Woodie Guthrie and Billie Holiday- Revolutionizing Music and Society in the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a moment in US history when two features of American life in the 1920's were decisively challenged- the unchecked leadership of the nation by its business elite, and the rigid segregation of Blacks in all areas of social and economic life As the nation's economy collapsed, and a large percentage of its population experienced poverty and insecurity on an unprecedented scale, radical activists- some of them Socialists and Communists- organized protests which challenged the idea that the leadership by the rich, and the segregation and stigmatization of Black people was good for the nation as a whole. In fact, they argued the opposite- that if the nation was to be saved, its working people, not its wealthy elite had to take the lead, and that Black people had to be an integral part of every movement for progress and national renewal. Little by little, these ideas began to influence political discourse, labor organizing, journalism and literature. and by the end of the decade, popular culture and popular music Though racism remained virulent in all spheres of American life, the Depression marked a time when a critical mass of whites began to join with blacks in movements to protest lynching, employment discrimination, limitations on voting rights, and segregation in all its forms. These anti-racist protests drew strength from, and were often connected to, an unprecedented upheaval of America's working people, resulting in the funding of government aid to the jobless, the beginnings of a social safety net and the unionization of the nation's largest industries, efforts in which Black people played an important part
Popular music of the Depression reflected, and at times reinforced these changes in the way the nation saw itself and conducted its business. For the first time in many years, artists began singing about the hardships faced by the poor, the displaced and the homeless; CONTINUE READING: With A Brooklyn Accent: Woodie Guthrie and Billie Holiday- Revolutionizing Music and Society in the Great Depression
