Mr. Zinn

By Abel Collins

Today, I dedicated a few minutes of silent contemplation to the work of Howard Zinn in honor of his long and fruitful life. He died yesterday, but the effects of his contributions to the profession of history and his tireless activism will continue to have profound influence on our world.

He stripped away the glory, melodrama, and ego worship that is so prevalent in the study of history, and what was left was a much more accurate picture of reality. Zinn legitimized the lives of the countless people that have lived and sacrificed their lives to progress without fame or notoriety, and, in so doing, he legitimized all of us. For despite what most historians believe, it is the actions of each and every one of us that determine the course of history.

Beneath the pride and posturing, great leaders are primarily figureheads and would count for very little without the support of the masses behind them. Indeed, the greatest leaders throughout history have been those who realized the context of their power; those who have known that the communities they serve are the real heroes of change and the leaders are merely privileged to articulate their progress to the rest of society. Thus, we circle back to Howard Zinn, who was just such a leader. He gave strength to us who believe in and fight for equality, freedom, and fraternity by recognizing us as the true motive force in humankind’s search for humanity, and, together, we will go that much farther in finding it.

If you have not read A People’s History, do yourself a favor and take it out from the local library or even go the extra step and buy it. Heck, it may even be sitting in your bookshelf already, untouched since college. In any case, pick it up and take some time to reacquaint yourself with our history, our story. Take a few pages at a time. There is no rush. For myself, I kept it in the bathroom and finished it over the course of about three months, and I will probably do the same again when I realize that I need a reminder of what we have done, what we are doing, and where we are going.