Learning about Woodie Guthrie, the possibility of hope

I have to confess, to my shame, that until very recently, I knew next to nothing of Woodie Guthrie - I had come across his name in a hagiography of Bob Dylan - that was all - I knew nothing of Woodie Guthrie's life or of his songs -

Every year, we go to the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival - it's held a few miles away from where we live - the festival field is just outside the village, where there's a splended museum about the Martyrs - red banners fly over the tents on the field - a community of like minded people gather to listen to music, and to hear speeches -

The families who orchestrated the arrest and conviction of the Martyrs still own land here - the full name of the local MP is Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Enrle-Erle-Drax - his estate is enclosed by one of the longest brick walls in England -

This year, the Bishop of Salisbury apologized for the Church of England's treatment of the Martyrs - the bishop stood next to James Hammett's grave - I had once been invited, as a headtacher, to spend a day of reflection with him -

The evening before, with Richard, I had gone to the Martyrs' Marquee - we heard then about the life of Woodie Guthrie - we saw pictures of the great dustbowl - wretched families drove across Kansas - police and Pinkerton agents dealt with union organisers - I'd never realised how strong the socialist and union movement in America had been -

But most of all, we heard Woodie Guthrie's songs - powerful, from the heart, full of meaning for the present day - I was moved to tears by the words and music of This land is your land - the applause of the audience was wild and passionate -

I thought of the power of the corpocracy - of the narrative which is spun daily to the servers - but the songs of this noble artist gave me hope