By Sasha Alex Lessin, Ph.D. (Anthropology, UCLA)
INTRODUCTION
History is not primarily the story of rulers and wars; it is the story of ordinary people who organize, resist, and demand change.
Howard Zinn argued that most history books focus on presidents, generals, wealthy industrialists, and empires. He believed historians should also tell the story of workers, women, Native peoples, enslaved Africans, immigrants, dissidents, peace activists, and social movements.
Dominator Consciousness says: History is made by rulers, armies, elites, and empires.
Partnership Consciousness counters the claim that history is made by dominators and instead, insists that when ordinary people organize, cooperate, and resist injustice s0ciety can balance what people give and what they take.
COLUMBUS, CONQUEST, AND THE BEGINNING OF RESISTANCE
Zinn challenged the heroic Columbus story taught in many schools.
He focused on the experiences of the Arawaks and other Indigenous peoples who lived in the Americas before European arrival.
The transcript emphasizes conquest, enslavement, and resistance rather than discovery.
Dominator View: Great explorers brought civilization.
The People’s view holds that Indigenous nations already possessed civilizations, cultures, and histories; the dominators’ view is that great explorers brought civilization.
COLONIAL AMERICA: WHO PAID FOR EMPIRE?
Colonial wealth came from Native land seizure, enslaved African labor, and exploited workers.
Dominator View: The colonies created opportunity.
People’s View: Indigenous nations already possessed civilizations, cultures, and histories.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION: FREEDOM FOR WHOM?
The Colonial elite who rebelled against England proclaimed liberty for wealthy Whites and the American well-to-do descendants of Englishmen, but continued slave-like apprentice duty and servitude for other whites, all the while accepting slavery and dispossession of Native Americans and servitude of women. The dominator View held that America achieved freedom in 1776. The underclasses, the poor, women, and, occasionally, slaves knew that the Colonial elite, who became the elite of the breakaway colonies, enslaved them in debt, poverty, and legal discrimination.
SLAVERY, ABOLITION, AND THE CIVIL WAR
Enslaved Africans actively resisted slavery and helped bring about its destruction. Dominators said that great leaders freed the slaves. The people seeking slave emancipation said that enslaved people, abolitionists, and soldiers forced change.
WORKERS VS THE ROBBER BARONS
Industrial America created enormous wealth while workers endured dangerous conditions and poverty. Labor unions emerged to challenge that imbalance.
EMPIRE ABROAD
Zinn criticized American imperial expansion and questioned whether military intervention actually promoted freedom.
Dominator View: Empire spreads civilization.
People’s View: Empire often serves power and profit.
THE NEW DEAL AND THE PEOPLE’S GOVERNMENT
Mass economic suffering during the Great Depression forced political reforms. The New Deal emerged because ordinary people demanded action. The Anunnaki-dominator view held that markets solve everything. The Great Goddess, partnership view insisted that society must protect vulnerable people.
CIVIL RIGHTS, PEACE MOVEMENTS, AND WE THE PEOPLE
Ordinary people repeatedly transform history through collective action. Civil rights activists, anti-war protesters, women’s movements, labor organizers, and grassroots campaigns drive change.
Dominators say that change comes from leaders; cooperator-driven citizens believe that leaders usually respond after we the people pressure them with forms of nulliy (non-participation, boycotts, work stoppages, strikes, road blocks, sit-ins, pot-banging, farcical dramatics, deluges of mail and lawsuits.
VIDEOS
- Howard Zinn — “The Problem Is Civil Obedience”
- Howard Zinn — “A People’s History of the United States”
- Howard Zinn on the Vietnam War
- Noam Chomsky discussing Zinn
- Documentary:
Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train - Documentary:
The People Speak
#HowardZinn #PeoplesHistory #HistoryFromBelow #LaborHistory #CivilRights #AntiWarMovement #Democracy #SocialJustice #GrassrootsActivism #WeThePeople #AmericanHistory #NativeAmericanHistory #Abolition #LaborUnions #PeaceStudies #ParticipatoryDemocracy #HowardZinnLegacy #SashaAlexLessin #EnkiSpeaks #WorldPeace
