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In this special Link TV presentation we honor the life and work of Howard Zinn, whose tireless activism and determination continue to serve as an inspiration. It’s easy to feel helpless in a world where U.S. involvement in war and torture has become an everyday reality; where lying officials and lobbyists seem to hold all the cards. That’s where Howard Zinn comes in, to remind us to keep fighting. In this special, Peter Coyote joins philosopher and author Sam Keen to present the documentary Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, an account of Zinn’s history and philosophy, told in his own words.

About Howard Zinn
“I start from the supposition that the world is topsy turvy. That things are all wrong. That the wrong people are in jail, and the wrong people are out of jail. That the wrong people are in power, and the wrong people are out of power. I start with the supposition that we don’t have to say too much about this because all we have to do is think about the state of the world today and realize that things are all upside down.” The Zinn Reader, 1997

Zinn has been many things.  A shipyard worker.  A playwright.  A rabble rouser.  A historian. But according to Alice Walker, it’s as a teacher that Zinn has had the greatest impact. Zinn’s academic tenure hasn’t been easy. Fired from his first university appointment in the South, he often clashed with his long time employers at Boston University.

His radical alternative to the official textbooks, "A People's History of the United States," tells our nation’s story through the voices of factory workers, immigrants, women, African Americans, the poor. In the ‘60s, he began inspiring a generation to seek peace and justice. And 40 years later, Zinn is still a catalyst for change.

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train
This rousing documentary uses Howard Zinn’s life to tell the story of political activism in the 20th Century and beyond, from the anti-Fascist protests of the late '30s and early '40s, through WWII and post-war unionism, to the civil rights movement in the South, the Vietnam War, and now, Iraq. Zinn has been an active participant in all these movements, giving a white, academic, radical voice to people fighting for respect and justice around the world, often risking his own life and livelihood.

A shipyard worker when WWII broke out, it was when Zinn signed up for the U.S. Air Force that he saw first hand the damage of war. Amazing color footage of the first rough, hand-made WWII napalm bombs lend a startling vividness to Zinn’s description of his slow understanding, post-war, of the deadly reality of a soldier’s job.

With narration taken entirely from Zinn’s own writing, read by actor Matt Damon, filmmakers Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller skillfully capture the spirit of Zinn’s life work.

LEARN MORE:

You can read essays, interviews and commentary at Howard Zinn's website.

More information about Peter Coyote and his work is available at his website.

Sam Keene also makes work available at his site, Philosophy for Everyday Life. 

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