War had been a constant throughout the history of our country. Sure, we have times of ‘peace’, but those are merely interludes to the next campaign of violence. With so much going on these days on the topic, many teachers are looking for ways to connect their content and students to the realities of what is on the nightly news. Whether it is campaign rehtoric or the weekly report of deaths, our students are exposed to the reality of war.
My folks were in town this weekend and I had just so happened to have ordered ‘You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train‘ from Netflix - simply because I have been a fan of Howard Zinn for some time. We enjoyed the film for broad connections to peace and Zinn’s overall philosophy as well as for some more personal connections. If you are not familiar with Howard Zinn, you can read about his WWII experience as a bomber in the Air Force and his life long mission to disrupt war and tell the truth about history. The website is chalk full of reading as well as clips from appearances on the Daily Show w/John Stewart (and the like).
Zinn is well known for his published book, A People’s History of the United States - used in classrooms across the U.S.
