Remembering Folk Legend, Seeger

Remembering Folk Legend & Activist Pete Seeger

by TRNN

John Nichols: 94 year-old Pete Seeger's music was stronger than the forces that sought to silence him.

The legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger passed away on Monday at the age of 94. Over the course of five decades, Seeger used his musical talents to draw attention to many causes, including the civil rights movement, workers' rights, and environmental conservation. Most remember him for his hits like "Good Night, Irene", "If I Had a Hammer", and, of course, he helped popularize the African-American civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome". A strong opponent of McCarthyism in the '50s, Seeger was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. He refused to cooperate and was convicted of contempt of Congress. In more recent times, Seeger, along with Bruce Springsteen, performed the song "This Land Is Your Land" at President Obama's first inauguration. He participated in and sang at the Occupy Wall Street's New York City camp. And Seeger's passion for folk music and social justice made him a hybrid of both musician and activist, which was quite extraordinary.

John Nichols, a pioneering political blogger, has written the Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated internationally, quoted in numerous books and mentioned in debates on the floor of Congress. Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other newspapers.Nichols is the author of The Genius of Impeachment (The New Press); a critically acclaimed analysis of the Florida recount fight of 2000, Jews for Buchanan (The New Press); and a best-selling biography of Vice President Dick Cheney, Dick: The Man Who is President (The New Press), which has recently been published in French and Arabic. He edited Against the Beast: A Documentary History of American Opposition to Empire (Nation Books), of which historian Howard Zinn said: "At exactly the time when we need it most, John Nichols gives us a special gift--a collection of writings, speeches, poems, and songs from throughout American history--that reminds us that our revulsion to war and empire has a long and noble tradition in this country." With Robert W. McChesney, Nichols has co-authored the books It's the Media, Stupid! (Seven Stories), Our Media, Not Theirs (Seven Stories), Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy (The New Press) and, most recently, The Death and Life of American Journalism (Nation Books). McChesney and Nichols are the co-founders of Free Press, the nation's media-reform network, which organized the 2003 and 2005 National Conferences on Media Reform.