Congresswoman Barbara Lee Offers Statement on Pete Seeger's Passing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2013
Contact: Carrie Adams (202) 225-2661
Washington, D.C.— Congresswoman Barbara Lee issued the following statement on the death of Pete Seeger on January 27th, 2014:
“Pete Seeger was a tremendous musician, but more than that, he was an icon of peace and cooperation. In 2009, I had the opportunity to nominate Pete for the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism on a wide range of issues, including environmental justice, poverty, and civil rights. In a career spanning seven decades, he inspired millions to work for justice, including myself. Pete’s legacy will live in the generations of activists who will sing his protest songs as they continue their efforts for peace.”
Congresswoman Lee’s 2009 letter to the Nobel Committee nominating Pete Seeger can be found below:
January 14, 2009
Norwegian Nobel Committee
Henrik Ibsens gate 51
NO-0255 Oslo
Norway
Re: Letter of Nomination/ Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize
To Whom it May Concern,
It is my pleasure to write you to nominate Peter Seeger for a Nobel Peace prize.
Musician, singer, songwriter, folklorist, labor activist, environmentalist, and peace advocate, Seeger was born in Patterson, New York, son of Charles and Constance Seeger, whose families traced their ancestry back to the Mayflower.
Serving in the US Army in the Pacific, Seeger was trained as an airplane mechanic, but was later reassigned to entertain the American troops with his music. When asked what he did in the war, Seeger answers, “I strummed my banjo.”
Pete established People's Songs, conceived as a nationwide organization which was designed to "Create, promote and distribute songs of labor and the American People." In the 1950s and consistently throughout his life, Pete has been an avid supporter of civil and labor rights, racial equality, international understanding, and anti-militarism and he continued to believe that songs could help people achieve these goals.
During the 1960s, Pete spent a considerable amount of time in the South during the civil rights movement. It was Pete’s rendition of the old spiritual song, “We Shall Overcome,” which has become the anthem of the struggle for equality in America. Amidst the anguish of Resurrection City, the effort led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s followers to carry out his dream of focusing America’s attention on the plight of the poor while establishing a “poor people’s community” in Washington, Pete began to question the validity of his activism. Pete was also a longstanding and very public opponent of the arms race and of the Vietnam War.
During the 1970s and 1980s Pete continued to perform benefits for causes much too diverse to list, but increasingly he began focusing his attention on environmental issues. Pete is involved in the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. This organization works to bring attention to the pollution of the Hudson River and to clean it up. By forming this organization Pete was able to fulfill his passion for the outdoors and a longstanding desire to do something to clean up the environment polluted by negligent public and corporate water usage.
Pete is a highly visible and dearly loved figure in American culture. Pete has created over one hundred records, written and collaborated on numerous radical songbooks, and articles. Pete is one of the last links with the hopeful and liberal culture of Depression-era America.
All of these remarkable factors make Peter “Pete” Seeger a perfect candidate for recognition with a Nobel Peace prize. It is my great hope that you will give my nomination of Pete Seeger serious consideration.
Should you have any further questions, please contact my Congressional Aide, Maha Ibrahim, in my Oakland District Office. Her contact information is as follows:
Ms. Maha Ibrahim
Congressional Aide
Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee
1301 Clay Street, Ste. 1000N
Oakland, California 94612
Phone: 1-510-763-0370 ext. 16
Email: Maha.Ibrahim@mail.house.gov
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Lee
Member of Congress