The Life of Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn is a great American historian. Some people may not agree with that statement though because of the way he portrays history from the eyes of lower class people as opposed to always being portrayed from the view of the elite. Whenever he wrote his book “A People’s History of the United State” it was not even reviewed by official historical groups. It is a shame that some people would not take his book seriously because it is always good to look at things from more than one perspective and almost all historical books tell the same story from the same point of view.

               

Howard wasn’t only a historian though; he was also an activist, teacher, and military man. He led many people at Spelman College in Atlanta to protest against the segregation of whites and blacks. He was an advisor to the SNCC (student nonviolent coordinating committee). He was fired from Spelman College as a result of his part in the civil rights movement and how he was affecting the students.  This did not halt his battle for civil rights.

               

Civil rights were not the only thing he was ever active against. He was strongly against the war in Vietnam, as an airman during World War 2 he had flown many bombing mission, sometimes against targets that he viewed as very unnecessary to kill. This changed his view on war and made him fight that much harder against the Vietnam War. As a result of his actions 3 air force prisoners of war were released by the North Vietnamese, these were the first American prisoners released in the war.

During Howard’s life he influenced many people to stand up for what they believed in. travelling the country and the world he spread his message to thousands of people. He was an inspiration to many of his students and led them to live life in the way he did working to change the world for the better.