Good point, Kevin. People may not think of older songs like Peg And Awl,Cotton Mill Collic or Penny's Farm as protest songs, but they certainly were. One thing you find in older protest songs is a sense of humor. Very dry humor, but I love it. They could probably get their point across better by making people laugh, even while their awareness was heightened. They could laugh at themselves, too. "Serves them people, suits 'em fine, for thinking that a mill was a darned gold mine."
Protest songs now are mostly serious, man. And angry. Subtle as a brick (don't you just hate generalities?) Real People's Music books some fine talent, focusing on their activism. They are agents for Sy Kahn and Peggy Seeger, among others. Both singers I enjoy greatly. I asked the owner of Real People's Music, tongue in cheek, how he knows whether people are real or not. If there's some simple test you can do to find out, I'd like to know it. I was wondering even if I was real. Or as Pogo would say, A Fig Newton of my own imagination. Gee, maybe I'm a guest in my own life :-)