Woody Guthrie, born on this day in 1912, was a socialist singer-songwriter whose output includes songs such as "This Land Is Your Land" and "Tear the Fascists Down".

Guthrie was raised by affluent parents in Okemah, Oklahoma and Pampa, Texas. When the Dust Bowl period began in the 1930s, he left his wife and three children to join thousands of Oklahomans migrating to California looking for work.

There, he worked at Los Angeles radio station KFVD, achieving some fame from playing hillbilly music. He also became friends with Will Geer and John Steinbeck and wrote a column for the communist newspaper People's World from May 1939 to January 1940.

After Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, he wrote anti-fascist songs with the folk protest group the Almanac Singers and frequently performed with the slogan "This machine kills fascists" displayed on his guitar.

Although Guthrie did not consistently organize with any left party, he was associated with anti-capitalist movements throughout his life, stating "the best thing that I did in 1936 was to sign up with the Communist Party."

Woody Guthrie- This Land Is Your Land

Woody Guthrie~ All You Fascists Bound To Lose

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