{"id":597,"date":"2010-01-28T11:23:33","date_gmt":"2010-01-28T18:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.evergreen.edu\/bohmerp\/?p=597"},"modified":"2010-01-28T11:23:33","modified_gmt":"2010-01-28T18:23:33","slug":"howard-zinn-presente-in-honor-of-howard-zinn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/howard-zinn-presente-in-honor-of-howard-zinn\/","title":{"rendered":"Howard Zinn Presente: In honor of Howard Zinn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Howard Zinn died January 27th, 2010.\u00a0 He contributed in so many important ways to creating an understanding of \u00a0U.S. history that put at the center the struggles of oppressed people for dignity, and for economic and social justice. His classic, A People\u2019s History of the United States<\/em>, has had a profound effect in this regard. \u00a0In his brilliant first chapter, which has changed millions of people\u2019s understanding of the colonization of what is today, the United States, and the colonialists mass murder of indigenous people,\u00a0 Zinn wrote: \u201cTo emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to deemphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice. \u00a0It serves\u2014unwittingly\u2014to justify what was done. …\u00a0 Even allowing for the imperfection of myths, it is enough to make us question for that time and ours, the excuse of progress in the annihilation of races, and the telling of history from the standpoint of the conquerors and leaders of Western civilization\u201d. \u00a0It is my favorite book. \u00a0I have \u00a0\u00a0given away about 25 copies as gifts over the last 25 years and used it in countless classes.<\/p>\n

Howard was a very wise and humane person who relentlessly criticized our unjust capitalist system while believing in and giving us historical examples of individuals and movements who in ways big and small worked and struggled against all injustice and for a just society.\u00a0 In language and analysis that was simple but not simplistic, radical but accessible, Howard Zinn\u2019s \u00a0anti-racism and anti-imperialism and his strong identification with working people stood out. So did his strong anti-war commitment and perspective. \u00a0He listened to and respected the non-elites, those usually omitted in the official histories.<\/p>\n

While motivated in his writing by his value of the dignity of all people and their\u00a0 right to self-determination,\u00a0 and by his belief in the centrality of ending poverty and all forms of oppression such as sexism and racism, and for peace and justice, Howard told the truth and did not exaggerate and omit facts that were uncomfortable to his beliefs. He also acted on them by participating in countless demonstrations and other forms of activism from the 1930\u2019s until the present.<\/p>\n

Based on Howard\u2019s profound historical understanding of the U.S. history and his respect for people and his understanding of the obscene inequality and militarism that marks the United States today, Howard Zinn continued to have hope and believed that we, the people, of the United States, could and would transform this society into some form of democratic socialism that lived in harmony with the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

He aptly named his autobiography, “You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train<\/em>“.\u00a0 We can all learn from this truly outstanding thinker, historian and human being.\u00a0 Howard Zinn presente!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Howard Zinn died January 27th, 2010.\u00a0 He contributed in so many important ways to creating an understanding of \u00a0U.S. history that put at the center the struggles of oppressed people for dignity, and for economic and social justice. His classic, A People\u2019s History of the United States, has had a profound effect in this regard. … Continue reading Howard Zinn Presente: In honor of Howard Zinn<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/peterbohmer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}