Nina Blalock
February 22, 2009
11-1
English III

Writing has the power to enact social change. All artists, including writers, are responsible to society to promote justice and change where it’s necessary. Writers have a special ability to awaken an audience’s imagination and bring them into a new world. This can be instrumental in bringing major issues to light.
In 2002, June Jordan wrote “The Bombing of Baghdad” in response to Americans bombing Iraq. This really bought the scene of Baghdad to reality. Americans knew about the bombing, but we couldn’t ever possibly imagine what it’s like to have our homes, schools, places of worship, businesses, towns, and cities destroyed by an enemy on the other side of the ocean. As a nation, we’ve never experienced anything like the bombing of Baghdad. However, Jordan used her power over language to create this scene in the minds of her readers.
If it wasn’t for writers and other artists, governments would get away with doing a lot of inhumane things. They already get away with spying and being corrupt, but writers help to fix some problems in politics. By labeling the bombers of Baghdad as American terrorists, Jordan showed her readers that just because an American does something doesn’t make it right. If anything it makes it twice as bad and hypocritical, because America is supposed to stand for justice.
All forms of creativity have the power to enact social change from Diana Ross singing, “I’m coming out,” to Leonardo DiCaprio showing the world the truth about, “Blood Diamonds.” Artists are truly the social workers for all of society.