A marvelous victory

Howard Zinn 1922-2010

I have sat down to write this post a number of times and just couldn't quite seem to find the right words. Howard Zinn was a personal hero of mine, reading his essays, listening to lectures and interviews and of course A People's History of the United States totally blew my mind and I was always looking for more to get my hands on. He spoke to me as an educator, he taught me to challenge the history I had been taught (and who taught it). He impressed on me the importance and power of knowledge. He made me believe that not only can you not be 'neutral on a moving train' but that to see what is wrong with the world comes with a responsibility to work to change it, and that the time to do that is now.

I never expected his death to have such a strong impact on me (I bawled on the bus when I found out, ha) and over the past few days I've been thinking on why this is. I didn't personally know the man, but like Naomi Klein said on the Democracy Now! tribute to him, he was every one's favourite teacher and now we've all lost that. I definitely think that is part of it, but also I think (at the risk of sounding cheesy) that he taught us to believe in ourselves and our convictions, that 'ordinary' people can and more often that not have been the ones to bring about change. He believed in people. While it breaks my heart that I won't get to hear him speak, that I won't be able to look to him for comment or that he won't write another book, the reality is it is now our turn to stand up for justice, speak out for the oppressed and fight for change.

I wanted to end in his own words so this is from his autobiography, 'You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train' ;

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

"What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

"And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

A marvelous victory, indeed. We'll miss you Howard.

MSF/Doctors Without Borders Emergency Relief Fund

image via msf.ca

I'm sure you're all aware of the devestating earthquake that hit Haiti a few days ago, there has been images of the destruction all over the news, most of which I've found really difficult to look at. So often when things like this happen I feel completely helpless to do anything, the task is so huge, so we've decided that from now until February 14th (if not longer), we'll be donating 15% of all sales to the MSF/Doctors Without Borders emergency relief fund, we'll then match that 15% ourselves. MSF is an organisation that we've supported personally for a number of years, and if you're unfamiliar with their work I would recommend checking out their website. Basically, it is a large group of doctors with a wide range of expertise, who provide mostly emergency medical relief in countries hit by natural disasters, war, extreme poverty, etc. One of the things I really love about MSF is that they are completely politically and religiously independent, and therefor unbiased about who receives their care.

While this was a natural disaster, Haiti being the poorest country in the world is no accident, and seeing people wring their hangs over how unlucky the country is and wonder why so many bad things happen to them is driving me crazy. In my mind, the IMF, the World Bank and American foreign policy are all complicit in this disaster, along with other countries who don't support Haitian refugees, immigration or democratic political movements within the country. I hope that after we donate to support the disaster relief, we also talk to and petition our governments to allow Haiti self determination and to support them in becoming an independent, economic and food secure country.