How to Right a Wrong
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 03 March 2016 18:00
- Written by editor
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One recent Sunday evening, CTV reported that convicted Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton had written a book, for sale on Amazon.com.
People were angry. How could this man be allowed to possibly benefit from his terrible crimes? What about the victims’ still-grieving families? It’s just not right!
But the report concluded there wasn’t much authorities could do. Besides, Amazon is a huge American company, many thought, and we don’t have any power to stop them.
Yet the story doesn’t end there. Within hours, a small group of Canadians decided they could do something about it. At least, they had to try. The group, which included family-members of Pickton’s victims, launched a petition on Change.org calling on Amazon to remove the book from its site.
In no time, the petition was being shared across the country, among Change.org’s Canadian community of over 4 million people and beyond. Canadians from coast to coast to coast suddenly had a chance to band together and send a loud, clear message that couldn’t be ignored.
The public noticed, and so did the media. By Monday afternoon, more than 50,000 of you had spoken out.
Then Amazon noticed. By Monday evening, the book was gone, removed from their site.
Your actions matter. As petition organisers wrote in a message to supporters, “Because of your participation, a serial killer has been denied the publicity he sought, and the families of his victims will have a little more peace of mind.”
In the digital age every-day people have more power than ever before. When something is wrong in the world and no one does anything about it, the wrong will persist. But when people choose to act, wrongs can be righted.
When people choose to act, nothing is impossible, not even convincing the world’s biggest retail giant to stop selling something.
When you choose to act, the world becomes a different place.