Howard Zinn, the longtime Boston University historian and political activist, died on Wednesday of a heart attack, The Boston Globe reported. He was 87. Mr. Zinn was best-known for his 1980 book, A People’s History of the United States. “He’s made an amazing contribution to American intellectual and moral culture,” Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, told the Globe. “He’s changed the conscience of America in a highly constructive way. I really can’t think of anyone I can compare him to in this respect.” At Boston, where he was a professor of political science from 1964 to 1988, Mr. Zinn was also known for clashes with John R. Silber, the institution’s president over much of that period.
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2 Responses to Howard Zinn, Historian and Activist, Dies at 87
laudrich - January 28, 2010 at 8:04 am
In his own words:”No cold calculation of the balance of power need deter people who are persuaded that their cause is just.” “The memory of oppressed people is one thing that cannot be taken away, and for such people, with such memories, revolt is always an inch below the surface.” “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… See More 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.”Rest in peace…
coppervz - January 29, 2010 at 9:28 am
Academia lost a great voice that reminds us all of that the human experience is both the good and bad but the sprit of humanity and good will can not be crushed, as long as there are those who speak out and confront that which is erroneous.