Collectivity reduces fear

Q: What made you continue your involvement in the movement despite your fears?




“But being involved in a cause you believed in, and also working together with other people, was very important in diminishing my fear. Collectivity reduces fear. Community reduces fear. Doing something with other people reduces fear.”



A: If you believed very fervently in what you were doing, if you believed that what you were doing was right, then you were fearful, but you overcame it. Otherwise, you succumbed to those fears and wouldn’t do things that led to fearsome situations. But being involved in a cause you believed in, and also working together with other people, was very important in diminishing my fear. Collectivity reduces fear. Community reduces fear. Doing something with other people reduces fear. I’m sure that soldiers overcome their fear because they are together with other soldiers, even though they still have reason to fear. For me and other people during that time, being part of a movement you believed in and being associated with other people who believed in the same thing, helped you overcome your fear.






Howard Zinn was a political-science professor, historian, social activist and playwright, best known for his book “A People’s History of the United States.” In 1956, Zinn became a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta, a school for black women, where he soon became involved in the civil rights movement. When


he was fired in 1963 for insubordination related to his protest work, he moved to Boston University, where he became a leading critic of the Vietnam War.



Live The Life You've Dreamed,
Derrick
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