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.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

#AllHandsonDeck: Street Art for Change in Ferguson



In the wake of the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown and the failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for Brown's death, much attention has rightfully been paid to the flaws in the U.S. criminal justice system and the subsequent protests that have erupted over these institutional inequities. 



Yet, beneath the protests lies another, less overt, form of deliberate mobilization and social action, that of street art. St. Louis based artist Damon Davis spent three days creating "All Hands on Deck" an outdoor exhibition displaying the hands of a diverse range of activists and Ferguson community members. The project serves a dual purpose-beautifying the streets and businesses of Ferguson and exemplifying the need for solidarity in the fight against racial profiling and social inequities.


What do you think of the project? Is it a legitimate way to enact positive action? In what ways can art galvanize individuals to create change? How does art, and street art in particular, function as an inclusive and subversive space? Let us know what you think!

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