You must
be the change you wish to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi
Those who
expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not
learned their history. - Joan Wallach Scott
If you
want to make enemies, try to change something. - Woodrow Wilson
Last Tuesday (August 18th) was the 95th
anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave
women the right to vote. When Tennessee
passed the legislation, the United States changed forever.
Over the weekend, I was reminded of another lady that
changed the United States forever sixty-nine years (69) prior to women having
the right to cast a ballot. That person was
Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The emotional story shows the effects of
slavery on individuals including not only the slaves, but also their masters
and traders.
The original name of the story was “The Man That Was a
Thing”, but changed to “Life Among the Lowly” when it appeared in Washington’s
National Era in 40 installments over a 10 month period. Less than a year after the whole story appeared
in the newspaper, the book was published and became one of the most popular books
by selling over 300,000 copies in less than a year. In November 1852, Stowe visited the White
House and upon meeting President Lincoln he said to her,
“So you are the little woman who
wrote the book that started this great war.”
When Stowe original wrote to Gamaliel Bailey, which was the
editor of the National Era, to tell him about her story she stated,
"I feel now that the time is
come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity
is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent."
Through the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe, I was reminded
that there are many ways to be an influence. It does not matter what stage of life you are
in you can do something that can affect one person and change the world.
What do
you have on the inside of you that can be used to change the world?
AND what
are you going to do about it?
Every
beginning is a consequence — every beginning ends some thing. - Paul Valery
Our only
security is our ability to change. - John Lilly
Sources
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