Jack East, do not forget for one moment, that
Amy Goodman also forgets to tell us who told her to report Building 7, World Trade Center, on 911/5:30 PM was collapsed, when she is on video tape clearly over her
shoulder with Bldg 7 in the background still standing proud and tall. GEE WHIZ.
****We still have the Video , girl...... you've made a valiant try to expunge it
from web sites, but you just couldn't get all of it !!! Neither could MOSSAD !
***David Southwell's "Secrets and Deceptions" explains and verifies thru
intercepted mails, that all major US Media, Broadcasters, and Print have been
infiltrated BY THE us CIA. Now, would that be the same CIA which was an
occupant of Building 7, WTC up to and including 9/11/01 ?????
***So Amy, we progs do insist you confess who told you that building was
going to collapse neatly into it's own construction footprint, at free-fall
speed====prior to it's doing so ????
**You are being picked up on a constant basis for your ommissions and exceptions,
in your great masquerade as a Progressive--you've fooled CD, so far.
****But, there is going to be a Deep Throat for 9/11..make no mistake about
that !!!! Which side of the line will you be on, when THEY come forth ????
As Mahmoud says : your diversions are becoming more and more "conspicuous" !
Fess up, Amy...Come Kleen !
Jack East: I remember the program Amy Goodman did on DemocracyNow when Mahmoud Darwish died, honoring him and had guests speak of him.
It's unfortunate that Amy Goodman neglected to mention Del Martin, who died this past year (she was in her 80s). With her partner Phyllis Lyon, Del Martin in the 1950s founded the first lesbian organization in the history of the United States - the Daughters of Bilitis - and created the first lesbian publication - the Ladder. She remained active in the lesbian and gay rights movement for decades. Shortly before her death, she and Phyllis Lyon were the first couple married in California (by SF mayor Gavin Newsome) after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage this past year.
(Be it noted that Amy Goodman routinely ignores gay and lesbian news on Democracy Now!, fine show though it is on just about every other issue.)
perhaps if the gay and lesbian crowd could conduct themselves a little more maturely in any one of their pride parades, their message might gain a bit more traction. Unfortunately, I mostly see people dressed like clowns.
I'm shocked by your comment, frankly, and that you thought it worth your while to post this gratuitous insult.
northisland:I remember Amy Goodman remembering Del Martin on the air at the time of her, Martin's death. Your point is well taken. I also remember Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon being celebrated on DemocracyNow when they were married. I was very moved by it.
(I've been critical of DemocracyNow for not doing enough coverage of disability issues and disability rights.)
To - NYCartist - You are completely right. Amy Goodman announced Del Martin's passing at the time of her death, and I should have mentioned this in my post. My larger point stands, unfortunately, about Goodman's general lack of interest in LGBT issues. For example, after the California State Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, there was not a single mention of same-sex marriage or the battle over Proposition 8 on Democracy Now until the day of the election in November, when it was much too late for the coverage to have any value in informing the public. (I know this because I listen daily to Democracy Now - I'm a great admirer of Amy Goodman and think she's a terrific journalist. I've just always been disappointed in her demotion of gay and lesbian issues to the level of the unimportant. And you are right that she covers disability issues only very rarely - in 2008 I remember some discussion about blindness and visual impairment after David Patterson became governor of New York, but nothing else really. Thanks for pointing this out.)
I would add to remember that many of us are voices of resistance - against empire, imperialism, corporatism, exceptionalism - we who recognize the need to abandon our undemocratic government, our alleged two-party system, and resist idiots like Barack Obama - we are the new voices of resistance! We who say "NO!" to the insane murders in Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. We are heroes and heroines for our times!
Bring America Back !!!! Thank you, sir or madam, BUT do not acclaim us hero status
as yet, for thanks to AIPAC and Israel, the incoming rulers will be Inaugural dancing on the graves of poor Palestinians !!!
***Sadly, Obama has already proven he fails to recall the recent and long past:
========REMEMBER THE ALAMO, REMEMBER THE ALAMO !!!!
========REMEMBER BEIRUT, REMEMBER BEIRUT !!!!
========REMEMBER 9/11, REMEMBER 9/11 !!!!
500 DEAD GAZANS, 2500 INJURED/WOUNDED WITHOUT MEDICAL HELP!!
******************REMEMBER GAZA, REMEMBER GAZA !!!! REMEMBER GAZA, NOW !!!
It's always easy to criticize and it's easy as Howard Zinn said to think that you're all alone out there. Getting mad is okay, but getting fit for and acting on what you deem as wrong in society is a good reaction to anger. Let anger be a catalyst not just a reason for criticism. Always write to representatives. Always write to corporations. Always don't shop what you think is wrong. Always, always, always, never lose your own enthusiasm or resolves. Act on anger.
Learn to love by loving.
david-w:Thanks for quoting Howard Zinn, and the perfect last line, "Learn to love by loving.". I only wish to add that we each, are never the ONLY one for anything we experience. Once I got sick from something in the doctor's office and the nurse tried to tell me "you're the only one" (who complained). Everyone has heard that line at one time or another, "you're the only one....". Remember, you're never the ONLY one..
Yes - I heard that line "you're the only one" when I complained about something (important) to a school principal. Luckily I knew lots of other parents and found out that many of us had complained.
That is one key ingredient - connections with others.
Joe
The Glue That Holds Chaos Together
Excellent article, and very informative.
Thank you!
Pan
Voices in Gaza
Amy - you know I think you are a national treasure, but sometimes I wish you would give a little more information about the music and film clips aired during breaks on your TV show. (Captions about artist, album, time and place of video clips would be helpful.) That way we could seek out and support today's new voices of resistance.
Joe
jclientelle:Joe, you can email the show: mailatdemocracynow.org (substitute @ for "at")
Thanks. Good idea.
Joe
RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE!