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John L. Handcox (1904-1992) was a Depression-era tenant farmer and union advocate from Arkansas renowned for his politically charged songs and poetry.

Biography
In 1935, Handcox joined the Southern Tenant Farmers Union and began writing songs and poetry to rally the group's members. Two years later, Charles Seeger and Sidney Robertson recorded him for the Library of Congress. His songs were later promoted by fellow protest songsters, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Joe Glazer. After disappearing from the public eye for almost forty years, Handcox emerged in the 1980s for the 50th anniversary celebration of the STFU in Memphis. In 1984, he composed 2 songs criticizing President Reagan.

Recordings
John L. Handcox: Songs, Poems & Stories of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union (West Virginia University Sound Archive, 2004)

"Raggedy, Raggedy Are We"

"No More Mourning"

"Mean Things"

"Planter and The Sharecropper"

"Landlord, What In the Heaven Is The Matter With You?"

"In My Heart"

"Join The Union Tonight"

"Roll The Union On"

"Strike In Arkansas"

"Oh No, We Don't Want Reagan Anymore"

"Let's Get Reagan Out"

"I Live On"

Interview with Joe Glazer recorded at the Library of Congress in 1985

Songs for Political Action: Folk Music, Topical Songs and the American Lef [BOX SET](Bear Family Records, 1996)

"Raggedy, Raggedy Are We"

"No More Mourning"

"Join The Union Tonight"

"There Is Mean Things Happening in this Land"

Publications
John Henry (John Handcox), the poems: "The Planter and the Sharecropper"; "Landlord, What in the Heaven is the Matter with You?"; "The Union Song" in the book, You Work Tomorrow: An Anthology of American Labor Poetry, 1929-41, by John Marsh, Jim Daniels, published by University of Michigan Press, 2007