BACKGROUND
Voices is a nonprofit arts, education, and social justice organization.
Inspired by the life and legacy of the people’s historian Howard Zinn (1922–2010), author of A People’s History of the United States, which has now sold more than 4 million copies, we believe that history from below offers rich resources for understanding the present and sparking visions of how we can work toward different futures.
By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—Voices seeks to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice to make their voices heard today.
We bring together actors, spoken word artists, poets, musicians, educators, and students to highlight the rich tradition of dissent in US history — past and present — and center voices that have often been marginalized or excluded from our textbooks and culture.
Our work has been featured on the History channel, The Daily Show, PBS, and National Public Radio. We have worked with many of the most prestigious arts organizations in the country. We have collaborated on two books, two teaching guides, and a major documentary film. Videos of our performances have been widely used in classrooms and shared online.
Voices was founded by a group of activists, artists and educators, led by Brenda Coughlin, with Zinn and Anthony Arnove, who together edited the book Voices of a People’s History of the United States. Our first performance took place in February 2003. We have since appeared on numerous stages and in classrooms across the country.
To see a complete list of past performers, please click here.
To see a complete list of past performances, please click here.
To see our free resources for educators, please click here.