Labor Movement and Joe Hill

     The American Labor Movement was a pivotal time in American history. This time period in our history changed the way a worker/laborer worked and how their salaries would be paid. Before this change came along, there were no rules in which how the workers worked, what conditions they worked in. And also there was no correlation between the working hours and the wages. The owners of the factories would make the workers work in unbearable conditions; workers who worked in those factories would pick up diseases that were so severe that it caused death after working there for a certain time. One of the most active people who contributed in the American Labor Movement was Joe Hill. He worked in the factories all over the country. Therefore, he could understand how the people/workers were feeling about those injustices. Joe Hill spoke in the name of all of workers. Joe Hill, through his music, was letting these workers know that if they all came together and united against the owners of the factories something could be done for them and a positive result would be possible. The video of the song “I thought I saw Joe Hill last night” by Paul Robeson shows the idea that Joe’s contributions to the early labor movement was so big that his presence continues to be felt in his absence. Although, Joe is dead the laborers feel him in their hearts as they go on to organize. Here is the link of Paul Robeson’s song “I thought I saw Joe Hill last night”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxq9uFDes
     In the video “Joe Glazer discusses music in the American Labor Movement”, Joe Glazer says that songs are important to build the spirit. In this case he is talking about the solidary spirit. In a general sense, he is saying that for the workers to be able to make a change they have to be united. And music helps unite them. Joe Glazer understood that singing the words gave them strength and passion. He adds that in order to make an impact on people one has to keep the lyrics simple; and it also has to be repetitive. This is the link of the video “Joe Glazer discusses music in the American Labor Movement”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaQ7qWo6120&playnext=1&list=PL076301DD41D78985
     In both, the stories of Joe Glazer and in “Industrialization and the Rise of the Labor Music” the idea of music makes people want to act on their ideas. First, music brought the workers together, united them. And then it gave this united group strength and courage to be able to take action to change what was bothering them.
I chose the song "There is power in the Union" by Billy Brag. Billy Bragg understand the same idea that Joe Hill had that people have the same problems and if they come together they can get these problems fixed. They understand music moves people and can make people get things done, music can move there emotions to make them want to fix the problems of the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CkFPyH8v1c