Joan Baez: Not Just Blowin' in the Wind

Folk shero and guitarist Joan Baez was one of the women musicians who benefitted from Peggy Jones’ career. Joan tapped her muse young —as a college tapped her muse young—as a college student at Boston University. In 1960, at age nineteen, she became a household name overnight with her album Joan Baez. Fiercely political, her recordings such as “We Shall Overcome” point to her alignment with civil rights, and she was one of the best known Vietnam War protestors and worked for the No Nukes campaign as well. Oddly enough, one of the causes Joan never aligned herself with was feminism. “I don’t relate with feminism. I see the whole human race as being broken and terribly in need, not just women.” With her inspirational voice and her long dark hair, she gave a generation of women a model of activism, personal freedom, and self-determination. Baez lives by her own light—and in so doing, encourages us all to follow our consciences.

This excerpt is from The Book of Awesome Women by Becca Anderson, which is available now through Amazon and Mango Media.