I have to admit, I've had tears in my eyes on and off for the last 12 hours. If it's not obvious, i personally kinda want to annoy people into paying attention to me. Honestly I've always hoped that this pestering sort of inspired by him would make some people look at the messages we try to slip in with the commodified consumer capitalism i peddle. Howard Zinn was belittled in the media and much of the academy, as a sort of attention seeking left/populist demagogue and crackpot. Most certainly marginalized, Howard Zinn was the biggest ****ing patriot we had in this country in the 20th century. he was ****ing honest to a fault, and an unwavering advocate for freedom.
Who the hell is going to replace Howard Zinn? I can't really find the words to say anything more through the tears. It's up to us to make sure that EVERYONE's voices are still heard. It is a magnificent feeling to have tears for an 87 year old dude I never really knew, especially one who tried to give a voice to so many- but ...outside the Academy and a few amazing highschool teachers who are passionate about media-literacy it's hard to find evidence that Zinn ever existed.
His message in a nutshell- Don't believe in great men. Believe in yourself.
If there was a fight to get into, seems like Howard wanted in. Vietnam gave him mainstream exposure- and I think that gave him the time he needed to loaf at professorship and focus on the broader issues of revisionist history and media and governmental transparency. The fight went from saving lives to saving the American project from hopelessness... I think his greatest successes really happened in the 80's and 90's when he was still inspiring people to get into the streets and engage in protest and civil disobedience after any sort of real resistance had been made effectively impossible by media consolidation and intractable corporate control. He failed, I'm afraid at creating the critical mass for real change in his lifetime- it takes more than a handful of brave and ballsy advocates to make it happen. Maybe he died at the right time. This country is certainly in crisis, and although up turns in radicalism seems to co-inside with economic prosperity, I think more people than ever realize just how broken the whole system is in this country. Taking to the streets is sort of Sisyphean, but hell, the Daily Show is finally talking in plain terms about the nations underlaying problems. If Iran can use Twitter to organize real dissent, I hope Americans can figure out how to raise historical consciousness to piss off the inhabitants of this country enough to take real action to take it back.
You can't depend on voting to solve your problems. Organize. Own your struggle and bring clamor to the street, the internet, the classroom. Be loud. Stay Vocal.
Who the hell is going to replace Howard Zinn? I can't really find the words to say anything more through the tears. It's up to us to make sure that EVERYONE's voices are still heard. It is a magnificent feeling to have tears for an 87 year old dude I never really knew, especially one who tried to give a voice to so many- but ...outside the Academy and a few amazing highschool teachers who are passionate about media-literacy it's hard to find evidence that Zinn ever existed.
His message in a nutshell- Don't believe in great men. Believe in yourself.
If there was a fight to get into, seems like Howard wanted in. Vietnam gave him mainstream exposure- and I think that gave him the time he needed to loaf at professorship and focus on the broader issues of revisionist history and media and governmental transparency. The fight went from saving lives to saving the American project from hopelessness... I think his greatest successes really happened in the 80's and 90's when he was still inspiring people to get into the streets and engage in protest and civil disobedience after any sort of real resistance had been made effectively impossible by media consolidation and intractable corporate control. He failed, I'm afraid at creating the critical mass for real change in his lifetime- it takes more than a handful of brave and ballsy advocates to make it happen. Maybe he died at the right time. This country is certainly in crisis, and although up turns in radicalism seems to co-inside with economic prosperity, I think more people than ever realize just how broken the whole system is in this country. Taking to the streets is sort of Sisyphean, but hell, the Daily Show is finally talking in plain terms about the nations underlaying problems. If Iran can use Twitter to organize real dissent, I hope Americans can figure out how to raise historical consciousness to piss off the inhabitants of this country enough to take real action to take it back.
You can't depend on voting to solve your problems. Organize. Own your struggle and bring clamor to the street, the internet, the classroom. Be loud. Stay Vocal.