Salons at Stowe: ThinkB4YouSpeak.com

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.

Monday, October 21, 2013

ThinkB4YouSpeak.com

Last Thursday was Spirit Day 2013, and our blog post talked about this international movement which encourages people to wear purple in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth who are often victims of bullying. Another campaign, ThinkB4YouSpeak, raises awareness of negative language and phrases like "That's so gay," which are directed at lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people. The website states that "The common use of anti-LGBT language is directly related to an even bigger problem – the bullying and harassment of LGBT students."

ThinkB4YouSpeak features a live feed which tracks the use of the words "fag," "dyke" and "so gay" on Twitter as a motivator for visitors to "Get Involved," "Get Informed" and "Sign the Pledge" not to use such offensive and derrogatory language.

Does the website change your perspective on the use of certain words? How will you stand up and speak out against this form of bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month?

1 comment:

Rachel K. said...: Another good website is the "It Gets better Project." You can sign a pledge which spreads the message of hope to LGBT youth.

http://www.itgetsbetter.org/page/s/pledge?gclid=CM7_l7bbm7oCFXFe4godVW4AZA; October 24, 2013 at 2:24 PM