Tuesday, November 26, 2013
The Problem is Civil Obedience. By Geniusofdespair
Matt Damon reads from Howard Zinn's speech "The Problem is Civil Obedience" (November 1970)
Howard Zinn was a Historian
Died: January 27, 2010, Santa Monica, CA
Education: Columbia University, New York University, Thomas Jefferson High School. He was a political science professor at Boston University for 24 years.
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7 comments:
Absolutely incredible....
Thank you for sharing
Howard Zinn was one of the most respected professors at Boston University for decades.
Interesting comments. It takes courage and bravery for direct action. I wonder how many times he was arrested for civil disobedience in his lifetime. He lived during the time when many people were going to jail, putting their lives and everything they had on the line. Anyone researched his criminal record? You have to spend some time in jail for a cause, to really talk about civil disobedience. If he was never arrested for a cause, then civil disobedience is just a theoretical concept that other brave souls do. From the safety of ivory tower, it is easy to talk about civil disobedience as actions for others to pursue. Among the boomers there are many who talked the talk, but there are fewer who actually walked the walk , were the foot soildiers of justice, to make things better for all. No, I need to see more than a speech.
There are lots of people in this country who have stood up against injustice, many gave up their lives, lost their health, gave up careers, and went to jail for causes that were unjust. Our history is full of them. There was Susan B. Anthony who was arrested trying to vote as a woman. There are hundreds of thousands of thousands of Vietnam war protesters, civil rights protesters, some of whom were killed and others who went to jail.
When I think about civil disobedience, I think about people like Congressman John Lewis who was hit in the head and beaten to a pulp, nearly gassed to death, and arrested in the voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery. As a matter of fact, he was arrested last month in front of the Capitol at a rally on Immigration reform. So unless they have actually been practitioners of civil disobedience, I am not too interested in what they have to say.
OK, then he worth listening to.
Howard Zinn spent years fighting Boston University's dictatorial President, John Silber. He also attended numerous marches and rallies.
whenever matt damon is ready to redistribute his wealth, and start engaging in civil disobedience...
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