Let me tell you the story of a line that was held,
And many brave men and women whose courage we know well,
How we held the line at Peekskill on that long September day!
We will hold the line forever till the people have their way.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
There was music, there was singing, people listened everywhere;
The people they were smiling, so happy to be there -
While on the road behind us, the fascists waited there,
Their curses could not drown out the music in the air.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
The grounds were all surrounded by a band of gallant men,
Shoulder to shoulder, no fascist could get in,
The music of the people was heard for miles around,
Well guarded by the workers, their courage made us proud.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
When the music was all over, we started to go home,
We did not know the trouble and the pain that was to come,
We go into our buses and drove out through the gate,
And saw the gangster police, their faces filled with hate.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
Then without any warning the rocks began to come,
The cops and troopers laughed to see the damage that was done,
They ran us through a gauntlet, to their everlasting shame,
And the cowards there attacked us, damnation to their name.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
All across the nation the people heard the tale,
And marveled at the concert, and knew we had not failed,
We shed our blood at Peekskill, and suffered many a pain,
But we beat back the fascists and we'll beat them back again!
And many brave men and women whose courage we know well,
How we held the line at Peekskill on that long September day!
We will hold the line forever till the people have their way.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
There was music, there was singing, people listened everywhere;
The people they were smiling, so happy to be there -
While on the road behind us, the fascists waited there,
Their curses could not drown out the music in the air.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
The grounds were all surrounded by a band of gallant men,
Shoulder to shoulder, no fascist could get in,
The music of the people was heard for miles around,
Well guarded by the workers, their courage made us proud.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
When the music was all over, we started to go home,
We did not know the trouble and the pain that was to come,
We go into our buses and drove out through the gate,
And saw the gangster police, their faces filled with hate.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
Then without any warning the rocks began to come,
The cops and troopers laughed to see the damage that was done,
They ran us through a gauntlet, to their everlasting shame,
And the cowards there attacked us, damnation to their name.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
As we held the line at Peekskill
We will hold it everywhere.
Hold the line!
Hold the line!
We will hold the line forever
Till there's freedom ev'rywhere.
All across the nation the people heard the tale,
And marveled at the concert, and knew we had not failed,
We shed our blood at Peekskill, and suffered many a pain,
But we beat back the fascists and we'll beat them back again!
Contributed by Dead End - 2012/8/22 - 15:56
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In un’America che si stava preparando agli anni bui del maccartismo, alcuni coraggiosi sindacalisti (in seguito espulsi dalle rispettive organizzazioni perché in odore di comunismo) organizzarono un concerto per i diritti civili e sindacali, sempre più a repentaglio in quell’immediato secondo dopoguerra. La star della serata doveva essere niente meno che Paul Robeson, il possente baritono nero e fieramente comunista che aveva appena dichiarato che i neri americani non avrebbero mai combattuto contro l’Unione Sovietica nel caso di scontro tra gli opposti blocchi.
Gli spettatori arrivati in massa per il concerto si trovarono circondati da una “mob” furiosa armata di sassi e di mazze da baseball, spalleggiata dalla polizia locale, che urlava slogan razzisti e fascisti.
La macchina di Robeson fu bloccata ad uno dei posti di blocco organizzati dai fa(s)cinorosi ed il concerto non potè tenersi.
Ma il grande Robeson non era uno da darsi per vinto. Coinvolse altri musicisti, tra cui Pete Seeger e Woody Guthrie, e con l’aiuto di sindacati ed associazioni organizzò un potente servizio d’ordine che riuscì a garantire il regolare svolgimento del meeting nello stesso luogo una settimana più tardi, il 4 settembre. Tuttavia l’organizzazione non potè garantire la sicurezza degli intervenuti a concerto concluso: sulle strade del ritorno musicisti e spettatori, tra i quali donne, bambini e vecchi, furono aggrediti, insultati, picchiati, bastonati e presi a sassate, molti furono costretti a passare la notte all’addiaccio circondati dagli aggressori.
Le immagini di Eugene Bullard, il primo pilota militare nero, veterano pluridecorato della Prima Guerra, selvaggiamente picchiato da manifestanti e poliziotti fecero scalpore in tutta America, ma nessuno fu mai incriminato per quei fatti, anzi: il Dipartimento di Stato ritirò il passaporto a quel sovversivo cantante negro.
“Hold The Line”, canterà Pete Seeger: resistete, non fate un passo indietro, tenete fermo; “come abbiamo resistito a Peekskill, resisteremo in tutta l’America fino a quando potremo respirare la libertà nel vento”.
(fonte: Alessandro Portelli da “Note americane – Musica e culture negli Stati Uniti”, Shake edizioni, 2011)
Sui “Peekskill Riots” del 1949 si veda anche la canzone Ballad of Paul Robeson.