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I'm dismayed. One comment by eastvan is the only mention of Archie Green's passing that I could find here at DKos.
Progressives everywhere have lost a true friend and ardent intellectual. From wikipedia:
Archie Green (June 29, 1917 — March 22, 2009) was a folklorist and musicologist. He was a scholar of laborlore, defined as the special folklore of workers. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture, he gathered and commented upon the speech, stories, songs, emblems, rituals, art, artifacts, memorials, and landmarks which constitute laborlore. He is credited with winning Congressional support for passage of the American Folklife Preservation Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-201), which established the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress.
There are numerous eulogies to be found - from The Nation to the SF Chronicle and beyond but my favorite so far came from an Appalachia-based favorite, The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg KY, titled "Archie Green’s vision":
If you’ve ever read The Grapes of Wrath, or seen the movie, you remember the moment when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), anticipating his probable death at the hands of the police ("if all our folks got together and yelled"), wonders if "a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but only a piece of a big soul – the one big soul that belongs to everybody – then..." His mother asks, "Then what, Tom?"
He answers: "Then it don’t matter. Then I’ll be all around in the dark. I’ll be everywhere – wherever you look. Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad – and I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry and they know supper’s ready. And when our people are eatin’ the stuff they raise and livin’ in the houses they build – why, I’ll be there, too."
Archie Green, who died on March 22 at the age of 91, will be everywhere. He had a home in San Francisco, but he was at home in eastern Kentucky, too, and in thousands of other places. He roamed widely and incurably, noticing people who were part of "the one big soul that belongs to everybody" and insisting that attention be paid. He noticed coal miners and ballad writers, ranchers and shipwrights, firefighters and auto workers, seafarers and machinists. He recorded their words and their music, immortalized them in articles and books (including Only A Miner, a superb collection of words, music, and photographs published in 1972), ... the American Folklife Center ... is a place where researchers can go to find out what really makes America work – what we inherit and what we pass on. It’s one of Archie Green’s many gifts to the land and people he loved.
But Archie had another gift in mind, and was working on it when he died. He wanted Congress and the Obama administration to set aside funding to document our own time, and specifically the impact of the infrastructure-rebuilding projects being made possible by federal economic-stimulus funds. In a recent memo to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he advocated creation of a cultural unit to document the recovery work as it occurs and to present this documentation to the public and the workforce itself.
Coming of age during the Depression (when he found work in the Civilian Conservation Corps), he admired the photographers who documented the era for the federal Farm Security Administration (FSA). From 1935 to 1943 they fanned out across the country, photographing Americans as they struggled and despaired and coped and celebrated. The small band of FSA photographers seemed to go everywhere (see the photo below), and they created a vast body of photographs. At the same time, the Federal Writers Project got down on paper a record of the Depression and the spirit of those who worked and fought their way through it. The result was a unique moment in history when an entire nation sat for its portrait. ..
Times and techniques have changed, but Archie Green’s vision is timeless and timely. One of the ways we got through the Depression was by learning that we’re all in this together. One of the ways we’ll get through the present mess is by rediscovering that truth and recording the evidence. To twist an ancient saying around, when someone plants a tree (on an old unreclaimed strip mine, let’s say) someone else should be there to record it: otherwise we’ll never hear the sound of solidarity or see the evidence of recovery.
Archie Green knew what it took to persist and prevail. We need to pay attention to what he learned, and what he can still teach.
Archie supported and encouraged Appalachian Studies from the start. He was the conference keynote speaker at ASA's 17th annual conference held at Va. Tech in 1994 where I had the pleasure of meeting him and hearing him speak for the first time. Archie had walked around the conference for two days prior to his speech and developed a righteous sense of outrage - the 400-plus attendees looked to him to be a bit TOO well-fed and well-to-do. Worst of all, the venue was a lush and lavish conference center, a gift to Virginia Tech from corporate entities with ties to the university's research interests. Archie tossed out his prepared remarks and blistered the audience for close to an hour about corporate assaults of America's unions, the dangers inherent to free world trade, and the first two failed years of Bill Clinton's administration. Most memorable to me, though: he predicted the 'appalachinization of the nation' in terms of job loss, environmental degredation, and eco-social decline.
Archie died peacefully in his sleep, and his son said Archie was mentally well prepared for the prospect of his dying. Here's to Archie and a life well lived, always honoring the working class of the world.
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ON TO TOP COMMENTS - Nominations from You, and You, and You, and You again!
From Positronicus:
On the Obama's effect on Americans travelling in Europe, David Kroning offers this.
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From MinistryOfTruth:
I thought this exchange between Global Citizen and Greasy Grant was hilarious! Begin here with So how does this work, this.
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From Vacationland:
Larry Madill's observation on the improving status of America in the eyes of the world was sharp. RichM's response? - hilarious (and true!).
