AFRICANA ARTS
...His most famous song, "This Land Is Your Land," was written as his answer to the song "God Bless America." In this song (originally titled "God Blessed America") Guthrie expressed his belief that America, and the responsibility for taking care of it and its people, belong to the people. In the 1960s, the world was still far from perfect. Many American young people believed it was time for change. They used Woody Guthrie’s example, plus musical styles drawn from folk, gospel, bluegrass, and blues, to create protest songs. Protest songs were both political and spiritual. One of the leaders of the 1960s protest song movement was Pete Seeger, who published a magazine called Sing Out! Some of the most important performers in the movement were Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen, the group Peter, Paul, and Mary, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. When African Americans in the southern United States were trying to win their civil rights in the early 1960s, many of these singers joined them. Folk-gospel singer Odetta, opera singer Marian Anderson, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and pop star Harry Belafonte all sang for their own struggle for civil rights during the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. They used the songs of African American slaves—spirituals like "Oh, Freedom" and "I Shall Not Be Moved"—to inspire action for a new level of freedom for African Americans. The issue of civil rights was not the only one that was engaging people in 1960s in America. The United States was involved in a very unpopular war in Vietnam. Young men were being drafted to go into the war whether they wanted to go or not, and thousands were killed. Many of the singers who became involved in the civil rights movement, including Harry Belafonte, Pete Seeger, and the group Peter, Paul, and Mary, also became involved in protesting the United States’ involvement in the war in Vietnam. Folk singer Joan Baez refused to pay the portion (approximately 60%) of her federal income tax that went to support the war. Other singers became involved in protesting the war, too. Among the most notable was one of the Beatles, John Lennon. When he and Yoko Ono were married in March of 1969, they had a week-long "bed-in for peace" instead of a honeymoon. From 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. every day, John and Yoko sat in bed, in their pajamas, conducting interviews with the press. They succeeded in drawing attention away from the war and onto peace, and in showing people that there are many ways to protest peacefully. In May, during another bed-in in Montréal, Québec, Canada, John sang a new song he had written, "Give Peace a Chance." It became one of the most popular so...