Songs that Organize, Strikes that Endure
On this week’s Labor Heritage Power Hour – listen today at 1p on WPFW 89.3FM or online -- we dig into how culture fuels courage on the shop floor and the strike line. First, legendary organizer–songwriter Si Kahn breaks down the organizer’s “secret weapon”: parody. From Joe Hill’s “new words to old tunes” to the brand-new “Solidarity at Starbucks,” we explore why familiar melodies can turn a crowd into a chorus—fast.
Then we head to Camp Solidarity in Matewan, West Virginia for “Lessons from the Massey Strike.” UMWA veterans Charles “Hawkeye” Dixon, Howard Phillips, and Eddie Burke take us inside the 1984–85 fight with Massey: the tactics, the unity, the losses, and what it took to stop production and keep a union alive.
It’s the final week of WPFW’s Fall Fund Drive; please consider supporting the home of the Labor Heritage Power Hour! Pledge online or call 1-800-222-9739; $12.50/month makes you a sustainer; any amount makes you family. Thank you!
NOTE: If you missed the 1p show catch the podcast here!