http://www.youtube.com/p/C984687F7C7449A1&hl=en_US&fs=1
Howard Zinn passed away on Wednesday at age 87.
Zinn was a popular activist and author of People’s History of the United States, a frequently updated review of history from the perspective of groups traditionally unrepresented in popular national consciousness.
People’s History of the United States sought to give an alternative view of American history against the cheery, do-no-evil history of America taught in school and media at the time. It supposedly introduced content and discussion of past national misdeeds into primary and secondary education. The work has been adapted to an audio series and a graphic novel.
I cannot imagine any other nation on the planet where a work parralel to People’s History of the United States would be published without severe consequences to the author and readers. Even in India, the largest democracy in the world, works critical of the national idols Nehru and Gandhi leads to dire consequences. The most recent episode was Jaswant Singh’s expulsion from government for his book Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence and banning of the book in Gujarat. Again, this occurs in a democratic nation. Imagine how things are in countless other nations where free speech and democracy not professed.
Zinn also expected that Obama’s promise of change would only be fulfilled by popular grassroots pressure on the establishment. At this point, the Right in this country has reinforced their popular base and hijacked the moderate discourse to derail reforms promised in 2008. If more Democrats on the street listened to Zinn’s prescription, things may be better off at this point in Obama’s first term.
