Remembering Pete

I grew up on Pete Seeger, the songs he wrote and the songs he popularized. His songs, along with Woody Guthrie’s, were among the ones my father sang when I was young. They filled the early afternoon singalongs during long days at summer camp. They were the values of my best teachers, who rightly saw educating children into active citizenship as a radical political act.

Now we are parents, with a child of our own to raise. David will never see Pete Seeger perform live, as L did a long time ago, but L sang those same songs to David when he was very small and he will continue to hear them.

This morning in the music area at a community play space, I watched David strumming on a toy guitar with only two strings left. The tuning pegs still work, and when David was done exploring the guitar, I tuned the strings to a couple of notes. I don’t play guitar, but it was strangely comfortable to sit with this instrument I don’t know, strum those two strings, and sing ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’ to David.

The world will continue to turn, and Pete Seeger’s songs will continue to affect new generations. When will they ever learn? Every time we choose that moment to pick up an instrument, to raise our voice—that’s when.