MikeDunnAuthor<p>Today in Labor History April 12, 1900: Florence Reece was born. Reece was an activist in the Harlan County, Kentucky, coal strikes, and author of the song, “Which Side Are You On?” She originally wrote the song when she was twelve, when her father was on strike. She updated it to its current form in 1931, during a UMW strike, in response to Sheriff Blair’s thugs, who beat & murdered union leaders. Florence wrote the revised lyrics on an old wall calendar while her home was being ransacked by Blair’s goons, who were looking for her husband, Sam Reece, an organizer with the miners’ union. Many artists covered “Which Side Are You On,” including Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg, Dropkick Murphys, Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Tom Morello.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZHfZt4o6c" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZHfZt4o6</span><span class="invisible">c</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/workingclass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>workingclass</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaborHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LaborHistory</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FlorenceReece" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FlorenceReece</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Harlan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Harlan</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/coal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>coal</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/union" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>union</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/strike" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>strike</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WhichSideAreYouOn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WhichSideAreYouOn</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/umw" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>umw</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/billybragg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>billybragg</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TomMorello" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TomMorello</span></a></p>