Facing racist slurs against her Mexican-American heritage as a child, Joan Baez grew up committed to social justice from an early age. Often jailed for her protests, Baez was refused permission in 1967 to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, just as they had refused the great African-American singer Marian Anderson for her heritage nearly thirty years before. “I’ve never had a humble opinion,” Baez was quoted as saying in true in-your-face woman fashion. “If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?”
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Joan Baez
Facing racist slurs against her Mexican-American heritage as a child, Joan Baez grew up committed to social justice from an early age. Often jailed for her protests, Baez was refused permission in 1967 to perform at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, just as they had refused the great African-American singer Marian Anderson for her heritage nearly thirty years before. “I’ve never had a humble opinion,” Baez was quoted as saying in true in-your-face woman fashion. “If you’ve got an opinion, why be humble about it?”
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A truly great human being. Ms. Baez is a credit to all that is worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, I really loved her music and didn't think much one way or the other about her politics. Of course, back then everybody I paid attention to was going to jail once in a while.
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