Single from next cd premiering as music video on The Bluegrass Situation

If you want to understand someone, walk in their shoes. This past fall Tom Hanchett, Parker Foley and I walked the halls of the historic Loray Mill—a one million square foot textile mill in Gastonia, NC. We taped a video on site that premieres November 23, 2020 on “The Bluegrass Situation”. The video includes historical as well as present day photographs of the mill where in 1929 the textile workers went on strike, holding protests meetings and marches in Gastonia, NC.

Many labor strikes in the early 20th century were met with fear, community division, and violence—especially if Black workers were involved (see history of the Elaine Massacre in 1919). Gastonia was no exception. Mother of ten, textile worker, balladeer, and union organizer, Ella May Wiggins (who advocated for including Black textile workers in the union) was shot and murdered at the age of 29 while in a pickup truck on the way to a union meeting. The strike ended in failure soon after her death. Ella May’s fight for better wages was only spoken of in hushed whispers for decades until her great-great granddaughter, Kristina Horton, began researching her history and wrote a book: "Martyr of Loray Mill" about her.

Si Kahn’s song about the striking laborers, “Here in Gastonia” is being released as a single ahead of my 2021 cd release: “We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times”. The music video is dedicated to Ella May. Her fight for better wages and living conditions for laborers continues today.

Several years ago David Childers asked local musicians to help him create a cd to raise money for a statue of Ella May. Si and I both wrote and recorded songs for the limited release cd project. Still no statue (turns out no one buys cds anymore!) but the effort goes on. You can view my past blog posts about the project here: announcing the cd project April 5, 2015. The song I wrote for the cd project (“Dark Clouds”). The Cd release party on August 10, 2015. Gaston Gazette article August 21, 2015. The opening of the history museum at Loray Mill on April 17, 2016.

This video (shot by Charlotte Star Room) is a single from the upcoming January 29, 2021 cd release: “We Go On: Si Kahn’s Songs of Hope in Hard Times” . Both the cd and video remind us of the sacrifices people make in the fight for justice—past, present and future. We will continue their struggle. We Go On.