The People’s Historian

Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, died today at the age of 87, and the nation and world will miss his presence.

His contributions to our society, however, will live on forever. (Read the Associated Press obit here.) Recently, the History Channel aired the much-anticipated and  thoroughly stirring “The People Speak”—a visually and audibly compelling 101 course in democracy and American history based on Zinn’s important work. So we present in his honor this performance from the aforementioned documentary, by an artist much admired by The Madness of Art, that in many ways sums up the spirit of the man who used his art to seek and deliver truth.

Eddie Vedder, of Pearl Jam, also performs a song (a fierce version of “Masters of War”) for the documentary. But in the spirit of Zinn, here is Vedder’s spine-tingling performance of the Springsteen tune “My City of Ruins” during the Kennedy Center Honors last month. Appropriately enough, the track is available for download for $.99 on iTunes to benefit Artists for Peace and Justice Haiti Relief. (By simply adding this must-have song to your music library you are significantly contributing to helping the people of Haiti, so please download.)