They Would Be Singing

“If my brain were transfer to someone else they would be singing WE GONNA ROLL THE UNION ON.” — John Handcox

A recent interview with labor historian and author Michael Honey on public radio brought back memories of John Handcox. The program began and ended with a recording of Handcox singing “Join the Union Tonight,” which he’d written. I met him just once, 10 years earlier, and remembered him well.

Hearing his voice took me back to 1986 and the Labor Song Exchange in Silver Spring, Maryland. I noticed a tall, slender, distinguished elderly black man with white hair and beard and thought he looked familiar. He was talking to someone, so I circled them to get a better look. It had to be — and it was — John Handcox! Just recently I had read about him and seen his picture in Southern Exposure (January/February 1986).

John Handcox was a famous union activist and songwriter. He had been a member and organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union in the 1930s. He wrote “Roll the Union On,” “Raggedy, Raggedy Are We,” “There are Mean Things Happening in this Land,” and others songs that had become popular in the labor movement.

I introduced myself, and I told him I enjoyed the magazine article, which he had not yet seen. The next day, he sang for us. To me it was history come alive — a history I had just begun to learn.

When I returned to Durham, I called Bob Hall at Southern Exposure about sending John Handcox copies of the magazine with the article in it. Soon after, in September of 1986, I received a letter from Handcox. Of the article he wrote, “It were one of the best articles . . . it inspire me to keep on keep on.” In another letter he told me about leading the singing for the May Day Parade in 1937. “I were on the program night and day the hold time I were there.” Enclosed with one letter was the statement that follows and a copy of a song he’d written, “What a Happy World This Would Be.”

John Handcox

“Hard to Say Goodbye”

By Michael Honey

Michael K. Honey is assistant professor of labor and ethnic studies at the University of Washington, Tacoma, and author of two books, Black Workers Remembered and Southern Labor and Black Civil Rights and is currently writing a book on John Handcox.

John L. Handcox was born near Brinkley, Arkansas, just after the turn of the century. Like his parents, he became a tenant farmer. In 1935 he became an organizer for the newly formed Southern Tenant Farmers’ Union and helped to organize sharecroppers into locals. Not being much of a speech maker, he revived a knack he had enjoyed during his school years — he wrote poems and songs to carry the organizing message.

By 1936, the union had 31,000 members, black and white, in six states.

Handcox was run out of Arkansas just ahead of a lynching rope. He continued to work for the union, to write union songs, and to lead the singing of his songs in meetings in Memphis, Charleston, Missouri, St. Louis, and other towns to which he traveled.

Eventually he settled in San Diego, where he worked as a carpenter and joined the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

Handcox wrote songs and poems “to make this place a better world.” He would say, “If I don’t make a dime, if I can help to make this a better world, I think I have accomplished something.” His songs took on a life of their own. They were sung around the world wherever union organizing was happening. Some were recorded for the Library of Congress by Charles Seeger, father of folk singer Pete Seeger and a WPA worker. In the 1980s, Handcox started coming to the Labor Heritage Foundation’s Arts Exchanges in Silver Spring and appearing at folk festivals. He was particularly happy that labor activists were still using his songs.

In the 1980s, Handcox and I collaborated on a few songs. He’d send me semi-finished poems, and I’d add music and arrangement creating songs such as “Jobless in the U.S.A.” and “Hard to Say Goodbye.” He continued to write songs and poems, as he said, “pointing out to people when they’re working hard, and ain’t getting anything out of it,” until his death in 1992 at age 88.

“I Did it on my Own Inspire.”

Why I donated my body.

By John Handcox

I donated my body to the school of medicine University of Calif at San Diego. There are probably many peoples who want to know why. I donated my life to the workers of America, there are many who want to know why; I’ve try to answer that question on many occasion, I knew that I was risking my life when I begin to try to organize the poor worker against the plantation owners, they wanted their worker to be submissive and ignorant. It is the workers that have produce the wealth of the world, no one ever came to me an ask me to join the union or try to organize the union; I did it on my own inspire by all of the injustices that I had see and determine to change thing that I felt were wrong, with this thought in mind I put together a list of names of peoples I felt would help; we got together and setup the first union. H.L. Mitchell still carried this list of peoples who were instrumental in helping to organize the first union for the workers of America.

He urged me to continue on so I start to write songs and poems that he would have printed in the union paper. I have been told that my songs and poems are being song all over the world wherever there is a union. I do not know how my songs and poems are rated but I believed that if they were at the foot of the class they could’n be turn down. I did not write them for money or praises but I did write them hoping to inspire other to unite together to make this a better world for the workers to live in.

You may want to know why I donated my body to the University of Medicine, if my body can be used to make this a healther world to live in I’m happy to know that, let it be said that I not only donated my life to helping other but my death too. I know that if my brain were transfer to someone else they would be singing WE GONNA ROLL THE UNION ON and THERE ARE MEAN THINGS HAPPENING IN THIS LAND. If my heart could be transfer to someone else it would be full of love for the workers of the world; but what ever my body is used for I believe it will be more valuable than digging a hole an throwing dirt in my face.

So let it be said that I, John L. Handcox, not only live for others but I died for others too.

— John L. Handcox