I'd never heard that. What a great story! Each of us has a comfort zone that we're reluctant to leave. How did the folks profiled in your book deal with that?
It's almost never easy to take those first steps, so almost all of them had barriers and hesitations. They kept on even when they were uncertain. They found other people to work with to further their cause And they recognized that we never know how our actions for change will turn out., but we have to jump in. We have to start. And then we have to continue, again being as conscious as we can about how we enlist allies, tell our stories, and create common power, but not to the point where we beat ourselves down with perfection.
The timing of the release of your book dovetails nicely with the recent release of the Zinn/Arnove documentary The People Speak. Zinn, through his teaching, writing and life example, offered another way of evaluating and understanding our history.
I had the pleasure of knowing Howard Zinn for about thirty-five years, mostly by phone and later email, but also through occasional visits. What gave his work so much power I think was its generosity of spirit and its recognition, as Howard has written, that time and time again, human courage has welled up to create changes people have thought impossible. History isn't made by heroes on pedestals. It's made by ordinary humans with all their hesitations and doubts. And when we create what Nelson Mandela calls "the multiplication of courage," we never know what we'll create.
This is a great place to take a break, Paul. We have lots more ground to cover in the second half of our interview. I hope our readers will stay tuned.
***
For more info about Paul and his new book: www.soulofacitizen.org or www.soulofacitizen.org.soul.htm
It's almost never easy to take those first steps, so almost all of them had barriers and hesitations. They kept on even when they were uncertain. They found other people to work with to further their cause And they recognized that we never know how our actions for change will turn out., but we have to jump in. We have to start. And then we have to continue, again being as conscious as we can about how we enlist allies, tell our stories, and create common power, but not to the point where we beat ourselves down with perfection.
The timing of the release of your book dovetails nicely with the recent release of the Zinn/Arnove documentary The People Speak. Zinn, through his teaching, writing and life example, offered another way of evaluating and understanding our history.
I had the pleasure of knowing Howard Zinn for about thirty-five years, mostly by phone and later email, but also through occasional visits. What gave his work so much power I think was its generosity of spirit and its recognition, as Howard has written, that time and time again, human courage has welled up to create changes people have thought impossible. History isn't made by heroes on pedestals. It's made by ordinary humans with all their hesitations and doubts. And when we create what Nelson Mandela calls "the multiplication of courage," we never know what we'll create.
***
For more info about Paul and his new book: www.soulofacitizen.org or www.soulofacitizen.org.soul.htm
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