Howard Zinn, 1922-2010

I just heard on NPR that another writer, activist and great thinker died yesterday. Like Brutus, who died in December, Howard Zinn is a thinker/activist I just began paying attention to in recent months. The historian Zinn is most famous for his history text that tells the story of the nation through the lens of the marginalized, A People's History of the United States.

Others will certainly write a better synopsis of his life than I. His friend Daniel Ellsberg shares a great story about him here.

Zinn was concerned about several social issues in our nation, including civil rights. Most recently, I've been thinking quite a bit about war, historic nonviolence movements, and our Nobel Peace Prize-winning war president. Zinn, a former G.I. turned anti-war activist, spent a lot of time saying a word or two about war. So a few weeks ago I found this video of Zinn speaking at Boston University in November about the USA's three holy wars: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II (in which Zinn volunteered to serve as an Air Force bomber). In memory of him, I return to this clip. It's lengthy but good . . .

Three Holy Wars | Howard Zinn | Nov. 11, 2009 | Boston University from Ken Levy on Vimeo.

In one of his speeches about these "holy wars," Zinn says the following:

Just one point I want to make. This is the question that says, "What else would you do?" They say, "[what about] Hitler? You had to do something." I agree. You have to do something about all these things. You have to do something about winning independence if you're oppressed. You have to do something about slavery if there's slavery. You have to do something about fascism. You have to do something about all these things. But, you don't have to do war.

May we begin to think of another way to "do something" about atrocities, oppression and terrorism in this world of ours. Another way is certainly possible with creative imagination. We're smart people, after all. May we live beautifully into that imagination. And may Howard Zinn's words challenge and move us for years to come as his body and spirit find rest in peace.

The Poets Cry Out

I love reading poetry that speaks against injustice and speaks truth to a deaf world. In previous wars, art and literature played a huge role in speaking to the U.S. conscience. I've felt more silence in the present war, however.

Then I discovered Poets Against War and the Split this Rock Poetry Festival. I'm relieved to hear so many poet voices and believe a poem can end a war if we'll hear it and make it our own.

I've been inhaling Naomi Shihab Nye's 2005 collection entitled You & Yours again. It is filled with truth-telling and brings a needed view of humanity in the midst of this war in Iraq. This one speaks to me today:

Dictionary in the Dark

A retired general said
"the beautiful thing about it"
discussing war.
We were making "progress"
in our war effort.
"The appropriate time to launch the bombers"
pierced the A secion with artillery as
"awe huddled in a corner
clutching its small chest.
Someone else repeated, "in harm's way,"
strangely popular lately,
and "weapons of mass destruction"
felt gravely confused about their identity.
"Friendly" gasped. Fierce and terminal.
It had never agreed to sit beside fire, never.

-Naomi Shihab Nye

For Peace: A Prayer

For the families who wonder when their soldiers--mommies, daddies, sons, daughters, and lovers--will return home
For our leaders whose decisions give them power to be war-filled or peaceful
For those who do not watch bombings on television but see them live in their own land
For the many brave soldiers and the many frightened citizens whose breath is no more
Lord, have mercy
For the times I neglected to pray for peace
For the times I turned deaf ears to genocide and war
For the times I choose the ease of ridicule instead of accountability for our nation’s leaders
Lord, have mercy
For my silence
For our folly
For humanity's self-inflicted lacerations
Lord, have mercy
Amen

War no more

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.
~Luke 9:51-56



Here the Gospel of Luke shares with us just one of the many examples of Jesus choosing peace in the face of opposition. When using incredible power and force against the Samaritans made sense to James and John, Jesus rebuked James and John and radically walked away from the village, instead. We know Jesus as peacemaker because the Gospels share this radical side of Jesus with us.

In solidarity with the bishops of the United Methodist Church and the thousands who have already signed their statement for peace, I pray that we call our government into living what we know through this person called Jesus. I pray that we radically call for peace and work towards peace instead of continuing in a horrific war that has cost the lives of more than 2,000 brave U.S. soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens.

In his address Sunday, President Bush pleaded to the people of the U.S.: "I do not expect you to support everything I do, but tonight I have a request," the president said. "Do not give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom."

We are Easter people who know a different story of freedom through the radical peace of Jesus!

I do not have answers on how we can pull out of Iraq now. I know, however, that we have to challenge our leaders to be in the business of peace-planning because war-planning is not the way. If you'd like to join in solidarity with the bishops and ask our leaders to think of another way, please visit their statement and sign it.

Peace in the Middle East

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society is a member of Churches for Middle East Peace. The group is holding a conference in Nashville Nov. 12, 10 am-4 pm to discuss Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. Click here for information if you want to attend.

Genocide in Darfur

For any Nashvillians who check my blog, I hope that you'll join me next Sunday, Oct. 16, at Fisk University's Chapel. There will be a community dialogue and meeting about the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. Tennesseans Against Genocide (TAG) is sponsoring this event and bringing in Jerry Fowler, director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Committee on Conscience, as the featured speaker. There, we will discuss exactly what we can do to help end genocide in Darfur.

So be there at 2 pm Sunday!

International Freedom Center

We visited the District Six Museum in Cape Town, South Africa this summer. It is a lovely tribute in a Methodist Church downtown to tell the story of District Six. Once a place where many diverse families thrived and lived peacefully, District Six was declared "white-only" in 1966 during the apartheid era of the country. Many years before in the early 1900's, however, the government began forced removal of the black South Africans there. Soon everyone was removed, and the area was flattened.

