Winter 2026
Tunes to take you from the Winter Solstice through St. Patrick's Day
Tunes to take you from the Winter Solstice through St. Patrick's Day
MLK Day, celebrated on the third Monday in January, was declared a US federal holiday in 1983. "We Shall Overcome” was the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement that Martin Luther King Jr dedicated his life to. Its message of hope and courage was a constant in the African-Americans' march to freedom and full participation in the American democracy. Just days before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. drew on the sentiments of the song and delivered a speech titled “We Shall Overcome” in Memphis, Tennessee.
Pete Seeger sang the song on East German television when he visited there in January 1967. [left] The song resonated deeply with East German listeners, who interpreted it as a call for peace, unity, and perseverance despite political divides. This performance was recorded eight months before US television lifted its McCarthy-era blacklisting of his performances.
For more about the 15-year-blacklisting of Pete Seeger, see The Nation article "Pete Seeger Outlasted the Bastards"