What are citizens to do when confronted by unjust laws and when their government commits crimes? Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela all advocated and practiced civil disobedience. This was not just some opportunistic temporary tactic. Non-violent civil disobedience was a deeply held moral position. Thoreau in his classic essay "Civil Disobedience" wrote, "Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure." He went to jail in opposition to the 1846-48 U.S. war against Mexico. When his friend and fellow writer Ralph Waldo Emerson visited him in prison, he reportedly asked, "What are you doing in there?' To which Thoreau replied, "What are you doing out there?"

Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, professor emeritus at Boston University, is perhaps this country's premier radical historian. He was born in Brooklyn in 1922. His parents were poor immigrants. During World War II, he saw combat duty as an air force bombardier. After the war, he went to Columbia University on the GI Bill. He was an active figure in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. Today, he speaks all over the country before large and enthusiastic audiences. He's a regular contributor to "The Progressive" magazine. His masterpiece, "A People's History of the United States," continues to sell in huge numbers. His latest books are "A Power Governments Cannot Suppress" and "Original Zinn" with David Barsamian.