Finding a subject/Finding a voice 2/23

Recently, I read the popular book and now movie, "The Help".  The book is about the hidden side of African-American maids of the 50s, doing everything for affluent Southern families from cleaning their toilets to raising their children.  With this story so freshly on my mind, I was interested to read an article about a young black girl who chose to speak up about the racial injustices in America and particularly the South.  While laws were supposedly in place against discrimination by the 1950s, they were rarely enforced.  The fact was that the majority of blacks knew that they were unwanted in the white world and did not want to mess with the powerful whites who controlled their chance at jobs, their government, and held the power to ruin their lives if they so desired.  It's interesting that Clarissa, the girl who wrote the article, mentions that simply by speaking up to the NCAA she became the face of thousands of other African-Americans too scared to risk their lives and speak out against the injustices committed against them.  I know that there are still racial issues in the U.S., but reading articles like "The Plaintiff Speaks" reminds me of how terrible things were less than a hundred years ago.  It reminds me that to cause change, we must confront our fears and speak out about the things we believe in.