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.

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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

What one 8-year-old asked Santa for this year

When you were 8 years old, what did you ask Santa for? A doll? A game? A book? Most kids spend weeks preparing their lists for Santa and dreaming of the toys and gifts they want most. But this year, a young boy North Carolina asked Santa for something different:

HT bully letter split jef 130918 16x9 608 Bullied Girl, Whose Brother Wrote Viral Letter to Santa, Surprised by Favorite Band

This September, Ryan Suffern, of Rocky Mount, N.C., wrote a letter to Santa asking that he stop the kids at school from picking on his fraternal twin sister, Amber:
"kid at school are still picking on Amber and its not fair because she doesnt do anything to them and it makes me mad. I prayed that they will stop but god is bisy and needs your help."

He also went on to ask Santa to have Amber's favorite band, Big Time Rush, to perform at her birthday party, thinking only of his sister in his Christmas wishes. His letter gained attention through social media and on September 20, ABC's Good Morning America (GMA) featured a special on Ryan and Amber's story and the bullying that Amber was facing. GMA even arranged for Amber to meet Big Time Rush with her family! Watch the heart-wrenching story:


"Bullying is a scourge that is taking our most precious resource: the young children of this country" 
- Josh Elliott, Good Morning America


 Ryan's letter brings attention to the bullying that kids of all ages face, and the power each of us has to make a difference on issues important to us. What will you ask Santa for this Christmas? Who will you stand up for?


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