Howard Zinn 1922-2010
Howard Zinn is dead.Shit.
An extraordinary author, historian, activist, and educator, the still-vigorous 87-year-old Zinn passed away Wednesday while swimming in Santa Monica, CA. His extraordinary history text, "A People's History of the United States," was first published in 1980, and it changed history itself. It was not a traditional history book. It didn't preach the traditional "great men" theory of history presentation. It chronicled the vital social movements of the often-powerless and disenfranchised of the nation-- from the perspective of the people responsible for these great successes.
It was radical. It was unabashedly liberal and enlightened. It inspired-- and still inspires-- a livelier democracy. And the greatest thing about it was not in its radical perspective, but in the way that it changed how history is taught. Thanks to Zinn, there is not one United States history, but the recognition and understanding that there are millions of individual histories in the United States.
I'll let Howard's friend Dave Zirin, the subsequent author of "A People's History of Sports in (my italics) the United States," tell you more about the man.
Howard Zinn and Studs Terkel gone in the same 15 months is quite a vicious blow.
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The CCI Rally in Des Moines on Tuesday rallied quite a bit of ink across the state. An AP story ran in the Omaha and Cedar Rapids newspapers, among others; the Iowa Independent story linked here yesterday was posted on Michael Moore's website; a blogger at the Register published CCI's press release (that's something, anyway); and this site has video of the protests. Enjoy.
posted by CM @ 8:54 PM
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