Zinn promotes ‘people’s history’ in documentary

The voices of America’s past continue to make an impact on the country today, speakers said.

Historian and Boston University professor emeritus Howard Zinn, accompanied by producer Chris Moore and actor David Strathairn, shared the vision of and excerpts from their new movie, ‘The People Speak,’ and engaged in discussion with the audience at the Tsai Performance Center Thursday night to a capacity crowd of more than 500 attendees.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Virginia Sapiro hosted the documentary showing while CAS, the Core Curriculum, the Honors Program and the history and political science departments co-sponsored.

The film is based on Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ and from the book he co-authored with Anthony Arnove, ‘Voices of a People’s History.’ The documentary, which premieres on the History Channel on Dec. 13, features celebrities Matt Damon, Rosario Dawson, Bob Dylan, Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Viggo Mortensen, Bruce Springsteen and Marisa Tomei.

Each performer portrays important personalities from history who affected historical change. The producers and directors chose each primary source document to represent the voices of defiance, Zinn said.

‘We try to focus on readings that were proactive,’ Moore said.

Each piece informs, ‘This is how to get out of something, this is how to help somebody or this is how to protest against something,’ Moore said.

Zinn explained a defiant piece from the film, the story of a black woman reflecting upon her childhood in the Deep South. As a child, the woman was sent to the principal for refusing to sing the national anthem.

‘On the way to school, she walked through a park where she wasn’t allowed to sit down, she walked past swings that she’s not allowed to swing on, because she is black,’ Zinn said. ‘She’s not going to sing ‘the Star-Spangled Banner.’ She’s not going to say the Pledge of Allegiance. She’s not going to sing about freedom and liberty for all.’

Many students asked what the most pressing problem is today during the question-and-answer session interspersed with documentary clips.

‘Here in the U.S., you might say our great battle is taking the promises of Obama, which are being unfulfilled, and making them into a reality,’ Zinn said.

The speakers said the film is the beginning of this active democratic participation.

‘The hope is to keep on doing this forever,’ Moore told The Daily Free Press. ‘The idea is to hit as many demographics as we possibly can. The idea is to motivate and inspire people.’

Moore said the celebrity names help to market the film.

‘It was not a paradox. It is fantastically obvious what we are doing,’ Moore said. ‘In order to convince the History Channel to put on this event, you need famous people . . . Audiences would rather see great people do stuff rather than average people.’

CAS senior Julie Sagoskin, and Boston College alumna Andrea Schuler said they were drawn by the big names supporting the film.

‘I like Matt Damon and he’s involved in it,’ Schuler said.

Some students said they attended to hear Zinn’s interpretations of history.

‘I thought it was a good way to brush up on history in an interactive way, a more entertaining way than just reading a bunch of history books,’ BU alumna Marina Rakhkin said.

Many students said they left with varying opinions concerning the documentary.

‘It is a message I have heard a hundred times,’ CAS sophomore Kathryn Fitzgerald said. ‘It’s disappointing to hear everyone asking, ‘What should we do now, Howard Zinn? What should we do now?’ That’s a question you need to be asking yourself. You need to be self-reflecting.’