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August 23
Malvina Reynolds, Giacomo Bini, John Anthony Kaiser, and Margaret Tucker
David Barnhart
August 23, 2025
Today is the birthday, in 1900, of Malvina Reynolds, folk singer and activist, whose lyrics skewered consumer culture, racism, and warmongering. Her songs included “Little Boxes” and “What Have They Done to the Rain?”
Today is also the birthday, in 1938, of Giacomo Bini, a Franciscan friar who served as a missionary in Rwanda during the genocides and made a powerful theological argument for the ministry of the monastic orders of Franciscans and Poor Clares.
Today marks the death, in 1996, of Margaret Tucker, author and Australian aboriginal activist, who wrote a story about her life and raised awareness of the abusive way the government has treated indigenous people.
Today also marks the assassination of John Anthony Kaiser, in 2000, a Roman Catholic priest who helped expose government corruption in Kenya.
Reflection:
Margaret Tucker wrote in her autobiography:
“I remember the words I heard on Mackinac Island: “If everybody cared enough and everybody shared enough there would be enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
In lyrics that seem appropriate for today’s news about masked ICE agents, Malvina Reynolds sang:
Little girls who go to Sunday school will die,
And the people of the world will wonder why,
But the hoods that hide the bombers
Also hide the F.B.I.,
And the only ones who care are you and I.
And here are the lyrics to "It Isn't Nice," which is practically an organizing lesson on dealing with criticism of protests:
It isn't nice to block the doorway,
It isn't nice to go to jail,
There are nicer ways to do it,
But the nice ways always fail.
It isn't nice, it isn't nice,
You told us once, you told us twice,
But if that is Freedom's price,
We don't mind.
Prayer: God, one of the most potent weapons we have against violence and oppression is song. Help us take back its use for protest and prophecy. Amen.