The museum captured the heart of District Six, telling stories of what life was like before and after the forced removal into shanty townships still in existence today. The tour guides were people who once lived in the district. Our tour guide, a coloured South African, remembered being away from home as a little boy and returning to find that his family did not live there anymore.

I liked, also, that the museum dedicated a portion of its space to telling stories in other parts of the world that are similar to theirs. You learn about its partner museum in Sweden, which shares a common history. You learn about other parts of the world where racial injustice has affected the livelihood of a people.

So I am disturbed when I read this morning that Governor Pataki of New York barred the International Freedom Center (IFC) from the memorial quadrant of the World Trade Centers. The center's goal was to tell the stories of many areas of the world where freedom has been challenged, much like it has been on U.S. soil since 9/11/2001. My understanding is that the proposed plan would include other places on the site solely devoted to telling the story of the Twin Tower tragedy. This museum, however, would tie our story to other stories in the world.

I admit several things: I do not know the full extent of the IFC plan, I did not have family die in the Trade Center destruction, and none of my family members were heroic rescue workers during that time. With that in mind, I cannot say that I have the right to boldly state support of the museum. I think, however, that it would honor the lost lives and heroic deeds to connect our story to others in the world.

"The International Freedom Center was an obstacle not simply for the families, the first responders and all those who were personally affected by the events of Sept. 11," the New York Times quoted Diane Burlingame, opponent of the center, "but for all Americans who will be coming to the World Trade Center memorial to hear the story of 9/11 and that story only."

Why? Why do the citizens of the U.S. want to hear that story alone? I feel like the events of that day and the events that have happened since clearly show us that we are not a U.S. island. Our story affects the stories of other countries. Other countries' stories affect ours.

So the International Freedom Center will not be on the grounds and I’m sure this is fine. I hope, however, that we find some way in telling the story of this particular tragedy to show that our story stands in solidarity with suffering worldwide. The very concept of freedom around the world is part of the 9/11 story, which would be of great disservice to ignore.

Around the world . . .

I read on UMCOR's Web site an article where some UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) staff are visiting the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan right now. When news of Katrina devastation reached the group, they--the Sudanese and the people from the US--stopped their work and prayed for the hurricane victims.

Cut to clip of most citizens of the USA upon first hearing the news of slavery and genocide in Sudan:

We read the newspaper, watch the news, and shake our heads in dismay to know that slavery still exists. And then, as quoted in the film Hotel Rwanda, we'll "go on eating (our) dinners." A few of us say some prayers. A few of us, like Jay Williams, interrupt their lives and go to Sudan to be with the people there and to tell their stories. And sadly, many of us are not even aware or don't even take a minute to care. Some of us even ask (as I've heard from too many people), "What's wrong with Africa? They always have problems killing each other."

On a blog I was reading, one commenter said about the hurricane, "Americans are always the first to step up to the plate when other disasters happen, in other countries, and well have we heard from any other country pledging their help and support?"

Well, yes, first of all, we have heard from other countries. But even more disturbing about this person's thoughts is the idea that Americans (U.S., I presume) are the first to help other countries. Are we delusional in the U.S. to think that we play this great, mighty role of savior to the world? How often have we been the first to step up to bat? With the Asian tsunami, other countries were shocked at how little we were giving in comparison to our wealth. Even when considering the resources we have, it’s disappointing to think of how little we are doing for the Gulf Coast even. Often our other "humanitarian" efforts in the world benefit us as much as (sometimes more than) it benefits others.

I retreat from bashing the United States. This country is my home, and it is beautiful. I miss the beauty of it when I'm away. I am reminded, however, that we so often ignore the suffering of the rest of the world. And the rest of the world does not always ignore us. The prayers of those in Sudan humble me. And I pray that we will humble ourselves in prayer for them, as well as for the rest of the world:

• the 147 people killed today in an Indonesian jet crash;
• the unidentified numbers of Iraqi people killed in the Iraq war along with the 1,879 U.S. service members who have died since the start of the war;
• the more than 950 people who died in Baghdad Aug. 31 in a stampede;
• the sufferers of cholera outbreaks in West Africa,specifically the more than 9,000 infected in Guinea-Bissau;
• people around the world that are still enslaved today;
and this is only the beginning of a devastatingly long list. Please let us stop what we're doing and pray.

250 Words About Waiting

This week’s devotional is titled “waiting to receive instructions.” The Scriptures and prayers are centered around waiting. It’s quite appropriate, as we are in the seventh week of Easter waiting for the celebration of the Holy Spirit’s arrival on Pentecost Sunday.

Think of all of the waiting we do in the Christian calendar year. Advent—waiting for the arrival of the Christ child. Lent—waiting for the crucifixion and waiting three more days for the wonderful resurrection. Then immediately we begin waiting for the Spirit. For those of us who don’t like waiting, we finally get ordinary time until November when we’re not waiting for anything.

But we are. As believers of Christ we cannot go a day without waiting because we believe in the promise of Christ’s return. I empathize with the early church who waited more expectantly than we. While they waited for the return of Christ, they never saw him.

It must have been frustrating. We hear promises that our scarlet sins will be made like snow (Is. 1:18), though we see our sins ever before us. We hear every knee shall bow to praise God (Phil. 2:9-11), though we know so many do not believe. We hear that swords will become plowshares (Is. 2:4). But we know war in Iraq, conflict in the Congo, genocide in Sudan. So we wait.

But the early Christians teach us a lesson. We are people of hope, after all, and hope carries such high expectations. Hope waits, already claiming the victory!