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Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87
Chomsky added that Dr. Zinn's writings "simply changed perspective and understanding for a whole generation. He opened up approaches to history that were novel and highly significant. Both by his actions, and his writings for 50 years, he played a powerful role in helping and in many ways inspiring the Civil rights movement and the anti-war movement." For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. "A People’s History of the United States" (1980), his best-known book, had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers -- many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out -- but rather the farmers of Shays' Rebellion and union organizers of the 1930s. As he wrote in his autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" (1994), "From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than 'objectivity'; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble." Certainly, it was a recipe for rancor between Dr. Zinn and John Silber, former president of Boston University. Dr. Zinn, a leading critic of Silber, twice helped lead faculty votes to oust the BU president, who in turn once accused Dr. Zinn of arson (a charge he quickly retracted) and cited him as a prime example of teachers "who poison the well of academe." Dr. Zinn was a cochairman of the strike committee when BU professors walked out in 1979. After the strike was settled, he and four colleagues were charged with violating their contract when they refused to cross a picket line of striking secretaries. The charges against "the BU Five" were soon dropped. In 1997, Dr. Zinn slipped into popular culture when his writing made a cameo appearance in the film "Good Will Hunting." The title character, played by Matt Damon, lauds "A People’s History" and urges Robin Williams’s character to read it. Damon, who co-wrote the script, was a neighbor of the Zinns growing up. "Howard had a great mind and was one of the great voices in the American political life," Ben Affleck, also a family friend growing up and Damon's co-star in "Good Will Hunting," said in a statement. "He taught me how valuable -- how necessary -- dissent was to democracy and to America itself. He taught that history was made by the everyman, not the elites. I was lucky enough to know him personally and I will carry with me what I learned from him -- and try to impart it to my own children -- in his memory." Damon was later involved in a television version of the book, "The People Speak," which ran on the History Channel in 2009, and he narrated a 2004 biographical documentary, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train." "Howard had a genius for the shape of public morality and for articulating the great alternative vision of peace as more than a dream," said James Carroll a columnist for the Globe's opinion pages whose friendship with Dr. Zinn dates to when Carroll was a Catholic chaplain at BU. "But above all, he had a genius for the practical meaning of love. That is what drew legions of the young to him and what made the wide circle of his friends so constantly amazed and grateful." Dr. Zinn was born in New York City on Aug. 24, 1922, the son of Jewish immigrants, Edward Zinn, a waiter, and Jennie (Rabinowitz) Zinn, a housewife. He attended New York public schools and was working in the Brooklyn Navy Yard when he met Roslyn Shechter. "She was working as a secretary," Dr. Zinn said in an interview with the Globe nearly two years ago. "We were both working in the same neighborhood, but we didn't know each other. A mutual friend asked me to deliver something to her. She opened the door, I saw her, and that was it." He joined the Army Air Corps, and they courted through the mail before marrying in October 1944 while he was on his first furlough. She died in 2008. During World War II, he served as a bombardier, was awarded the Air Medal, and attained the rank of second lieutenant. After the war, Dr. Zinn worked at a series of menial jobs until entering New York University on the GI Bill as a 27-year-old freshman. He worked nights in a warehouse loading trucks to support his studies. He received his bachelor’s degree from NYU, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in history from Columbia University. Dr. Zinn was an instructor at Upsala College and lecturer at Brooklyn College before joining the faculty of Spelman College in Atlanta, in 1956. He served at the historically black women’s institution as chairman of the history department. Among his students were novelist Alice Walker, who called him "the best teacher I ever had," and Marian Wright Edelman, future head of the Children's Defense Fund. During this time, Dr. Zinn became active in the civil rights movement. He served on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the most aggressive civil rights organization of the time, and participated in numerous demonstrations. Dr. Zinn became an associate professor of political science at BU in 1964 and was named full professor in 1966. The focus of his activism became the Vietnam War. Dr. Zinn spoke at many rallies and teach-ins and drew national attention when he and the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, another leading antiwar activist, went to Hanoi in 1968 to receive three prisoners released by the North Vietnamese. Dr. Zinn’s involvement in the antiwar movement led to his publishing two books: "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal" (1967) and "Disobedience and Democracy" (1968). He had previously published "LaGuardia in Congress" (1959), which had won the American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Prize; "SNCC: The New Abolitionists" (1964); "The Southern Mystique" (1964); and "New Deal Thought" (1966). He also was the author of "The Politics of History" (1970); "Postwar America" (1973); "Justice in Everyday Life" (1974); and "Declarations of Independence" (1990). In 1988, Dr. Zinn took early retirement to concentrate on speaking and writing. The latter activity included writing for the stage. Dr. Zinn had two plays produced: "Emma," about the anarchist leader Emma Goldman, and "Daughter of Venus." On his last day at BU, Dr. Zinn ended class 30 minutes early so he could join a picket line and urged the 500 students attending his lecture to come along. A hundred did. "Howard was an old and very close friend," Chomsky said. "He was a person of real courage and integrity, warmth and humor. He was just a remarkable person." Carroll called Dr. Zinn "simply one of the greatest Americans of our time. He will not be replaced -- or soon forgotten. How we loved him back." In addition to his daughter, Dr. Zinn leaves a son, Jeff of Wellfleet; three granddaughters; and two grandsons. Funeral plans were not available. |
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Sorry, I wasn't aware if I
Sorry, I wasn't aware if I was able to paste the whole article or not.
