Does Writing Have the Power to Enact Social Change?

Honestly, I think writing has remarkable powers, some which people don’t generally think about. For example, people can write testimonials, which persuade people to maybe buy a certain product, or to trust any given business. People can write editorials, which can disprove an authors article or book that wasn’t necessarily as checked for facts as it should have been. People write poetry, which moves others deeply. Poetry is one form of writing that can most definitely enact change. Poets all over the world write from their souls, write about what matters most: whether that’s about the environment, personal experiences, or about social classes, or oppression, poetry moves and changes those who read it. And writing doesn’t necessarily have to be an essay, or poem, or speech: someone has to write laws, and laws certainly effect social change. When a law is created, it is generally abided, and if its not, it is enforced. I think writing is one of the things that most often causes social change. The poem by June Jordan was really moving, for me. The second stanza, especially, was well written. Although one of the shortest in the whole poem, the second stanza really struck a chord with me,
“The bombing of Baghdad
did not obliterate the distance or the time
between my body and the breath
of my beloved”
This stanza has a slight shock factor, for me. After the first stanza, full of “we bombed…”’s, I wasn’t expecting any mention of a beloved of the narrator. The stanza is a direct protest of the former stanza. I think this is a perfect example of a piece of writing that may enact social change. It speaks to me, and I’m sure to anyone else who may read this.