Voices of a People's History of the United States in the 21st Century Documents of Hope and Resistance

Twenty-first century social movements come to life through speeches, essays, and other documents of activism, protest, and social change.

Gathering more than 100 texts from social movements that have shaped the 21st century, this powerful book includes contributions from Angela Y. Davis, Nick Estes, Colin Kaepernick, Rebecca Solnit, Christian Smalls, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Howard Zinn, Rev. William Barber, Bree Newsome, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Tarana J. Burke, Dream Defenders, Sins Invalid, Mariame Kaba, Naomi Klein, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Linda Sarsour, Chelsea E. Manning, Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald, Julian Brave NoiseCat, H. Melt, and others.
 
Inspired by the original Voices of a People’s History of the United States, the book features speeches, essays, poems, and calls to action from Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Indigenous struggles, immigrant rights activists, the environmental movement, disability justice organizers, and frontline workers during the global pandemic who spoke out against the life-threatening conditions of their labor. Together, their words remind us that history is made not only by the rich and powerful, but by ordinary people taking collective action.

ANTHONY ARNOVE is the editor of several books, including Voices of a People’s History of the United States, which he co-edited with Howard Zinn. He also wrote the introduction for the new 35th anniversary edition of Zinn’s classic book A People’s History of the United States. Arnove cofounded the nonprofit education and arts organization Voices of a People’s History of the United States; wrote, directed, and produced the documentary and also stage and television versions of The People Speak with Stephen Rea and Colin Firth. He also produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Dirty Wars.

HALEY PESSIN is a socialist activist based in New York City. She is a member of the AfroSocialist and Socialists of Color Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America. Her writing has appeared in New Politics and she is on the editorial board of Tempestmag.org. She frequently speaks on the topics of mass incarceration and the Black Liberation struggle.