Dear Reader,

I hope you are enjoying Friday's Labor Folklore which was started in 2007 as an email message sent to friends and fellow travelers. In 2012 these messages of folklore, history and music developed into a newsletter published in honor of one of my heroes -- Con Carbon (1871-1907), an Irish breaker boy and balladeer known in Anthracite Pennsylvania as "the Minstrel of the Mine Patch."

Editing Friday's Labor Folklore each week is challenging but also very rewarding. But, now and then, everyone needs a break. So, I am taking a month off to enjoy a little R and R (rest and recreation.)

Hope to see you sometime in October and, in the meantime --

Hold the fort!

Saul Schniderman, editor.

In celebration of his 80th birthday and the 50th anniversary of New Wood, his classic album, Si Kahn has teamed up with George Mann to release their new album Labor Day - a Tribute to Hardworking People Everywhere. Featured are twenty-one of Si's songs sung by Si and George, along with a variety of well-known recording artists.

Ordering the album is simple; if you are in the US, you can:

• Order the CD or download hi-resolution individual songs directly from Si or George’s websites. Go to www.sikahn.com or www.georgemannmusic.com. Order the complete album for $9.99 or individual songs for 89 cents.
• Order by check or money order. Send George Mann your mailing address and $18.95 per CD, or 2 CDs for $30 (that includes the $5 shipping cost) to George Mann, PO Box 435, Ithaca, NY 14851-0435.

Audra McDonald

sings

Climb Every Mountain

Photo: Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert

Friday's Labor Folklore

"Folk" means people. "Lore" means wisdom. So "folklore" means “the wisdom of the people” "Labor folklore" means the wisdom of working people. It’s about our traditional beliefs, customs, stories, songs, poems, dramas and practices of our culture and our community, passed down orally or through practice from one generation to the next. Folklore is about cultural expression and often imparts moral lessons or expresses communal values and identity. It is deeply connected to our heritage as working people, reflecting our history, worldview and shared experiences. Folklore is created within the labor movement. Union activists, artists and cultural workers make use of it to build solidarity and to facilitate change.

There is a working-class culture in America. Dig where you stand and you will find it.

(With thanks to Archie Green, Charles Seeger and Pete Seeger.)

For the sake of the children of Gaza, we need to keep working for an end to military aid to Israel with the goal of a permanent cease fire and a return of the hostages. When the Netanyahu government assassinated the leader of the organization it was negotiating with, it sent a message to the world about its desire to continue - and expand - the war. This violence is happening as The Lancet - an independent peer-reviewed medical journal - reports that the number of civilian deaths in Gaza may be grimly underestimated. See "Counting the dead in Gaza." (vol. 404, 7/5/24). We should not be bystanders to Israel's disproportionate use of force, its indiscriminate killing of civilians and its blocking of humanitarian aid. These are war crimes.