Howard Zinn passed away yesterday. Maybe you don't know him or have only heard of him in passing but compassionate and decent people everywhere have lost one of our brightest lights.
Most people will know him through his masterwork:
It redefined history away from the sickening, oppressive narrative of 'great men' and rulers, of victors law. It shined a light on our history much the same as did Edward Said in his work Orientalism. Edward is also gone now.
Well, we still have another of our own great people in Amy Goodman and her show Democracy Now is where i'll take the tribute from:
Let me take this opportunity to urge you to watch Democracy Now. They have a show every weekday, it's an hour long and free at the site. You will see real journalism that asks the right questions and then listens. Pretty much all other news outlets are shallow and agenda based in comparison.
Let's finish with a Howard quote that I took from Mickey Z's write up:
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.
RIP, Howard. A shame indeed.