Janet Willen and Marjorie Gann: March is Women’s History Month in the U.S., a time to honor women who had the courage to speak up when people in power wanted to keep them quiet. We’re celebrating by showcasing Speak a Word for Freedom: Women against Slavery, which tells the stories of fourteen of these women, abolitionists past and present.
Nineteenth-century Englishwoman Elizabeth Heyrick felt she had no choice but to omit her name from her pamphlet Immediate, not Gradual Abolition, urging a quick end to slavery. In 1824 neither men nor women wanted to hear what a woman had to say on the topic. That didn’t stop her.
When U.S. President Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1862, his first words were, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!” The book was Uncle Tom’s Cabin. It opened people’s eyes to slavery’s horrors, turned the North against the South and paved the way for the American Civil War.
Nina Smith, one of today’s heroes, heads an organization that works to free young children enslaved in rug factories in Afghanistan, India and Nepal. Some of the kids are forced to sleep near looms and work seventeen-hour days. When Smith started her work, she thought everyone would agree that slavery was wrong, but she found resistance in surprising places.
These women’s stories and more are highlighted in Speak a Word for Freedom. The book is a critical success:
“An inspiring collection of those who have fought and continue to fight against the evil of slavery and an effectively solemn reminder that slavery remains a global plague.” Kirkus Reviews
“A powerful indictment of human rights abuses and tribute to the women who have fought them.” Starred review, Publishers Weekly
We also wrote the award-winning book Five Thousand Years of Slavery.
GIVEAWAY: Enter for your chance to win a copy of Speak a Word for Freedom by filling in the entry form below. US and Canada only, March 21-31, 2016. Winner to be announced on April 1, 2016. Giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Sheelagh for winning a copy of the book.