RIP Howard Zinn: The Voice of The Forgotten Man (August 24, 1922 – January 27, 2010)

The great Howard Zinn died yesterday at the age of 87 in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling. The Boston University historian and political activist who wrote "A People's History of the United States," made the young and old rethink the way textbooks had taught us the American experience for year in our school systems. I was personally was introduced to Mr. Zinn in 11th grade by my AP US History teacher. I actually still have my book from that class and often reread it. His way of thinking was not one that you often saw from his generation. Reading his book had a powerful influence on many of the books I read after and how I read the standard textbooks I had to read. Zinn challenged regular history with how he charged Christopher Columbus and other explorers with genocide, picked apart presidents from Andrew Jackson to Franklin D. Roosevelt and celebrated workers, feminists and war resisters.