Caring About Work

Charlie King (Songwriter & Folksinger)

We have always listened to the singer songwriters. They speak with their own words and use their own hands to convey what matters most to them. We often find that we share their values. In our twenties, we had the very special privilege to spend many evenings with our good friends, Carol Smith, founder of a women’s group, Rosy’s Bar and Grill, and her partner, Leonard Zeskind (recipient of a MacArthur Award for his civil rights work and author of the single most important book on racism and right wing movements in the United States). Their home was always filled with music and with people who mattered. At their table there was no idle conversation; and on their table there was fresh produce from their garden and food prepared from scratch and with care. Their home was a place where music and people mattered. We met in their home so many important and interesting people, singers and activists. Around their dinner table (feasting on the best apple pie in the world, made by Carol) we met Ronnie Gilbert (founding member of the Weavers and longtime civil rights activist). We met the late C.T. Vivian and later hosted him in our home in Kansas City. Carol and Lenny introduced us to the singer songwriter, Charlie King. We grew to know Charlie over the years and he often stayed in our home in Kansas City.

With this post we will begin to share with you the singers who matter most to us. We will share with you art and music from those who care about art and who care about the world. With this first post on music we want to introduce you to Charlie King. He is an artist who speaks to us about what matters most and to our caring values. One of our favorites from the 80s was: Our Life is More than Our Work and our Work is More than our Job. He has written many great songs—check out his website (https://charlieking.org/). Another favorite was a satirical song aimed at Reagan’s cuts in social service spending: Food Decals: instead of food stamps, just let them eat food decals and while you are at it, gut public housing and give people home decals. As our culture moved to the imagistic, we have often confused the real with the decal: entire the world of fake news.

We need artists like Charlie who speak truth through their music. Each month we’ll be sharing our music and art with you as we connect the On Caring | The Project to Art as one mode of caring.