Songs and Stories From Home

At this moment the killing of George Floyd has put people back on the streets and the struggle for racial equality back on the front page. Perhaps this can be the time when our country with its long history of racism finally rises to the challenge and begins to create a system based on racial justice that will include social justice, economic justice, earth justice, and restorative justice.

This great American Story, the story of the Civil Rights Movement, is about making the American Dream more real for all Americans. It’s about the continued desire for true economic justice and meaningful racial justice. 

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s needs to be studied and celebrated and remembered by all Americans because as much as any time in our history that moment helped bring us closer to who, I believe, we were meant to be...

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s became part of the American consciousness 55 years ago when a 14-year-old boy, Emmett Till, was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by two white men.

Remembering the Dream was inspired by six visits I made to the American South as a part of intergenerational, interracial groups who got on a bus and visited sites, heard stories, and sang songs important to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s.

In December of 1968 I dropped out of the University of Washington to become a member of The Brothers Four and began chasing my dream of being a singer, a songwriter, and a storyteller.

In the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Tom Hanks, as Mr. Rogers, tells us that anything that is Mentionable is Manageable. I want to believe that…I choose to believe that…

This week we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr – his birth – his life – his dream – A dream that while it may be under threat is still alive today and belongs to all Americans.

This week’s Story or Chronicle is from the 16th Campfire from the 3rd Stage of the journey. It talks about a time beginning in the fall of 1972 when I was living on Vashon Island and dedicating 7 or 8 months to seeing what it was like to try to live the life of a songwriter.

For this Podcast I’ll be sharing one of the first videos I created with Al Bergstein nearly 10 years ago. The song on the video is The Missing Peace. I wrote it nearly 35 years ago for my stepdaughter, Lindsey, when she was 8 years old.