Professor Howard Zinn was born in NYC, the son of Jewish Immigrants whose fight for labor rights gave us a little more dignity and rights in the work place. Raised amongst the working poor (like I was), Zinn did what many of the poor do who want to make a difference, he joined the military to fight against the Nazi's in WWII. When he came back the U.S. he laid down his weapons and said "never again," deciding from that point to dedicate his life to peace. He worked a lot of hard jobs before going to college at the age of 27 and earning a doctorate in history from Columbia University.
During the Civil Rights movement, Zinn taught at Spelman, one of the historic black colleges whose student body was active in the movement. Zinn did everything he could to support and encourage his students activism. He became a leader in SNCC, attended all the rallies, spoke, organized, and fought along side his students. Alice Walker said he was her favorite professor and a source of great inspiration.
Zinn was active in the AntiWar movement, speaking out against Vietnam. He was active in the peace movement, the women's rights movement, and just about every cause you could think of. He organized, he spoke, he acted. He taught until recent years at Boston University where he published numerous works that have inspired countless people around the world, particularly us History majors. Of his works was the famous "A People's History of the United States," and "A Power Governments Could Not Suppress." He published plays, textbooks, and creative literature that was meant to shed light on the power of the ordinary citizen to make the world a better place. He called on us from the pages, asking us to not give up, providing stories of those who have changed the world. His life was poetry, he truly embodied what Gandhi said: "My life is my message." Unlike many leaders in our world today, he lived his truth completely. There were no scandals, no drama, no reasons to doubt his conviction at any point. He was strength and integrity personified.
I remember the day I picked up, "A Power Governments Could Not Suppress." I remember reading it absolutely enthralled, every nerve in my body lit by the truths of histories that have been forgotten. The histories of the people, the poor, the marginalized, who invisible as they may be do what is right simply because it is right without knowing that this action would in fact alter the course of history forever.
I remember activists passing the book along from hand to hand, a light in the darkness. When you are starving, when you are wondering why on Earth you thought you could make a difference, this book showed you all that you needed to know. The stories of those who fought for a better world simply because it was the right thing to do. Endless stories, numerous stories, like waves in an ocean, declaring over and over again "you are not alone, you are not alone."
Professor, you have changed my life. May you find peace, at long last. Thank you for the gift of your light.
"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
