FLAGSTAFF — Folk singer Charlie King and Candace Cassin will present “The Bisby Deportation of 1917: Songs, Words and Images” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at LA 136, Northern Arizona University.
This year marks the 100-year anniversary of a dramatic and relatively unknown chapter in Arizona labor history. In the summer of 1917, in Bisbee, Arizona, over 1,200 striking miners were pulled from their beds in the middle of the night, loaded into cattle cars and shipped to the New Mexico desert, left never to return to their jobs, homes or families.
Charlie King & Candace Cassin recreate these dramatic events using historic narrative, original music and over 260 images. They tell a story of corporate purchase of the political process, biased hostile media, race-baiting, ethnic scapegoating, anti-immigrant and anti-union legislation, and the use of hired thugs – a story that still resonates today. This concert/presentation is a dramatic performance, a century old, and as fresh as this morning’s headlines.
Charlie King is a musical storyteller, labor historian and political satirist. He sings and writes passionately about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Pete Seeger hailed him as “One of the finest singers and songwriters of our time.” Candace Cassin is a social service provider, spiritual director and teacher of Buddhist practice.
Please promote the event widely amongst students, faculty, staff and community members! This is going to be a very special event, an opportunity to hear a world-class folk musician and an excellent opportunity to learn about a little-known, yet presciently significant, event in Arizona history.
The event is sponsored by the departments of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Ethnic Studies, History, and Latin American Studies