Truth and Meaning: Pete Seeger Matters

Truth and Meaning: Pete Seeger Matters

Folk singer Pete Seeger died this week at the age of 94. He was a lifelong advocate for peace and justice, a tireless defender of the oppressed and a Unitarian Universalist. Responsible for so many great songs, including “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and “Turn, Turn, Turn,” Seeger also helped popularize “We Shall Overcome” as a theme song for the Civil Rights movement. Most of all, he was a musical and social revolutionary who envisioned a better world for everyone.

Here are 20 reasons why Pete Seeger matters.

1. Because the wealthiest nation in the world cuts food stamps.
2. Because the most violent nation in the world uses war to impose peace.
3. Because of voter restriction and campaign finance laws.
4. Because of minimum wages and women’s wages.
5. Because music changes lives.
6. Because of "right-to-work" laws.
7. Because of the National Rifle Association.
8. Because of Freedom Industries.
9. Because no human being is illegal.
10. Because “this machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.”
11. Because our government monitors what books we read.
12. Because education is not job training (watch “What Did You Learn in School Today?”).
13. Because we are still fighting for reproductive justice.
14. Because corporations are not people.
15. Because freedom marches to its own beat.
16. Because of violence against women, people of color, GLBT folk and the poor.
17. Because one child in America is homeless, hungry, ill and hopeless.
18. Because religion should be about Truth, Understanding and Love.
19. Because we need to keep overcoming.
20. Because this land was made for you and me.

(Adapted with gratitude from an article posted by Adam Weinstein on Gawker this week.)