A tribute to Odetta by John Guzlowski at Living in Partial Light:

…She was just there sitting on the lawn playing her guitar. They had asked her down for a concert or something, and she was just playing a guitar and singing on the lawn.

Her voice was so natural. She saw me standing listening to her, and she asked me to sit down and sing with her, and I was embarrassed. I apologized and said I didn’t have much of a voice. She said that’s fine, “If you can talk you can sing.” Then she started humming. It was a song called “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out.”

She played it and then she started singing it, but it was more like talking than singing, and I knew the song so I talked it as she talked it.

It was pleasant, like a conversation. She wanted me to feel comfortable.

What I like about the post is that it recalls a person who lived her humanity. All talent aside, one person’s humanity is worth more than 10,000 forgotten concerts or millions of dollars. Odetta Holmes stood up, lending her voice to the struggle for civil rights. Standing up is more than words. If it is only word those are the words of false prophets, gangsters, and hucksters. When words meet actions we stand in moments imprinted by Christ Jesus, moments that call us to our potential. May the angels guide her home.