DESCRIPTION:
Here is a video of a performance of Bread and Roses by The Heartbeats featuring Peace of Heart Choir members Laurie Bennett, Michael Anne Bissell Catelinet, Gwyn Griffin, Nancy Gross, Jennifer Louis, Daniel Lewis, Cheryl Lisbin-Sifuentes, Gail Marino, Deb Reiner, Fran Silverberg, and Carrie Wesolowski.

The phrase "bread and roses" was coined by prominent labor union organizer Rose Schneiderman to indicate a worker’s right to something higher than subsistence living. The phrase inspired a poem, which in turn inspired a number of songs, including one set to music by Caroline Kohlsaat in 1912 and another by Mimi Fariña in 1974. The latter was recorded by Judy Collins and Joan Baez among others.

This version is based on the Fariña cover of the Kohlsaat original. Deb Reiner of The Heartbeats says that the group "wore white in tribute to the original women's suffrage activists from that time, and a touch of red, as folks did on International Women's Day 2017, to show support for the continuing struggle for women's rights."

This video was recorded at an event titled "West Village Story," one of the Peace of Heart Choir's semi-annual cabaret nights held on April 22, 2017, at the Greenwich Village Community School in the West Village of New York City.

For more information about the Peace of Heart Choir visit http://www.peaceofheartchoir.org