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Howard Zinn1922-January 27, 2010
I just got the news today, thank you Amanda
"Dear Rethinking Schools friends,
As many of you know, Howard Zinn died of a heart attack on Wednesday in California. His passing is an enormous loss for everyone who cares about justice and equality. Historian, professor, lecturer, playwright, and most recently a filmmaker, Howard Zinn was many things. But above all, he was an activist -- a socialist, a pacifist, an antiracist, who never strayed from his conviction that humanity was capable of making this a much better world.
Throughout his long life, Howard Zinn had seen enough of the world's horrors that it would have been understandable had he become a cynic. But if there is one word that should be forever associated with him, it's hope.
When George Bush launched his endless war on terror after 9/11, Rethinking Schools looked for a quote that could sum up our belief that it was not ridiculous to still be hopeful. We turned to the final paragraphs of Howard Zinn's autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train":
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
"What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
"And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
Howard Zinn lived a politically engaged life of joy and solidarity. His life was indeed a marvelous victory.
Bill Bigelow
for the Rethinking Schools staff and editors
P.S. Last week, I interviewed Howard Zinn for the Zinn Education Project, posing questions that we had collected from teachers around the country. To listen to the interview, go to
www.zinnedproject.org/news
and click on the "Authors on Air" icon."
As many of you know, Howard Zinn died of a heart attack on Wednesday in California. His passing is an enormous loss for everyone who cares about justice and equality. Historian, professor, lecturer, playwright, and most recently a filmmaker, Howard Zinn was many things. But above all, he was an activist -- a socialist, a pacifist, an antiracist, who never strayed from his conviction that humanity was capable of making this a much better world.
Throughout his long life, Howard Zinn had seen enough of the world's horrors that it would have been understandable had he become a cynic. But if there is one word that should be forever associated with him, it's hope.
When George Bush launched his endless war on terror after 9/11, Rethinking Schools looked for a quote that could sum up our belief that it was not ridiculous to still be hopeful. We turned to the final paragraphs of Howard Zinn's autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train":
"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
"What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
"And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
Howard Zinn lived a politically engaged life of joy and solidarity. His life was indeed a marvelous victory.
Bill Bigelow
for the Rethinking Schools staff and editors
P.S. Last week, I interviewed Howard Zinn for the Zinn Education Project, posing questions that we had collected from teachers around the country. To listen to the interview, go to
www.zinnedproject.org/news
and click on the "Authors on Air" icon."
Daniel Ellsberg writes in the Consortium News about Howard Zinn:
"On Wednesday morning, before I learned that my friend Howard Zinn had died, I was being interviewed by the Boston Phoenix, in connection with the February release of a documentary in which he is featured prominently."
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Printer friendlyMichael Honey writes of "Howard Zinn's Disputed Legacy" on the History News Website.
"Rick Shenkman and Michael Kazin, writing six years apart, criticized Howard Zinn's historical method, and there is much to criticize. It's true we have seen many, many instances of people at the bottom or in the middle, the masses of people, going along with those in power or even leading the charge in the wrong direction. History is full of people rooting against their own class interests. We see a lot of that today.........But Zinn did not argue that the people are pure. In fact, he suggests that most people stumble around not really knowing what is going on. People are not very well informed about current events or history when they are digging ditches or unemployed and trying to feed families. Zinn's insight, growing out of his own working-class and activist experience, is that occasionally the truth bursts through and people in various situations organize, and that they can create movements that change history. That's a needed insight."
