Welcome to the conversation!


Welcome to the conversation!

Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811-1896) best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), made her the most famous American woman of the 19th century and galvanized the abolition movement before the Civil War.

The Stowe Center is a 21st-century museum and program center using Stowe's story to inspire social justice and positive change.

The Salons at Stowe programs are a forum to connect the challenging issues (race, gender and class) that impelled Stowe to write and act with the contemporary face of those same issues. The Salon format is based on a robust level of audience participation, with the explicit goal of promoting civic engagement. Recent topics included: Teaching Acceptance; Is Prison the New Slavery; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Creativity and Change; Race, Gender and Politics Today; How to be an Advocate

This blog will expand the reach of these community conversations to the online audience. Add your posts and comments to keep the conversation going! Commit to action by clicking HERE to stay up to date on Salon and social justice news.

For updates on Stowe Center programs and events, sign up for our enews at http://harrietbeecherstowe.org/email.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Malala: "ONE...can change the world"


On October 9, 2012, while returning home on a school bus, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan's Swat Valley. After miraculously surviving the assassination attempt, and months of extensive medical attention and recovery, Malala has become an international advocate for education. As Katie Baker of The Daily Beast/Newsweek reported, The attack was meant to silence her—but instead it sparked a global wave of support for Malala and her friends and spotlighted the need to fight on behalf of all children for the right to go to school.

Last Friday, July 12, on her 16th birthday, Malala addressed foreign dignitaries and youth delegates at the United Nations and urged them to support the right for girls worldwide to go to school. We at the Stowe Center were especially struck by her quote on the image above, "One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world," which closely aligns with the words of Harriet Beecher Stowe herself:

"The way to be great lies though books, now, and not through battles...there is more done with pens than swords..."
Like Stowe, Malala has shown the courage to speak out on injustices, using her voice to inspire action and lead a global movement. We think Stowe would be very proud of Malala, as the Stowe Center is, for turning an act of violence and hatred into a call to action.

What will you do to speak out like Malala and Stowe? What issue inspires you to action? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.
You can read more about Malala's speech HERE or watch the clip below.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/11/world/gallery/malala-is-not-alone/index.html

Mala is not alone! Read the profiles of these other brave young women who are making positive change where they live.