posted on: Friday, January 29, 2010

A People's loss in the United States: Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87

On Wednesday, as the nation rightly focused on the President’s first State of the Union address, we lost a revolutionary thinker with the passing of political activist and historian Howard Zinn. Probably most known for his seminal A People’s History of the United States, Zinn’s contributions are too great for this post to do any justice to. That said, the Boston Globe published a great piece, which includes many of the sentiments that I share. Sometimes, things just can’t be said better than others have. So in the words of the Globe staff, Noam Chomsky and Ben Affleck, here are my views on the significance of his loss.

From the Globe: “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.”

My addition: If you’ve never read this book PLEASE GO OUT AND GET A COPY NOW! When we think of our country, many of us do so in the ways that the writers state. But remember, it was community organizing and advocacy that led to: a) our freedom from the Empire; b) the abolition of slavery; and c) the women’s rights movement. When everyday citizens are active, we make change happen. When we work together as a community, our impact is even greater. And if you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that we’ve been documenting the high “return on investment” of funding directed towards advocacy, organizing and civic engagement under our Grantmaking for Community Impact Project.

From Noam Chomsky: “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."

My addition: Chomsky and Zinn have forever changed my perspective on myriad issues. Ranging from the intellectually “jargon-esque” writings to the Boston University strike referenced in the Globe article, Zinn always will be of significant influence on the way I think and act. Academia is all well and good and I love the epistemological. But when we talk basic civil and human rights grounded in that “jargon,” that’s what really gets me fired up! Not only is there power in numbers, but there is always hope for a better tomorrow when we’re civically engaged and active.

From Ben Affleck: “"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. "
My addition: Now we’re really talking! Without dissent, there is no democracy and vice versa. All points of view are equally valid and everyone’s voice counts. If we agreed on everything, would we ever change existing structures and institutions that might be unjust? Our first amendment rights may be guaranteed by the Constitution but they’re an essential piece of how we treat each other. (And PLEASE feel free to disagree with anything here – seriously, that is what the comments are for and I’d love to engage in some constructive dialogue). As I noted in Values chapter of Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best, the role of dissent is an essential component of policy advocacy and leads to a more just and inclusive society in which all of us are better off.

In Dr. Zinn’s own words: "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."

Hm … how does one add to the man himself?! Well, all I can say is this: Education is necessary, but not sufficient. It’s the second piece of acting on that huge knowledge base whenever we see injustice anywhere which, from my perspective, is one of the primary purposes of being educated. As my mentor john powell points out to me sometimes, in Jefferson’s mind, one wasn’t a citizen of this country simply by virtue of being born here. One had to earn that citizenship and the means to earning it was an education.

So, why education? Because, as Dr. Zinn said, education prepares us to speak out and ACT out against inequity. And if you watched the SOTU last night, you couldn’t have missed the emphasis on education reform and this administration’s commitment to ensuring high-quality education for our country’s children and youth. It’s time to take a big step back from our current system and really see what works and what doesn’t and how, working together, the civic sector can complement federal and state level government work like the “Race to the Top fund” to level the playing field in education. (Check out this excellent article written by NCRP board member Pete Manzo on this issue).

As we celebrate the many successes and acknowledge the challenges we still confront after one year of the Obama administration’s being in office, I hope each of us will take the time to reflect on what Zinn’s passing really means for us as a country. What does his work mean for us today? Will we find common cause and work together to help our country emerge stronger and better from the critical crossroads we confront? I sure hope we will and though my heart may be heavy from the loss of such an influential and brilliant man, my spirits are lifted when I think of the work he’s made possible and the millions of lives he’s touched in so many ways. Thank you for everything Dr. Zinn – I’ll certainly never forget you.

Niki Jagpal,
Research & Policy Director