You Are Changing the World in Ways You May Not See

Cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead is perhaps best known for what she said about social progress: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

There are many events in history that exemplify this nicely, and today is the anniversary of an important one.  It was on this day in 1852 that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published; it sold 10,000 copies in its first week, and about 2 million copies by 1857. 

This book—written by this woman–was the main impetus for the abolition of slavery.  Until this time, most northerners regarded slavery as an abomination, but were fairly well insulated from its horrors because they were happening far away. When Uncle Tom’s Cabin came into their lives, huge numbers of people decided that this institution really had to vanish, and forced its removal immediately and forever.

This is something folks would do well to keep circulating in their minds, i.e., we who care about the world around us make a difference, and it’s more profound than most of us will ever know.