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Woody Guthrie was born on this date all the way back in 1912. If folk had Founding Fathers, they would include Woody and Pete Seeger. Woody would inspire everyone after him, from Bob to Joan, Joni to Neil, Peter, Paul and Mary to The Byrds, and beyond.  

 

Far from being just legendarily influential, Woody wrote some of the most beautiful songs of the 20th Century including one of the seminal American songs, This Land Is Your Land. ICYDK he wrote it as an angry response to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America. To Woody, our land was indeed a blessing but it was to be owned, enjoyed, celebrated by all of us, including those with formal religion, those who worshiped the land, and those without religion. If only we had followed Woody’s lead they wouldn’t have paved paradise and put up a parking lot.  

 

As much as Woody Guthrie deserves to be today’s post topic, one other person who was born on this date the year after Woody deserves at least an honorable mention. I would bet big money most of you reading this have no familiarity with the name Luz Long. So, here we go.  

 

The year: 1936. The setting: Berlin, Germany. The occasion: the Summer Olympics. Hitler’s big coming out party to the world. Showing off how powerful and “right” Germany was. But one German athlete took a young, Black athlete under his wing in defiance of Hitler, in defiance of white, Aryan supremacy, in defiance of how so many ugly-on-the-inside people feel even today. Luz Long stood beside and defended a young Jesse Owens throughout those Olympics.

 

Here’s what Jesse had to say, "It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler.… You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. Hitler must have gone crazy watching us embrace. The sad part of the story is I never saw Long again."   Now, you know.  

 

Below are three photos: Woody with his famous “This Machine Kills Fascists” guitar; Luz and Jesse at those ‘36 Olympics; and Luz’s son with Jesse long after Luz had died.  

 

Love and content of character. That’s what the race of life is all about.