Banners hung in the St. Louis Symphony hall balcony during the protest. Image source: Youtube.
As a currently-under-investigation grand jury deliberates over whether or not to indict Michael Brown’s shooter, Darren Wilson, the struggle over rights for everyday people lives on in numerous abused and often lonely corners of our society.
Most Americans are consumed by a combination of distractions, from elements of entertainment to fear. Some of it by design, but all of it in concert making them oblivious to the elaborate, decades-in-the-making system of oppression rendering them helpless.
When we gaze upon images of old struggle, such as those of workers in the pre-union days, I hope we, as Americans, don’t feel unattached. I hope we realize that though times have changed, we are in the midst of similar struggles today. Unions and workers rights are being dismantled, people of color are being indiscriminately targeted for execution by authority figures, womens rights are being systematically eroded.
“Which Side Are You On?” the civil rights hymn invoked by the “Requiem for Michael Brown” flash mob at the St. Louis Symphony Saturday, has a storied history that dates back to the unionization movement of the early twentieth century.
The song was written in 1931 by Florence Reece, the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky during the Harlan County War. Throughout the 30’s Harlan County coal miners fought mine owners and their law enforcement partners for the right to unionize in order to obtain better wages and working conditions.
As a union organizer, Sam and his family found themselves the targets of the local Sheriff J. H. Blair and his men, recruited by the mining company to harass and intimidate. One night when Sam was not home, Blair and his gang roughed up Florence and their children. Later that night, Florence, borrowing the melody from the traditional Baptist hymn, ‘Lay the Lily Low’ penned the lyrics to ‘Which Side Are You On?’ on a calendar that hung in the kitchen.
Throughout the following decades various recording artists like Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Natalie Merchant and Dropkick Murphy’s would lend their voices to the hymn, a fitting embodiment of the struggles of people against oppressive power.
One that, as evidenced by the most recent Michael Brown protest, carries a special significance, even today.
So, which side are you on?
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Nicole Girard is a political writer with a passion for civil rights and the truth. Follow her on facebook or twitter. |
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