“Civil disobedience is not something outside the realm of democracy. Democracy requires civil disobedience. Without civil disobedience democracy does not exist.”
Howard Zinn on Democracy and Civil Disobedience - YouTube
In this tribute to Howard Zinn, Beyond Nuclear presents his compelling testimony in which he makes the case for non-violent civil disobedience as instrumental in changing American history and advancing democracy.
In 1985, Dr. Howard Zinn testified for the defense in the criminal trial of seven citizens who hammered equipment and poured blood on blueprints for the Cruise Missile and Missile X factory in Wilmington, MA.
In the closing he stated, “Civil disobedience is not something outside the realm of democracy. Democracy requires civil disobedience. Without civil disobedience democracy does not exist.” - Howard Zinn on Non-Violent Civil Disobedience – Zinn Education Project
The footage contained in this film originally came from raw footage used in a 1986 documentary, The Trial of the AVCO Plowshares, directed by John Reilly and Julie Gustafson. In July of 1983, seven Americans entered AVCO Systems Division, a manufacturing plant for MX and Pershing II missiles in Wilmington, Massachusetts, and damaged weapon parts in a protest against the build-up of nuclear arms. This work documents the ensuing trial. With minimal commentary, Reilly and Gustafson examine the American judicial system, the tradition of non-violent civil disobedience, and the question of a higher moral imperative, beyond letter of the law.
The Trial of the AVCO Plowshares can be purchased for educational and community use. Please send an email inquiry to global@globalvillagevideo.com. Sliding scale rates available.
The Howard Zinn video shown here is free for distribution and embed on web sites. DVD copies available: please send an email to info@beyondnuclear.org.
BeyondNuclear1's Channel - YouTube
more on Zinn later :)
Zinn Education Project
I can UNDERSTAND pessimism, but I don't BELIEVE in it. It's not simply a matter of faith, but of historical EVIDENCE. Not overwhelming evidence, just enough to give HOPE, because for hope we don't need certainty, only POSSIBILITY. - About Howard Zinn – Zinn Education Project
The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the use of Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States and other materials for teaching a people’s history in middle and high school classrooms across the country. The website offers more than 100 free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level. The Zinn Education Project is coordinated by two non-profit organizations, Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change.
Its goal is to introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of United States history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. The empowering potential of studying U.S. history is often lost in a textbook-driven trivial pursuit of names and dates. Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States emphasize the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history. Students learn that history is made not by a few heroic individuals, but instead by people’s choices and actions, thereby also learning that their own choices and actions matter.
We believe that through taking a more engaging and more honest look at the past, we can help equip students with the analytical tools to make sense of — and improve — the world today. For a more complete description, read A People’s History, A People’s Pedagogy.
Zinn Education Project
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