r.i.p.

His People's History and the many other popular histories which follow that model were a necessary corrective to the usual Americanist/Capitalist ideological fare.  But where exactly Zinn stood politically I could never figure out - in looking at a half dozen videos this morning he once calls himself a democratic socialist and once infers that he is an anarcho-syndicalist.  As far as the recently deceased Leftist lions go, I have more affection for Studs Terkel than I do Zinn, but I am thankful for Zinn's work, as his People's History and its many offshoots provide materials you can give to anyone who can read at a high school level that at very least challenges some of what needs to be challenged.  There is even a children's version of the People's History that my oldest daughter will soon be reading.

Zinn died one year ago today.