Labor Day
Labor Day
Today is Labor Day. In the United States, it is a day that is widely "observed" but not really "celebrated". Labor Day was set aside to honor working people. In some counties it became associated with political parties that declared themselves to be "the peoples party", whether Labor, Socialist or Communist. Perhaps that association is why Labor Day isn't really celebrated here in America.
Christmas has carols and other songs that are associated with that holiday. Labor Day also has a singing tradition that includes all the songs associated with the labor movement, from "Solidarity Forever" to "The Ballad of Joe Hill".
I heard Aaron Copeland's "Fan Fare for the Common Man" on National Public Radio yesterday, and I find myself looking up the words to Paul Robeson's "The House I Live In" as part of my labor day revery. Snatches of banjo licks and lyrics by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger play thru my mind.
As I write this blog entry, I am getting myself, into the spirit of the day. I am reflecting on the past labor of the women of Lowell and Lawrence who demanded "Bread and Roses" for their toil in the textile mills; I see the children working long days in dimly lit and poorly ventilated mills in Pawtucket RI and Manchester NH, winding and changing bobbins and bringing home their pittance to help feed their family. I hear the songs of the lumberjacks and gandydancers and stevadors and lonesome cowboys.
I remember Caesar Chavez and the field laborers who first declared "Si Se Peurda", and could and did! I remember the brave men and women who stood up to the Pinkerton Men and the National Guard to earn the right to organize for better pay and safe working conditions.
Somehow a picnic doesnt seem enough to honor this fine American Tradition of hard work and hope and courage......but then again....holidays are symbolic and the celebrations never fully measure up to the events they commemorate, from the Fourth of July to Christmas. A day off to spend with your family is a good way to celebrate.
Today, I am holding in my heart and mind, the dreams and aspirations of working people and the contributions that were made, and are being made, to build America.
"Made In America" is a proud tradition and one that we should protect; our workers, our jobs and our national interests are worth protecting. "Si Se Puerda!" "Yes We Can!"
Happy Labor Day.
Today is Labor Day. In the United States, it is a day that is widely "observed" but not really "celebrated". Labor Day was set aside to honor working people. In some counties it became associated with political parties that declared themselves to be "the peoples party", whether Labor, Socialist or Communist. Perhaps that association is why Labor Day isn't really celebrated here in America.
Christmas has carols and other songs that are associated with that holiday. Labor Day also has a singing tradition that includes all the songs associated with the labor movement, from "Solidarity Forever" to "The Ballad of Joe Hill".
I heard Aaron Copeland's "Fan Fare for the Common Man" on National Public Radio yesterday, and I find myself looking up the words to Paul Robeson's "The House I Live In" as part of my labor day revery. Snatches of banjo licks and lyrics by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger play thru my mind.
As I write this blog entry, I am getting myself, into the spirit of the day. I am reflecting on the past labor of the women of Lowell and Lawrence who demanded "Bread and Roses" for their toil in the textile mills; I see the children working long days in dimly lit and poorly ventilated mills in Pawtucket RI and Manchester NH, winding and changing bobbins and bringing home their pittance to help feed their family. I hear the songs of the lumberjacks and gandydancers and stevadors and lonesome cowboys.
I remember Caesar Chavez and the field laborers who first declared "Si Se Peurda", and could and did! I remember the brave men and women who stood up to the Pinkerton Men and the National Guard to earn the right to organize for better pay and safe working conditions.
Somehow a picnic doesnt seem enough to honor this fine American Tradition of hard work and hope and courage......but then again....holidays are symbolic and the celebrations never fully measure up to the events they commemorate, from the Fourth of July to Christmas. A day off to spend with your family is a good way to celebrate.
Today, I am holding in my heart and mind, the dreams and aspirations of working people and the contributions that were made, and are being made, to build America.
"Made In America" is a proud tradition and one that we should protect; our workers, our jobs and our national interests are worth protecting. "Si Se Puerda!" "Yes We Can!"
Happy Labor Day.
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Hear, hear. Aaron Copeland is one of my favorite composers. What poetry in his music. And Woody and Pete. Who else stood for the working person better than those two?
Thanks for your thoughts, Elston. As always....very thoughtful and thought provoking as well.Posted 09-01-2008 at 04:48 PM by nomoresnow
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Labor Day always reminds me of my fil who was a Union Organizer for the Inited Mine Workers of America in this area..He was a friend of John L. Lewis many years ago..When h and I first married about 46 years ago, we would make the trip to Grundy Virginia just to attend the Labor Day celebration of the Union with him..It was a tradition here that has long died out..Posted 09-01-2008 at 10:01 PM by Miss Blue
