Today, July 14 is the birthday of folksinger and songwriter Woody Guthrie who was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. Guthrie never finished high school and spent his spare time reading books at the local public library. He taught himself guitar with one he found in the street. When the drought hit in Texas in the 1930's causing the same devastation as the Dust Bowl, Woody joined displaced workers who were moving to California and chronicled their struggles in some of his songs including "So Long. It's Been Good to Know Yuh," in which he wrote,:

"A dust storm hit, an it hit like thunder;
It dusted us over, an 'it covered us under;
Blocked out the traffic an' blocked out the sun.
Straight for home all the peole did run,
Singinn'
So long, it's been good to know yuh..."

Guthrie continued writing about people facing hard times. Many of his songs still ring true: "Hard, Ain't It Hard," "This Train is Bound for Glory," Sharecropper Song," and "Someday."

The thing I love about Woody Guthrie is that his guitar said, "This Machine Kills Fascists."

Oh, and "This Land Is Your Land" was, when I was a lad of five years old, the first song I ever liked.