When he was twenty-five, WLG (he told me I could call him that) started to work in the abolitionist movement to end slavery. He worked for a Quaker newspaper named the Genius of Universal Emancipation. He chose to criticize a merchant who dealt in the slave trade. He was arrested for what he wrote in the newspaper and spent seven weeks in jail. Not long after that, he started his own newspaper, known as theLiberator.

"My country is the world, and my countrymen are mankind". This was the slogan for the Liberator. It was also true about the life and spirit of Garrison. He had the help of other abolitionists, such as Frederick Douglass and Lewis Hayden. Garrison's spirit caused him to be hated by people who wanted to maintain slavery. The state of Georgia actually offered five thousand dollars for Garrison's arrest and conviction. This was done because of Garrison's efforts to help a woman named Prudence Crandall open a school for black girls in Boston. In other words, they wanted to arrest him only for believing (and speaking on it) that "all men are created equal." He later criticized ed the Declaration of Independence as nothing but words of hypocrisy, written on parchment of untruth. Garrison claimed, "I am aware that many object to the severity of my language, but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice."

And what about you, friend? Do you, too, see hypocrisy, lies, and the ways of the unjust in your daily life? These events can take place in the halls of our government or on your own school grounds. Garrison should indeed inspire you to take action. This was a man who could have more easily profited from slavery than he did by fighting it. Ahhh... but he did not! He took the road less traveled. You can do it, too. Go out and let your light shine on the world!

Kevin

Please email me at: kevin1@ustrek.org