Raising our Voices

I was very saddened to hear today about the death of Pete Seeger. Some of my friends knew him well, some knew him, and still more just admired him from afar. I had seen him in concert several times, especially at the Clearwater Festival. I know his music, obviously -- as a child of hippies, I grew up singing it. And I always admired his steady voice against oppression, and his tireless faith in peace and justice.

But more than all that, he was one of those people walking this earth just trying to make it better. And the world weeps every time we lose one of those souls ....

I have friends I haven't seen in many years -- people I may never see again. But my life is better for having known them, and the world is a better place because they are here. I find comfort in knowing that they are still on the planet, even if our paths never cross again. And that's how I felt about Pete Seeger. His music and his clear voice for good warmed me, and the world lost someone special today.

But there is more ... because his death leaves a void. A void which must be filled -- with new voices, just as clear, just as committed, just as determined. It is up to us to shoulder up to one another and take up the guitar, banjo, microphone, camera or pen and speak, sing, write, shout in a clear unequivocating voice about love, and peace, and justice, and freedom.

One of the tributes I read today recalled Pete Seeger leading a march with the Occupy Movement in 2010. It quoted him as saying: "Be wary of great leaders. Hope that there are many, many small leaders."

I understand the sentiment. In 2008, while everyone was jumping on the Obama bandwagon, I feared the effects of disillusionment when one "great leader" failed to live up to our oversized expectations. I worried that young people, like my college students, would drift off into apathy when their zeal did not yield the expected results. I have also been concerned about movements which promised "it gets better," without giving young people the tools to make it better.

Pete Seeger never made that mistake. With a hammer and a bell and a song, Seeger had the tools and the wherewithal to use them, day in and day out, through triumphs and disappointments, for seven decades. And he never took the stage alone or relied solely on his own voice. He made us all sing, so we'd be ready when the time came.

Now it's our turn to take up the tools, to learn to harmonize, stretch our vocal cords, and sing. It's time to shoulder up and become many, many small leaders -- singing with one vision of a world of peace, justice, freedom and love.

"Deep in my heart, I do believe
That we shall live in peace some day."