Books That Inspire 2005
 
Harriet Tubman
Callie Smith Grant


I often see and hear about wrong or bad things that make me want to take action and change whatever it is for the better -- but then what can I do, just one person alone? Then I read about the life of Harriet Tubman and felt inspired, and took courage in the fact that one person did make a difference and that if enough of us would just do something, then the world could be changed for the better. She was born into slavery and witnessed her brothers and sisters being sold like animals.

She was taken from home and sold for the first time at the age of six. “Slaves owned nothing--not even themselves--and the life of a slave was one of poverty, fear, and brutally hard work.” She knew slavery was wrong, so she escaped to the northern states, but she did not just escape. Nineteen times she returned on her own to free three hundred men, women, and children from bondage. She was one person who, seeing something wrong, decided to take action and make a difference regardless of the personal risk of recapture and certain harsh punishment.
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James Hirst
Information Technology Specialist II
Libraries Systems