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'His Legacy Lives On': Pete Seeger Remembered on What Would Have Been 100th Birthday

Pete Seeger (1919-2014) headlined the Rockin' Earth Day Fest at Teachers College at Columbia University on April 18th, 2009. (Photo: Jens Schott Knudsen/flickr/cc)

'His Legacy Lives On': Pete Seeger Remembered on What Would Have Been 100th Birthday

"He knew there were possibilities that we could—through collective participation and struggle—build a better world."

Friday marked what would have been Pete Seeger's 100th birthday, and fans took to social media to celebrate the folk music giant and activist's life and legacy.

Seeger died in 2014 at 94. He was, rocker Tom Morello said upon his death, "Absolutely the best that humans can aspire to be."

For the singer's birthday, musicians and advocacy groups drew attention to Seeger's performances and work for environmental and social justice over a roughly seven-decade career. Other observers resurfaced old interviews or reflected on the mark Seeger's music and activism left on their own lives.

Seeger was optimistic about the world, he told Democracy Now! in 2004.

"There's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow," Seeger said.

"But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold," he added. "Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?"

"Pete was hopeful," guitarist Doug Morris wrote at Common Dreams Friday, "he knew there were possibilities that we could--through collective participation and struggle--build a better world, but there are no guarantees that even our best efforts will succeed. Yet despite those doubts, Pete carried on-- and so must we."

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Friday marked what would have been Pete Seeger's 100th birthday, and fans took to social media to celebrate the folk music giant and activist's life and legacy.

Seeger died in 2014 at 94. He was, rocker Tom Morello said upon his death, "Absolutely the best that humans can aspire to be."

For the singer's birthday, musicians and advocacy groups drew attention to Seeger's performances and work for environmental and social justice over a roughly seven-decade career. Other observers resurfaced old interviews or reflected on the mark Seeger's music and activism left on their own lives.

Seeger was optimistic about the world, he told Democracy Now! in 2004.

"There's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow," Seeger said.

"But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold," he added. "Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?"

"Pete was hopeful," guitarist Doug Morris wrote at Common Dreams Friday, "he knew there were possibilities that we could--through collective participation and struggle--build a better world, but there are no guarantees that even our best efforts will succeed. Yet despite those doubts, Pete carried on-- and so must we."

Friday marked what would have been Pete Seeger's 100th birthday, and fans took to social media to celebrate the folk music giant and activist's life and legacy.

Seeger died in 2014 at 94. He was, rocker Tom Morello said upon his death, "Absolutely the best that humans can aspire to be."

For the singer's birthday, musicians and advocacy groups drew attention to Seeger's performances and work for environmental and social justice over a roughly seven-decade career. Other observers resurfaced old interviews or reflected on the mark Seeger's music and activism left on their own lives.

Seeger was optimistic about the world, he told Democracy Now! in 2004.

"There's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow," Seeger said.

"But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold," he added. "Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?"

"Pete was hopeful," guitarist Doug Morris wrote at Common Dreams Friday, "he knew there were possibilities that we could--through collective participation and struggle--build a better world, but there are no guarantees that even our best efforts will succeed. Yet despite those doubts, Pete carried on-- and so must we."

pete seegerwoody guthrie
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