One Person Can Make a Difference

“It was a turbulent time. The nation was divided. People were hurting across the country.” Does this sound familiar? Those words might have been written today, but they weren’t. This is not the first time our nation has been in turmoil, and it probably won’t be the last. During these trying times of ugliness, unkindness, violence and deceitfulness, we can get caught in the undertow and get sucked under. Finding stories that uplift, encourage, and point to truth, kindness, gentleness, and inclusion seems very important. We must find them and share them. Sharing this one with you today. 

She was a forty-two-year-old mother of three and a teacher in the LA schools. She wondered what she could do to help ease the pain, to bring people together. It was only a few days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and she wrote a simple letter. 

In an NPR interview, she said: “I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help change those conditions in our society which led to the assassination and which contribute to the vast sea of misunderstanding, hate, fear and violence.”

Her parents were “concerned about others, and the values that they instilled in us about caring for and appreciating everyone of all colors and backgrounds — this is what we knew when we were growing up, that you cared about other people . . . And so, during the years, we were very aware of the issues of racism and civil rights in this country [when] black people had to sit at the back of the bus, black people couldn’t sit in the same seats in the restaurants that you could sit . . . Every day I would see, or read, about black children trying to get into school and seeing crowds of white people standing around spitting at them or yelling at them . . . and the beatings and the dogs and the hosings and the courage of so many people in that time.” 

Seeds planted early usually sprout. 

She was Harriet Glickman, and on April 15, 1968; she wrote a letter to Charles Schultz, the famous cartoonist. She and her family loved Peanuts, Peppermint Patty, and Charlie Brown. Harriet saw what influence these characters and Shultz’s cartoon strips had on children. Nearly 100 million people read the comic strip each week. She believed the creator of the popular Peanuts comic strip could play a small part in promoting tolerance and interracial friendship.“I’m sure one doesn’t make radical changes in so important an institution without a lot of shock waves from syndicates, clients, etc. You have, however, a stature and reputation which can withstand a great deal.”

Harriet was especially aware of the power of comics among the young. “And my feeling at the time was that I realized that black kids and white kids never saw themselves [depicted] together in the classroom.” In her missive, she urged Schultz to integrate his strip introducing a Black character. She didn’t know whether he would even read it or respond. Schultz read and responded. He had thought about this but didn’t want to “patronize our Negro friends.” The correspondence continued. On July 29th, he wrote to Harriet: “You will be pleased to know that I have taken the first step in doing something about presenting a Negro child in the comic strip… I have drawn an episode which I think will please you.” On a beach, an African-American child named Franklin came to life on July 31st as he returned a ball that Charlie Brown had lost. “Is this your beach ball, Charlie Brown?” Thus, on July 31st, Franklin Civil Rights came to the comics. 

According to the LA Times, someone once commented to her that ‘It took courage [to do what she did, to make a stand].’ She replied, "No it didn’t,it didn’t take courage for me to sit in Sherman Oaks in my comfortable home with my three children and type a letter... Courage was little Ruby Bridges, the little girl who integrated a school in the south who had to come with the National Guard with people spitting at her and yelling at her and throwing things at her and the parents who drew their children out. That was courage.”

In a speech at  the American University of Health Sciences in Signal Hill, California in  2018, talking to a group of children and adults, Glickman said, the 1960s in the United States was “a time long before any of you were born, a time when not everyone was understanding of other people, when young African Americans couldn’t go to the same beach as white children and when schools were separate.”

She told the children she taught and anyone else who would listen:  

“You can make a difference in making the world a better place. When you see something that makes you feel angry or upset, don’t just complain; do something about it. And remember that we all care for each other; we’re all the same loving, caring people.”

Harriet taught for a few more years, then lectured at various schools and universities, then retired to the role of consultant. 

In an article the LA Times wrote, “Harriet has a very interesting place in history.”  

The message Harriet Glickman has for everyone is, “One person can make a difference and everyone should try.” 

Also kudos go to Charles Schultz for taking that risk and following through on a wonderful idea.

Sources: American University, the Washington Post, the LA Times, and the Jon S. Randall Peace Page. I highly recommend his work it it awesome. Thank you Jon.