A Labor Day tribute to work and workers

[ProSense]

A Labor Day tribute to work and workers

by Denise Oliver Velez

Each year on Labor Day, I have a soundtrack in my head. Songs about working people, and labor, and unions. Many of the images that accompany that soundtrack are from WPA Federal Art Project murals that fascinated me as a child. I grew up listening to a lot of folk music, and songs that celebrated struggle. The man whose voice I can still hear is Paul Robeson. So I'll open with his version of Joe Hill.

I hear echoes of Joe Hill's music in John Lennon's Working Class Hero.

Though for many, labor day weekend means the last gasp of summer, or a time to cash in on sales, for me it will always be about work—whether in the fields, or factories, on chain gangs or in cafeterias and offices.

So join me today in celebrating work and workers, and feel free to post your favorite songs that epitomize this day for you.

Alert: This post will be very video heavy. Most will be below the fold.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/03/1126694/-A-Labor-Day-tribute-to-work-and-workers

Great stuff!

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