Last week we lost one of the greatest historians/activists/writers in decades. Howard Zinn took the rich, white man off his high horse and brought the underdog to the forefront of history.
Remember in elementary school when you were led to believe everything was happy and merry with the Pilgrims and Indians? Or that Christopher Columbus was the reason America exists? Well, if you were like me, some of these stories sounded a little suspicious, but when you're 8 it's hard to know what to do about it.
The teachers didn't lie on purpose. Most textbooks had the same stories because most were written by rich, white men. While Zinn is also a rich, white man, somewhere along the way he realized history is more than Louis & Clark and the Oregon Trail.
In addition to being a highly-regarded historian, he was also an anti-war activist. He joined the military during World War II to fight fascism, but he began to question the morality of war after his service.
For some time Zinn was also a professor at Spelman College, placing him in the center of the civil rights movement. In 1963 he was fired from the college for his involvement in encouraging students to stand up for themselves.
For more information please watch the documentary "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" and read the autobiography of the same name.
