Howard Zinn: Against Discouragement

[In 1963, historian Howard Zinn was fired from Spelman College, where he was chair of the History Department, because of his civil rights activities. This year, he was invited back to give the commencement address. Here is the text of that speech, given on May 15, 2005.] I am deeply honored to be invited back Read more…

Josh Jones: Helen Keller’s Letter to Nazi Students

Helen Keller Writes a Letter to Nazi Students Before They Burn Her Book: “History Has Taught You Nothing If You Think You Can Kill Ideas”

Vijay Prashad: Jawaharlal Nehru

May 15th is Nakba Day, the Day of Catastrophe for the Palestinians. In 1948, that was the date when the Israeli State began to emerge and three quarters of a million Palestinians were ejected from their land. The term Nakba was coined by the Syrian historian Constantine Zurayk, who was the Acting President of the Read more…

Bruce Cumings: A Murderous History of Korea

We have arrived at this point because of an inveterate unwillingness on the part of Americans to look history in the face and a laser-like focus on that same history by the leaders of North Korea

Steve Fraser: Which Way to the Barricades?

What was the mass strike and what would a successful one look like today?

Clive Thompson: Luddites were right

The crushed rebellion cleared the way for horrific working conditions of the Industrial Revolution yet to come

Mehdi Hasan: Why Do North Koreans Hate Us? — The Korean War

U.S. planes dropped on the Korean peninsula more bombs — 635,000 tons — and napalm — 32,557 tons — than during the entire Pacific campaign against the Japanese during World War II

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Learning from Our ‘Radical’ Past

What the clashes of the past teach us is that we must stay committed to a cause bigger than any one person and be willing to fight for years to come

Al Hart: Reclaiming May Day

Beginning in 2006, with mass marches and work stoppages by immigrant workers, working people in this country have begun to reclaim their day

David Swanson: How U.S. Race Laws Inspired Nazis

James Q. Whitman’s new book is called Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law. It is understated and overdocumented, difficult to argue with. No doubt some will try. In cartoonish U.S. historical understanding, the United States is, was, and ever shall be a force for good, whereas Nazism arose Read more…

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