One of the interesting facts that came out of it was that much of the music we associate with the movement was brought to some of the organizers by a couple of white folksingers. True, some of the songs were spirituals, some were folk songs, and some were blues songs, but in the early part of the 20th century, those kinds of genre distinctions were primarily made by the race of the singer and how often they mentioned Jesus.
Yep. Pete Seeger (indirectly via the Highlander Folk School) taught the Civil Rights Movement We Shall Overcome. He took out a "defensive" copywright on the song (so The Lion Sleeps Tonight didn't happen all over again I guess) and gives away his share of the rights to various Civil Rights orgs.
The folk/punk connection is a lot of fun too. I was raised Folkie and came to Punk later in life -- only to find various front men from punk bands (Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, Tim Barry of Avail, Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds) picking up acoustics and touring solo. I meet these dudes and we sit around talking about the Weavers.
Tao Seeger sighhhhh (Pete's grandson and my one true love) and I have discussed it as well. He loves folk but "sometimes you just want to rock". His own solo stuff isn't particularly punk sounding, but its certainly DIY and, dude, the guy blows banjo feedback in his shows.