Showing results by author "Howard Zinn"

A classic since its original landmark publication in 1980, Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States is the first scholarly work to tell America's story from the bottom up - from the point of view of, and in the words of, America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers.

Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, Zinn's A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of, and in the words of, its women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers. Here we learn that many of our country's greatest battles (labor laws, women's rights, racial equality) were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance.

Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the 19th and 20th centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in the volumes of A Young People’s History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds listeners that America’s true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.

Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States, tells his personal stories about more than 30 years of fighting for social change, from teaching at Spelman College to recent protests against war. A former bombardier in World War II, Zinn emerged in the civil rights movement as a powerful voice for justice. Although he's a fierce critic, he gives us reason to hope that by learning from history and engaging politically, we can make a difference in the world.

“Don’t you wonder: why is it necessary to declare me dead again and again?” This is the question posed by Karl Marx in Howard Zinn’s witty and insightful “play on history.” The premise of this one-man performance is that history’s most famous, and oft-misrepresented, radical is resurrected after agitating with the authorities of the afterlife to clear his name. Through a bureaucratic error, however, Marx lands in modern-day Soho, New York, rather than his old stomping grounds in London, to make his case.

In February 2003, a remarkable event took place at the 92nd Street Y in New York, a celebration of the millionth copy sold of Howard Zinn's great A People's History of the United States. Zinn drew on the words of Americans, some famous, some little known, across the range of American history. These words were read by distinguished people in the arts: Alice Walker, Alfre Woodard, Kurt Vonnegut, James Earl Jones, Danny Glover, Marisa Tomei, Harris Yulin, Andre Gregory, and others.

Noted academics and political commentators Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky each spoke for about 20 minutes and answered questions for over an hour. At the beginning, Zinn jokingly said that he would speak about hope and let Chomsky deal with desperation. Both Zinn and Chomsky spoke about how political and social matters had improved for the better during the past century and that today's times were not as desperate as in the past.

Recorded on January 29, 2005 at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Cambridge, MA.