Have you been to jail for justice?
You're in good company
Hi all,
Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Have You Been to Jail for Justice?”, by Anne Feeney. If you’d like to hear the song before you read the background, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics (written in italics). Comments and questions are welcome. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEFL (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.
(845 words)
Anne Feeney
Anne Feeney was an American lawyer, a singer-songwriter, and an activist. She worked hard within the legal system to make social changes. Her grandfather was a violinist and an organizer for the miners union in Pennsylvania. He influenced her as a musician and an activist. Feeney made 11 solo albums over her lifetime.
The Song
The song begins by recalling several people in history. The first person mentioned is Cesar Chavez. He was a leader who, with Dolores Huerta, started a union called the National Farm Workers Association. They organized protests to get better pay, safer working conditions, and more rights for farm workers. He wanted people to understand the challenges they faced and to support their rights. Chavez was arrested for leading a boycott against farm owners in the Salinas Valley in California.
The next person listed is Dorothy Day, a kind and caring person who helped others. She was born in 1897 and spent her life working for social justice. In 1917, she was demonstrating in front of the White House, working with others to try to gain women’s right to vote. She was in jail for 15 days and then released. Day co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement and helped to create places for people in need.
Was it Cesar Chavez? Maybe it was Dorothy Day
Some will say Dr. King or Gandhi set them on their way
Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested 29 times, often on trumped-up charges. He was once jailed for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
“Trumped-up charges” means falsely accused or as an excuse for his arrest.
Gandhi was arrested repeatedly for demonstrating against discrimination.
No matter who your mentors are, it’s pretty plain to see
That, if you've been to jail for justice, you're in good company
To be in good company means that there are others who have done the same thing. “Company” often refers to “people”, for example, “We’re having company tonight” means that some people are coming to visit us.
How do people protest?
Have you been to jail for justice? I want to shake your hand
Cause sitting in and lying down are ways to take a stand
Sitting in and lying down are ways that people protest unjust conditions. For example, during the 1960s, many students held “sit-ins” to protest the war in Vietnam. In 2020, hundreds of people lay down to remember to murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was held under a police officer’s knee for nearly 9 minutes.
Have you sung a song for freedom? or marched that picket line?
A picket line is the line of people who walk, usually in a circle, in front of a business or other location, holding signs and chanting for changes in company policies, for example. For hundreds of years and in many countries, people have often been arrested for protesting.
Have you been to jail for justice? Then you’re a friend of mine
The song goes on to explain why the songwriter thinks being arrested is often necessary.
You law abiding citizens, listen to this song
Laws were made by people, and people can be wrong
Child labor
Once unions were against the law, but slavery was fine
Women were denied the vote and children worked the mine
Did you know that children worked in coal mines? Throughout history, children have worked, but with the advance of capitalism, children - some younger than seven - began to work in mines and in factories, often in very dangerous conditions. During slavery in the U.S., many children worked as hard as their parents did. Children are still working in mines in countries such as Pakistan (see link below).
The more you study history the less you can deny it
A rotten law stays on the books til folks with guts defy it
What should we do when faced with an unjust system?
The law’s supposed to serve us, and so are the police
And when the system fails, it’s up to us to speak our peace
To “speak your peace” means to give your opinion.
It takes eternal vigilance for justice to prevail
So get courage from your convictions
Let them haul you off to jail!
The idea of “eternal vigilance” applies to rights and to democracy. The following famous warning is by Kiichi Miyazawa who was the Prime Minister of Japan 30 years ago. I don’t know the context of the quote, but it should make us think:
「自由はある日突然なくなるものではない。それは目立たない形で徐々に蝕（むしば）まれ、気がついたときにはすべてが失われている…」
三十年前の首相、宮沢喜一氏が遺（のこ）した有名な警句である。
"Freedom doesn't just disappear one day. It's gradually eroded away in subtle ways, and before you know it, it is gone."
I don’t encourage people to get arrested. There are many ways to speak out about unjust laws or conditions. People in each country and culture have their own methods. In this song, we heard about one of those methods.
QUESTION:
What are some peaceful ways to work against an unjust law or policy in your country?
VOCABULARY
influence 影響
arrest 逮捕
justice 正義
accuse 告発する
discrimination 差別
mentor メンター
unarmed 武器を携帯していない
law abiding 法律遵守
slavery 奴隷制
be denied 拒否されました
mine 鉱山
rotten 腐った
guts 勇気
eternal vigilance 永遠の警戒
convictions 信念
haul (someone) off 連行する
SOURCES
Dunn, J. Dec. 3, 1970: Cesar Chavez jailed for leading boycott against Coercive Farmers. (No date) calendar.eji.org. https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/dec/3 . Accessed 13 Jan 2024.
Baloch, S. and Ellis-Petersen, H. (2020, February 19). “Coal workers are orphans”: The Children and Slaves Mining Pakistan’s Coal. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/feb/19/coal-workers-are-orphans-the-children-and-slaves-mining-pakistans-coal . Accessed 13 Jan 2024.
•••+++•••
Martin Luther King, Jr., quote found at:
Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/one-good-fact/what-civil-rights-icon-was-arrested-29-times . Accessed 13 Jan 2024.
Read about other people who have been arrested for standing up for social justice:
What a great post! Thanks, Lousie! I haven't -- yet.
Thank you for the restack, Diana! 🎶