Home The Right Kind of Journalist: Hannah More and Her Legacy of Fighting for The Abolition of Slavery by Jeremy Abegg-Guzman
Hannah More did not live a comfortable life. How could she? She lived during a time
when Africans were beaten, raped, and even burned alive as slaves in England. Instead of
turning a blind eye, Hannah More eventually became the most significant female
abolitionist of the 17th century. Born into a humble family, her social status did not stop her
from writing poems, plays, letters, and essays that revealed the horrors of the slave trade.
Her labor led to the emancipation of British slaves in 1833 (Prior, 2014). Today, journalists
face a similar horror with a culture that murders its own children through abortion. More’s
stance against slavery serves as an excellent example to journalists today and their war on
abortion. Two principles More lived by stand out in particular. She became more
disenchanted with the world the closer she got to God, and she fought for those who could
not fight for themselves.
Before she wrote as an abolitionist, Hannah More was a successful poet and
playwright. For her time, she was uncommonly learned and very skilled with both prose
and verse. Because of her talent, she often found herself surrounded by powdered wigs
throwing frivolous dinner parties with people who no longer remembered the importance
of simplicity or modesty (Prior, 2014, p. 100). She realized her Chrsitian sensibilities did
not align with upper-class life. Yearning to serve God, More retired from her success to live
a life focused on scripture and social reform. Similarly, journalists can be tempted to seek
personal glory instead of personal excellence. They might be tempted to cave to social
pressure and entertain people instead of informing them. It starts with little compromises, but little
compromises can corrupt a writer's character. A journalist must remember to
guard his heart against his own desire for wealth or success, and replace it with the fear of
the Lord. Like More, journalists must become disenchanted with the temptations of the
world so he can steadfastly report the truth when the world would rather hear lies.
But fleeing from the vices of the world is not enough. A good journalist must face the
world to protect those who can not protect themselves. In More’s day, many English citizens
were ignorant of the slave trade. They did not know that slaves were crammed into the
hulls of ships standing upright with barely enough room to breathe, nor that half of them
would die onboard. They did not know that slave women were raped above deck for
everyone to see nor that crews would throw their human cargo overboard to collect on
insurance policies (Prior, 2014, p. 110). When Hannah More saw the suffering these people
endured, she dedicated her life to setting them free. She believed slaves were made in the
image of God and chose to protect them when no one else would. In the same way, a
journalist is called to proclaim God’s truth and initiate change when no one else will. Every
day, abortions end the lives of little children whose ears never hear the sound of laughter
and whose mother’s decision deals the death blow. Children who have never even opened
their eyes have their skulls crushed and limbs ripped from their bodies in late-term
abortions. A journalist must preserve these precious children who can not defend
themselves. If children bear the image of God, then a journalist should be willing to go to
any length to protect their lives, no matter how impossible the task may seem. In Hannah
More’s own words, “one drop of water helps to swell the ocean; a spark of fire helps to give
light to the world. None are too small, too feeble, too poor to be of service. Think of this and
act.” (More, 2012).
[This essay won thrid place in the Essay Competition hosted by WJI Network]
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Walk the Linguistic Line: What Hannah More Teaches about the Use of Words by Anne Shearer
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