Joan Baez Essay, Research Paper
On January 9, 1941, in Staten Island, New York, Joan Bridge and
Albert Baez, gave birth to their middle daughter Joan Bridge Baez
(1, title page). Joan Bridge Baez is a famous folk-singer and peace activist.
A little known fact about Joan Baez, is that she took on her parents
Quaker Religious beliefs, which would explain why she is so interested in
peace and justice.
As said in The Joan Baez Web Pages , Joan was not an average
child growing up, since she is half-Mexican and half-Scottish, she had a
hard time fitting in at a young age. The Anglos didn t except her, because
of her name, skin color, and hair; the Mexicans didn t except her because
she didn t speak Spanish (2, http://baez.woz.org/index.html) . In 1951,
Joan s father accepted a job in Baghdad. However, that didn t last long,
and only a year later, her family and her moved to California.
In 1956, Joan was on her second year of High School, and
Was a student at Palo Alto High School. Joan at this time strongly
believed in nonviolence and civil rights; with these beliefs, Joan grew
further and further from her classmates. Everyday Joan felt lonelier and
lonelier, realizing her beliefs were beginning to scare off other kids. To
fight off her loneliness, Joan resorted to buying her first guitar. In June of
1958, Joan graduated from Palo Alto High School; also she recorded a
demonstration album, however, the album didn t receive any recognition
from record companies. That did not stop her though.
In the summer of 1958, Mr. Baez accepted a teaching job at
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Baez family packed up
and moved to Belmount, Massachusetts. Joan registered at Boston
University, but soon dropped out to concentrate on her singing. She
began to perform at a folk music club in Cambridge, called Club 47 . As
a result, she gained the respect of Bill Wood, who hosted Harvard Radio
Balladeers. In 1959, Joan recorded an album with Ted Alevizos and
Bill Wood called Round Harvard Square .
On November 5, 1960, Joan went solo and appeared at the
Newport Folk Festival and made her New York City Concert debut at 92nd
St., YMCA. Her first album labeled Joan Baez also hit the stands and
was a great success! A year later, Joan released her second album,
which was coincidentally labeled, Joan Baez, Volume 2 . Joan, also, went
on her first national concert tour. In 1962, Joan took charge of organizing
the first of three tours to southern college campuses that had a strict no-
discrimination policy for the audience; this is where Joan said one of her
most famous quotes: I have been true to the principles of nonviolence,
developing a stronger and stronger aversion to the ideologies of both the
far left and to the suffering they continue to produce all over the world.
(3, UXL Biographies).
The Parenthesis are for the following:
1. (1, title page) Picture of Joan Baez.
2. (2, http://baez.woz.org/index.html) Credit to The Joan Baez Web
Pages
3. (3, UXL Biographies) A Joan Baez famous quote.
In September, Joan released Joan Baez in Concert , it gained so
much respect, that it was nominated for the 1963 Grammy s in the Best
Folk Recording category; however, she refused to go to the awards,
because the show banned Pete Seeger because of his political activism.
One of Joan s biggest conflicts was in 1964, when Joan protested
against the United States involvement with Vietnam. Joan refused to pay
the U.S. 60% of her income taxes, this money went towards military
purposes. Eventually, the IRS fought back by claiming some of her
property as security for her debt; this battle went on for ten years!
Overall, in the past 30 years, Joan has made a great impact on
society. Joan has not only protested against non-violence and civil rights,
but she has also founded many organizations to help promote Human
rights. Also, Joan was given Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees
from Antioch University and Rutgers University, as a result of her political
activism and the universality of her music. . Joan has also made a name
for herself in the music field, and is well respected. Joan, as of 1998,
was last seen touring and spreading her beliefs and knowledge all over
the world, and hopefully will continue to do so for decades to come.