After reading “She Ran From the Cut…” by Jina Moore and “The Art of Social Change” by Kwame Anthony Appiah in BB Week 6, write a post about how conversation works to bring about social change in both cases. Consider both meanings of conversation that Appiah references (49); here’s a link to the definition that I showed you in class. What guidelines for successful conversations are suggested by these readings?
In She Ran From the Cut, and Helped Thousands of Other Girls Escape Too by Jina Moore, Ms. Leng’ete had to bring about social change against the cut by talking to people and showing them the dangers of the cut. She had to start conversations with at first younger men and getting them to see the consequences and dangers that the cut could bring. Then she was able to talk to the elders and start talking on a larger scale about how dangerous the cut is and why her community should get rid of it. At first it wasn’t easy and she was shunned for not following in the communities tradition but she kept moving forward and having the perseverance to keep going and not give in to the people around her. Finally people started listening and she was able to make a change and get rid of the cut through the conversations she made. Now in The Art of Social Change by Kwame Anthony Appiah they were working to getting rid of the foot binding ceremony for young girls and daughters. This was a tradition where young girls would have their last 4 toes bound so they would curl up under the sole of the foot in a very painful process. People saw that this ritual was something that should not be practiced as it caused numerous walking problems and harm to their young daughters. A campaign was made in the late 19th century to get rid of foot binding. In order to have this campaign work people needed to be able to have conversations about the dangers of foot binding and why we should get rid of it. So people would have one-on-one conversations and then big public conversations expressing concerns. They were working on changing people’s minds and opinions over this tradition that everyone thought was normal. Finally the word started to spread and people started to see that sometimes change is a good thing and to break one tradition will lead to many more possibilities for the future.
To have a good conversation as shown throughout the two reading is to one have respect for people and their opinions. Everyone has their own idea of how things should be and we cant be rude or dismissive about their ideas. Then they won’t want to listen and they are less likely to change their minds. Another guideline is to persevere. Ms. Leng’ete didn’t give up when she was being shunned or no one would listen. The campaign didn’t give up after many centuries of nothing changed. They all kept going and kept fighting for what they believe in. The last guideline I saw was starting small. Start with a small group of people that will listen then from there expand your horizons. If you start too big not everyone will listen and more people will not be willing to change their own minds.
