Howard Zinn (1922-2010).

[VictimOfScience]

One of the most influential figures in my own personal life and in the lives of countless others on the Left died this week. Howard Zinn was one of the most incredible activists to ever walk the picket lines and his passion will undoubtedly continue to fuel a new generation of people who strive for a better world for all people. A People's History of the United States should be mandatory reading for every American and I would also encourage those who live outside America to pick it up as well because it is one of the most eye-opening and honest looks at what sort of behavior provoked what sotrts of events that brought America to this point in time and history.

Here's one of his best quotes:

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, sacri?ce, 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 magni?cently, 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 in?nite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in de?ance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Zinn's Site.

 

[Dog--]

It would've been cool if you told us who he was.

Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010)[1] was an American historian and Professor of Political Science at Boston University from 1964 to 1988.[2] He was the author of more than 20 books, including A People's History of the United States (1980). Zinn was active in the civil rights, civil liberties and anti-war movements in the United States, and wrote extensively on all three subjects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn

 

[VictimOfScience]

It would've been cool if you told us who he was.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Zinn

It would have been cool if you knew who he was in the first place. The link to his site is there you dink. Click that and find out who he was.

 

[Adabiviak]

Read that book in college - did in fact change the way I see the world. R.I.P.

 

[Sparta]

I was very sad to hear he died. For anyone who wants to read (and everyone should) A People's History of The United States, check out this link

http://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html

I believe the entire book is right there. I wish more historians around the world would try to write books like this, so they could inspire people to learn about alternate viewpoints of their nations history.