-blututh
Terrible news and a huge
Terrible news and a huge loss for everyone interested in a just social transformation.
Speechless. This is a huge
Speechless. This is a huge loss to so many people.
anarchy_faggz presente!
anarchy_faggz presente!
worker--there is a time and
worker--there is a time and place for everything. block this fuck-up.
zinn changed millions of people's minds and focused them on the underside of the white shining lie of amerika. short of throwing his burning corpse on the stock exchange, his mourners might hold a memorial there and achieve similar if less spectacular results.
anyway, he will be sorely missed. sympathy and solidarity with fa. and friends of a great historian and social critic.
(No subject)
"(No subject)" cool, now the
"(No subject)"
cool, now the subject is dead too. hail eris!
Officially one of those
Officially one of those people who has never read his book.
(No subject)
(No subject)
throw his flaming corpse
throw his flaming corpse onto the floor of the NYSE!
the only appropriate burial.
(No subject)
it would cause it to be shut
it would cause it to be shut down for at least a day, causing untold millions of financial damage to the capitalist empire, and possibly causing it to collapse since it's already in such a shaky state; so, I'm for it. I can think of no better a Viking funeral.
I don't think Zinn's readers
I don't think Zinn's readers are prone to try to 'shut down the stock exchange'... they might vote in the next election though!
almost every anarchist i
almost every anarchist i know has read zinn, and certainly the man himself was down
zinn's more of a marxist
zinn's more of a marxist than an anarchist in my recollection, or socialist or something. he bears much resemblence to chomsky. side note: "peoples history" was one of my earlier reads. very embarassing side note: in my early 20's i got his autograph at a book signing. but he and chomsky are more or less the same with better foot notes on chomskys part.
Zinn self-identified as an
Zinn self-identified as an anarchist.
so does chomsky...
so does chomsky...
"I think a way to behave is
"I think a way to behave is to think not in terms of representative
government, not in terms of voting, not in terms of electoral politics, but thinking in terms of organizing social movements, organizing in the work place, organizing in the neighborhood, organizing collectives that can become strong enough to eventually take over —first to become strong enough to resist what has been done to them by authority, and second, later, to become strong enough to actually take over the institutions." -- Howard Zinn
Ok... but then, remember the
Ok... but then, remember the tactic of "DIVIDE & CONQUER" that almost always is the states FIRST tactic?
While you're busy 'building your movement', 'voting', and 'trying to take over', some anarchists/radicals are already rotting in prison...
Maybe, if those who have some clout, and sell a lot of books at mainstream bookstores could, every once in a while give a shout out to those incarcerated, that would perhaps make us feel like they're more involved in this 'movement' and not just trying to bring up book sales?
Look, sorry he's dead, but for real, these people who sell us books, speak at our gatherings and are sometimes referred to as 'a voice of the movement', need to either better vocalize the shit we're dealing with or be met with mockery.
You're next Chomsky.
Jesus anarchists are idiots.
Jesus anarchists are idiots. He's dead. He was a great dude who worked hard and sacrificed a lot to bring about a better world. Save your childish political quibbles for some moment where the substance of them might matter, or in this case, even make sense. Zinn supported political prisoners, among many other marginalized groups, you twit. And while the "anarchists" drown in their own self-imposed removal from anything resembling relevance or movement-building, preferring to nitpick and complain about every fucking subtle theoretical nuance, even in the event of someone's fucking death, folks like Zinn helped radicalize and educate thousands. We'd do a lot better to learn from his legacy than to piss on it.
There is no infighting
There is no infighting amongst us nihilists,we watch eachothers backs,we NEVER argue over nuances,because there is only NOTHINGNESS to believe in.As for those who pass away,they are beyond criticism,in a way we envy them,they have become what we believe in.
Cool. Best of luck with
Cool. Best of luck with your, uh, nothing and all.
Well, aren't you so fucking
Well, aren't you so fucking militant.
Prick.
I like how no one will
I like how no one will actually get the critique...
and just throw fire & brimstone at me.
These 'anarchists in the spotlight' have a lot of clout, get a lot of money, and a lot of press, and what do they do to the rest of us?
Barely a mention of the struggles we take on, or of our loved ones who have become incarcerated, and when they do philosophize on our ideals, they turn anarchism into just another form of leftism where you vote the lesser of 2 evils into office as a praxis for how to fix our problems.
Hmmmm... not the first time the middle class have sold us out.
Are you dividing to
Are you dividing to conquer?
