We’re very sad to report that Howard Zinn, the brilliant civil rights activist and political scientist, passed away yesterday at age 87. Zinn is best known for his book “A People’s History of the United States,” which told the story of the country through the eyes of the disenfranchised: women, minorities and the working class. The book was released in 1980, when most of America was suffering from Reagan fever, and has since served as strong historical evidence against the notion that big business and its political allies want to let their prosperity “trickle down” to the masses. It has sold over a million copies to date. If you’ve never read it, we highly recommend checking it out.

Last year, our team at Studio Number One had the opportunity to do some work on Zinn’s History Channel television special, “The People Speak.” Some of us even got to meet him – one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We wish the best for his loved ones, and we take comfort ourselves in the belief that his ideas will live on forever.

A message from Antonino D’Ambrosio:
The passing of Howard Zinn makes this a sad for myself and everyone at La Lutta. As some of you know, I came to work and become friends with Zinn over the past few years. We had planned to do a few publics together around my new book and film in the spring and fall 2010. I’ve contributed a tribute to him, “Howard Zinn: Historian of the Human Spirit,” published by The Progressive. You can read here:  http://www.progressive.org/

AIPAS,
Antonino

For more on Howard Zinn, visit his website.

Buy “A People’s History” on Amazon.