Howard Zinn and Social Justice, American Style
an article by Joe

"You can’t be neutral on a moving train," proclaims Howard Zinn in a brand new movie about his life and work.

As an historian, teacher, playwright, and activist, Zinn has been at the center of some of the greatest struggles in American democracy. The story of his political life covers almost 70 years. He attended his first demonstration in Times Square during the Great Depression, and was clubbed in the head when the police decided to attack the crowd. He left his job as a shipyard worker to fight fascism during World War II. After the war, he taught at Spellman College in Georgia and became involved in the Civil Rights battles of the sixties. He was a leader of the movement to end the war in Vietnam and traveled there to receive the first POWs from the North Vietnamese government. Even today, he is a revered father figure of the movements for global peace and social justice.

I recently saw the movie about Zinn's life at Real Art Ways Cinema in Hartford, CT. It is a professional documentary, with great archival footage and well-chosen excerpts from his many books. What struck me the most, though, was the story of how Zinn became a peace activist. In the last days of World War II he was sent out with his bombing crew to destroy a small town in France. Everyone knew that the war was over, and that the German troops garrisoned there were just waiting to go home. Yet, his plane was loaded with a new experimental weapon - napalm - and they firebombed Germans, civilians, animals and everything in sight. The senseless brutality of killing people just for the sake of finding better ways to kill people led Zinn to embrace the values of non-violent protest.

Watching the story of Dr. Zinn's life, I had the distinct feeling that I was witnessing something larger taking shape - the unfolding of a truly American culture of peace. It made me wonder, although they do not call it by name, how many people have been involved in this epic struggle to remake our society so that it embraces the values of a culture of peace? How many more people are working to carry the torch, to bring this culture into being today?

"The future is an infinite succession of presents," writes Zinn, "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." This movie is an eloquent testament to the everyday victories of one man and the impact they can have on our collective lives.

"Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train" is playing January 21-27 at Real Art Ways Cinema in Hartford, CT [http://www.realartways.org/]

DISCUSSION

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Can peace be guaranteed through nonviolent means?


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NON-VIOLENCE

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I'm sure that nonviolent means can guarantee peace, at least for one day. All the peace keys were followed on Peace Day, October 14. The drumming sent a powerful message about solidarity. The drums were diverse as well as the drummers.
This was one of the few occasions in recent memory where young and old listened to each other with respect.

This report was posted on January 29, 2005. The moderator is Tony.

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