You mention "no one", "me", "'anarchists in the spotlight'", "leftism", "you", "lesser of 2 evils", "our", "middle class", "us".
Congratulations, you won, but what?
P.S. Do not confuse my sarcasm for "fire & brimstone".
Well, for one, nobody got to
Well, for one, nobody got to the critique because it seemed everyone felt this wasn't the time or place. But your statement is also riddled with problems. For one, you seem to mock the notion that Zinn, and people who agree with him, are into movement building and taking over institutions. This seems to imply that you completely disagree with his strategic concerns. Now if we can assume you are opposed to him strategically, why would you even want him to give you, or your peoples a shout out in the first place?
Furthermore, you also seem to be advocating a mischaracterization of Zinns’ position in one of your statements here: “they turn anarchism into just another form of leftism where you vote the lesser of 2 evils into office as a praxis for how to fix our problems.”
To give a few brief quotes from, what I believe is the Zinn interview you were criticizing:
“But I believe that it is preferable sometimes to have one candidate rather another candidate, while you understand that that is not the solution. Sometimes the lesser evil is not so lesser, so you want to ignore that, and you either do not vote or vote for third party as a protest against the party system. Sometimes the difference between two candidates is an important one in the immediate sense, and then I believe trying to get somebody into office, who is a little better, who is less dangerous, is understandable. But never forgetting that no matter who gets into office, the crucial question is not who is in office, but what kind of social movement do you have. Because we have seen historically that if you have a powerful social movement, it doesn’t matter who is in office. Whoever is in office, they could be Republican or Democrat, if you have a powerful social movement, the person in office will have to yield, will have to in some ways respect the power of social movements.”
“I think what lies beyond the nation states is a world without national boundaries, but also with people organized. But not organized as nations, but people organized as groups, as collectives, without national and any kind of boundaries. Without any kind of borders, passports, visas. None of that! Of collectives of different sizes, depending on the function of the collective, having contacts with one another. You cannot have self-sufficient little collectives, because these collectives have different resources available to them. This is something anarchist theory has not worked out and maybe cannot possibly work out in advance, because it would have to work itself out in practice.”
Zinn is clearly stating that he thinks representative democracy is a farce, but he does argue one candidate can be “less dangerous” than another at a given time. While that sentiment should, and has been, tirelessly critiqued, there is really no reason to misrepresent it.
Lastly, I do agree a bit with one of the commenters above. You do seem to be, needlessly, nitpicking. It is obvious that you don’t seem to hold Zinn to much regard, so why even comment like that on an article about the man’s death? First you mischaracterized his statement, and then demanded he support you even though you clearly don’t care about him. It’s odd to say the least.
Damn man, R.I.P
Damn man, R.I.P
ha ha ha i guess he won't be
ha ha ha i guess he won't be speaking at evergreen in a few days.
zing/too soon?
zing/too soon?
brb voting lol
brb voting lol
Yesterday I miscalculated
Yesterday I miscalculated the math on something I posted online, thereby misrepresenting the history of a strike in Detroit. I believe this denigration of peoples' history might've led to his heart attack.
Therefore, I would like to claim this action.
:)ingrate
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!
Also, J.D. Salinger
Also, J.D. Salinger died.
...fucking phony.
(captcha: transmit Nixon. *twitch*)
salinger > zinn
salinger > zinn
Never read Salinger.
Never read Salinger. Dumpstered a copy of Catcher in the Rye that I have yet to read (but soooo many people told me how much it meant when they read it as young adults). I don't doubt it, I just think I need to be in the right mood to read something so hyped.
Speaking of overhyped... People's History is a pretty great book (and yeah, I believed the hype and read it, but had to later for school anyway...) Zinn may be an anarchist (like Chomsky is an anarchist - anarcho-pragmatist?) or he might not be. I personally think his take on politics and such was too moderate, at least in the past decade or so, but that doesn't actually dilute his important work on reclaiming radical history. THe thing about his work is that it is a jumping off point. I was already identifying as an anarchist when I read PH, but I had no idea about the history of popular uprisings in the US. I was all, "Chomsky, Goldman, Chomsky..." Whereas having read his book, Zinn pointed me towards Berkman (I know, coulda gotten there via Emma...) which led me to much more. On the other hand, so many people I've talked to had never had even a clue about the history Zinn portrayed until they read his books, I think he has value for that, even if he sometimes seemed to muddle distinctions between socialists, marxists, progressives, liberals and anarchists (liek we don't do that too soemtimes).
Sorry my poor math off'd him.
--ingrate
I could care less who is
I could care less who is anarchist enough for the readers of this website.
Zinn was an amazing force for truth and justice. I think most anarchists, including Zinn, are against idols and bind hero worship, but I think most of us could do more to follow his example of dedicated work for the liberation of us all. Feel free to criticize, but it should be about substantive actions Zinn has taken, not whether he fits your label of anarchist or not.
Above all, don't mourn, organize!
shut up
shut up
ok.
ok.