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Zinn Education Project News
Bashing Howard Zinn: A Critical Look at One of the Critics
By Alison Kysia
"Since the death of historian Howard Zinn in 2010, a number of scholars and politicians have targeted Zinn's work in an effort to undermine his influence among educators. Most famously, former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels celebrated Zinn's death in emails to his education lieutenants and ordered them to find and remove Zinn's book, A People's History of the United States, from schools and teacher education programs.

"Arguably, the most thorough attack on Zinn appeared in the American Educator. In the article, 'Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn's A People's History Falls Short,' Sam Wineburg, professor of education at Stanford University, insists that Zinn's work is just as problematic as traditional textbooks.

"Because Howard Zinn was a leading advocate of a grassroots historical perspective----one that inspires educators to rethink and revise their curricula----an attack on Zinn is a way of discouraging educators from teaching a people's history. Thus, it's worth subjecting Wineburg's critique to careful scrutiny." Read more.  
 
Staughton Lynd and Howard Zinn
Staughton Lynd speaks with Freedom School teachers in Ohio. Photo: Herbert Randall.
Drawing on his own activist history and long-time friendship with Zinn, Staughton Lynd spoke at the Indiana Read-In about Zinn's perspectives on war, race, labor, and solidarity. Read tribute.

On this occasion of Lynd's 84th birthday (11/22), we also share an essay by Andy Piascik about Lynd's lifetime of activism. As Piascik explains, "There's much to be gained by one and all from a study of Lynd's life and work. In so doing, it's inspiring to discover how frequently he was in the right place at the right time and, more importantly, on the right side." Read more.
 
See You in St. Louis! Stop by Booth #521
ZEP booth at 2012 NCSS Meet the entire ZEP team and teachers bringing people's history to the classroom this weekend at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference in St. Louis. We will feature:
  • People's history books for sale
  • Green Feather Movement stickers and buttons
  • Raffle for DVDs and books
  • Booksigning by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick on Friday, and
  • Meet-and-greet with landmark freedom of speech activist Mary Beth Tinker on Saturday
Can't make it? Join us on Twitter
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We will be tweeting from NCSS live responses to "Why I teach people's history." Join the conversation!     
 
Art Students Promote Their College's Civil Rights Archives
New Portrait Honors Unsung Hero Clyde Kennard
Queens College in New York has an important archive with a wealth of documents about the activism of their staff and students during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. To bring attention to the history and resources, the archive staff called on the college's graphic design department for help. Read more

 

Portrait of Clyde Kennard by Robert Shetterly
"Clyde Kennard wrote eloquent letters about the need for desegregation and his right to attend the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1950s. Instead of being admitted, the state of Mississippi framed him on criminal charges for a petty crime and sentenced him to seven years of hard labor at Parchman Penitentiary."
Find out here what happened next.
 
Show Your Opposition to Censorship----Wear a Green Feather
Louise Derman-Sparks, internationally respected anti-bias educator and author. 
Louise Derman-Sparks, internationally respected anti-bias educator and author of Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, joined the original Green Feather Movement while she was in high school. "As a child of the McCarthy period, I was angry at the repression and also scared. When Robin Hood (who I had always loved) was attacked----that was the last straw.

"So, I was excited when the Green Feather Movement came to New York. It opened up a creative way to make our voices heard in protest against censorship of literature, films, books, ideas, freedom of speech----and of many writers, filmmakers, and artists.
I proudly wore my green feather everywhere. Therefore, I was very happy to see the reemergence of the Green Feather buttons from the Zinn Education Project. I will proudly wear a green feather again." 
   
To request your own union-made stickers and buttons, or to contribute to their distribution, click here.

 
A Message to You from Howard Zinn's Daughter, Myla Kabat-Zinn
Howard Zinn by Robin Holland
On this fifth anniversary, please join me in supporting the essential work ZEP is doing to insure that young people have a more complete view of the history of their country---learning from the voices and experiences of ordinary people engaged in struggles and movements that have contributed to creating positive change and furthering social justice.
 
As my father said: "We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world."

$100 donation gift item - card set
$200 donation gift item - DVD $200 donation gift item - book
Gift for $100 donation 
Set of 10 notecards by
Americans Who Tell the Truth
Gift for $200 donation 
Choose Not Just a Game DVD or
Dreams of Repair
art book
 
Zinn Education Project
The goal of the Zinn Education Project is to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of United States history.
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