How often do you catch yourself humming a tune, or singing along with lyrics, when you suddenly experience that moment of clarity as you realize the song’s message? The instant when you learned that “Ring Around the Rosie” was about Black Plague or that U2 was singing about Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in “Pride in the Name of Love,” the world became more connected and the song was no longer background white noise, but a storyteller, whispering in your ear. So too, through labor songs, “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” or “Erie Canal” or spirituals and ballads do we learn from the soundtrack of our American lives.
Inspired historian, and masterful storyteller, Yale Strom has recently paid tribute to an important figure who redefined our cultural tapestry in his new documentary film. American Socialist: The Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs delivers the story of one of America’s greatest labor leaders and union organizers, who co-founded the Socialist Party in 1901. In order to provide the correct climate for this biography, Strom provided a soundtrack which underscores the dreams, struggles, hurdles and triumphs of this man and his movement.
Strom is well-known and respected for the multiple hats he wears. He is the Artist-in-Residence for the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University. He has researched and collected klezmer music, which he often performs with his band, Hot Pstromi. He is a published author and filmmaker. I had the very good fortune to interview Strom by phone last month, and he generously gave me a history lesson and proudly shared his own attachment to the issues which Deb addressed in the early twentieth century.
The soundtrack of our fraught history was recorded in San Diego and performed by Fred Benedetti, Jeff Pekarek, Walt Richards, Elizabeth Schwartz, the Hausmann quartet and Strom. A number of familiar labor songs are heard in addition to some olde-timey fiddle music. The film is narrated by Amy Madigan.
Strom’s new film opens with Deb’s release from prison and myriad prisoners cheering him on. He was imprisoned for his platform of socialism while running for the office of president. Surprising for a country that clings to the first amendment. However, socialism threatened capitalism and Strom’s film tells us “only 2% of the nation’s population owned 60% of the nation’s wealth.” Few decried this as openly as Eugene V. Debs. Reportedly, Debs’ favorite book was Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s novel that contrasted the imbalance of French society. This sense of injustice caused Debs to become the hero and spokesman for the working man.
Perhaps Debs was simply anachronistic. Many of his ideas: abolition of child labor, women’s right to vote, workers’ compensation, and a graduated income tax all became standard platforms for both political parties. His own early life informed his vision. At age 14 he worked for the railroad earning only fifty cents a day. Eventually he moved up in the ranks and became the national secretary and treasurer of the union of Locomotive Firemen.
Debs spent the majority of his life advocating for the underdog, and promoting socialist ideals that would “pull me up by my bootstraps.” His message was not one of entitlement in the sense that he promoted accepting handouts or preferential treatment, merely one of fairness and opportunity for the simple laborers who built this country through toil and sincerity. His belief was simply that the government should enable all Americans to take care of themselves in a more humane way.
Of course, Debs did not work alone, but joined forced with Samuel Gompers, a Jewish émigré from London. Working with Victor Berger, Debs founded the Socialist Party of America, making Berger the first elected socialist to Congress. There was a kinship among Jews who’d emigrated and American workers because, as Strom put it, “all workers were in the same boat.”
Was America ready to embrace socialism in the 20s? Strom told me that we were getting closer, having observed the Russian Revolution. The backlash against Democratic Socialists caused the majority party to discriminate against anything/anyone that looked progressive or socialist. Those who supported these ideas were shunned, blacklisted or fired from their jobs.
I asked Strom if he believes these ills still persist today. He cited that CEOs of big companies often earn a great living, make piles of money, invest it in stock, and receive large bonuses. They do not use this boon to create foundations for the needy or help their workers. Strom feels that greed is running rampant, and that this is not an ideal or a goal that Americans should endorse. He pointed to the imbalances with employees resulting from gender, race, religious affiliation, and especially immigrant workers’ rights.
Does Strom believe we have a modern day Eugene V. Debs? He felt that Debs may have been a role model for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders when he was mayor of Burlington, Vermont. The historian also informed me that the Seattle City Council boasts Democratic Socialists who are attracting a younger group of citizens who experience the inequity for themselves, first hand. How can millennials find meaningful and remunerative jobs in the current climate? “Minimum wage at $15 an hour is a joke.”
The entire fabric of American culture is unraveling due to the greed of “country club” Americans who look down on the elderly and behave in xenophobic ways, including building walls. The “death knell of the American dream” began tolling, and only grew in volume with the McCarthy Era.
If change is possible, and we are able to return to the humble roots which defined our nation prior to the chasm between the wealthy and the impoverished, it will most assuredly be recorded in our music, in the new soundtrack of the 21st century. Strom stated, “Labor songs, protest songs, songs of activism and agitation have played a vital role in the history of the American worker and will continue to as long as there is disparity of any kind in our society today.”
To locate a showing in a theater, please use the following link to find one in your locale: http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/americansocialist.html or if you wish to purchase a DVD, please click on http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/americansocialistdvd.html. The film is also being released to the public on July 4 via streaming on iTunes.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World