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From lcbo:
In response to the front page diary about Limbaugh's "anal poisoning" comment - sapper responds: If he gets a sore throat from ....
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From jwinIL14:
Unenergy spoke for many of us in this gem: What an amazing individual you guys in the
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From Dragon5616:
Kossacks didn't waste any time starting a fun thread in Al Rogers' latest great diary "- Boehner Breaksdown - SCREAMS at Reporters - (PLUS) BIG Bonus Pix Inside!". Take a ride down route66: wow
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From Angie in WA State:
As the phrase "freest people in the world" has been around a long time, the following comment by reflectionsv37, found in "BREAKING: President to Lift Ban on Family Travel to Cuba" by john campanelli, really reminded me that as a people, we Americans can be so very self-aggrandizing, and often to our own detriment! Besides, the tagline is also a great (in a dry, British humour sort of way :) )
Here's the charmer: Freest people in the world... my ass!!
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From dansk47:
I loved Little's edscanesque poem about Joe the Plumber here: I did too. I expected ...
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From Warren S:
In a diary on Michelle Bachmann's "slaves" remark, Trix nails it. How often do you get a top comment that ends with an n/t?
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From Andrew C White:
In diary about NY-20: Breaking! Republican Party Renamed! by Ky DEM.
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Top Mojo - thank you, sardonyx!
Top Mojo (cskendrick/sardonyx-style) excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments, Cheers and Jeers, and Mojo Friday:
1) Either way, I'm calling my doctor... by Ken in MN — 215
2) "Nazi-talk" by alyosha — 122
3) Which explains... by Ken in MN — 113
4) Capetown Overjoyed! by StuHunter — 108
5) Great diary! by FritztheCat — 106
6) whoops.. by adamsmo — 104
7) I gringed when Obama was by mjd in florida — 100
8) Amazing, isn't it? by CJB — 99
9) How anyone could hate these people... by David Kroning — 93
10) I heard Ann Compton was there by dlh77489 — 91
11) The population of Canadians in Europe... by David Kroning — 87
12) For Some Time Now by MooseHB — 79
13) Thanks! by Cambridgemac — 74
14) Tan boehners are creepy by psilocynic aka Nick Zouroudis — 74
15) Agree by gchaucer2 — 73
16) Why stop at just families? by Sean Robertson — 72
17) Same by Lava20 — 70
18) I'm not sure which is worse by slackjawedlackey — 69
19) if the charge falls under "terrorism"... by ImpeachKingBushII — 68
20) An amazing piece of investigative work by ProgressiveSouth — 66
21) Just flew in from Ireland last night by Subo03 — 64
22) As the diarist mentioned by Xochi — 64
23) Today... by RichM — 64
24) There was nothing childish about Obama's response by UkieOli — 64
25) Outlaw prescription drug advertising to consumers by mmacdDE — 64
26) You know what that causes by droogie6655321 — 64
27) Thanks, and believe me by TocqueDeville — 64
28) ah, i love her choice of outfits by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse — 63
29) Another Iowan very proud by Oke — 63
30) Obama doesn't agree by Kitty — 62
31) When it looks like a duck... by sigmarthebad — 62
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tips for former wingnuts who saw the light. by MaikeH — 847
2) American expats... by David Kroning — 626
3) Tip jar by Bjorn in MN — 514
4) Tip Jar by Muzikal203 — 442
5) tips for a cure for brain cancer by FishOutofWater — 371
6) hat tip by whatnextnow — 326
7) Tips by John Campanelli — 269
8) Denying reality by Sue Sturgis — 265
9) TJ for real change by snackdoodle — 254
10) wow by route66 — 243
11) Tip Jar by davidsirota — 237
12) Either way, I'm calling my doctor... by Ken in MN — 215
13) Tip jar for father-son time by WineRev — 191
14) I could use your help... by dengre — 189
15) Tips, and RIP by MikeTheLiberal — 173
16) I'm too happy to think! by GreenHills — 153
17) Mojo Mug by TexDem — 141
18) Friday Tip Jar..... by Bill in Portland Maine — 139
19) The Lounge is Open by TexDem — 128
20) Mojo for $50,000!! by donnamarie — 124
21) CC is watching by TexDem — 124
22) Mornin' Sleepy Head by Hedwig — 124
23) "Nazi-talk" by alyosha — 122
24) Hi DM by blue jersey mom — 121
25) Thanks for stopping by by TexDem — 121
26) Morning BJM! by Hedwig — 117
27) Morning Hedwig, BJM! by rsmpdx — 114
28) Tip Jar by elchip — 113
29) Which explains... by Ken in MN — 113
30) Early niche by Hedwig — 112
31) Hi rsmpdx! by blue jersey mom — 112
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Always the mountains,
va dare