“What propelled the daughter of a renowned Jewish scholar to join a movement on the fringe of American society that rejected religion, capitalism, and other mainstream ideals?”
The answer is found in Dave Schechter’s fascinating book, A Life of the Party, about his great-aunt, Amy Schechter, a woman born in England and educated in the United States, and who devoted more than four decades to the Communist Party in a quest to improve the lives of working men and women.
Her work brought her all across the United States, and on her journey, among other things, she was acquainted with the power of song. Of particular interest to Shouts’ readers, this book includes sections with labor and protest music from 1920s-50s.
Among many others, there are such songs as ‘Red Flag’, a Socialist and Communist movements’ anthem, originally written in 1889, or ‘Mill Mother’s Lament’, a powerful protest song whose lyrics resonate just as hard today as they did in 1929 when Ella May Wiggins, a legendary protest singer and union activist, was murdered by corporate thugs ordered to silence her revolutionary voice and music.
Dave told me via email, that it felt important to him to include “the music that applied to the labor actions in which [his] great-aunt took part, whether it actually happened or history says it could have happened.”
‘A Life of the Party’, available through Fulton Books, which blends historical records with narrative fiction, is definitely a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the power of unity, labour unions, protest music and the strength of normal people standing up to their opressors.
