The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change.

People in the anti-war movement used it. He had been scheduled to speak at the Santa Monica Museum of Art for an event titled "A Collection of Ideas. in 1951.

Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United States. Howard Zinn (August 24 1922 – January 27 2010) was an American academic historian author playwright and social activist. He wrote extensively about the civil rights and anti-war movements as well as of the labor history of the United States.