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3 times courageous groups of people changed America for the better.

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Aspen Institute

We've all heard the inspiring Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

For many Americans, it sometimes feels like the closest we come to change-making is the one vote we cast at the polls every four years — an unfulfilling process that can leave us more frustrated with the system than hopeful that the changes we desire will ever come. It's tempting to trade in optimism for apathy.

But no person is powerless to create change. History has shown us time and time again that even the smallest groups can make their voices heard and inspire a positive change in not only their immediate communities, but across the country.


Here are three examples you may not know about of individuals and small groups taking a stand and creating big change.

1. The Delano Grape Strike boosts migrant farmworkers.

Image by Joel Levine/Wikimedia Commons.

The life of a farmer has never been an easy one, but it has improved significantly in the past 40 years thanks to the efforts of Dolores Huerta, Cesar Chavez, a community of like-minded people, and ... grapes.

Huerta and Chavez, frustrated with the low wages, lack of health care, and poor conditions their fellow farmers were forced to work in, formed the National Farm Workers Association in 1962. They went door-to-door to unite local farmers — who were discriminated against and sometimes even pitted against one another whenever they demanded better wages — to create a community of workers seeking the basic rights they deserved.

Through a series of organized boycotts starting on Sept. 8, 1965, and lasting more than five years, the Delano Grape Strike aimed to bring national attention to the injustices facing migrant workers.


Image via iStock.

And it did just that. More than 14 million Americans joined the boycott aimed at two of the largest corporations involved in the grape industry in Delano, California: Schenley Industries and the DiGiorgio Corporation.

The corporations were eventually pressured to renegotiate their farmers' contracts, raising their wages, giving them access to health care, and bringing an end to "labor contracting," a system wherein jobs could be assigned by favoritism and bribery.

Huerta and Chavez knew that relentless persistence was one of their greatest allies in the fight for farmers' rights, and that the best way to go about obtaining those rights would be to hit their oppressors where it hurt them the most: their wallets.

If there was ever an accomplishment that called for a celebratory glass of wine, it was this one.

2. Ralph Nader helps start a revolution of the American auto industry.

The 1960s was one of the most innovative and just plain awesome decades that the American auto industry has ever seen. The Big Three (aka GM, Ford, and Chrysler), the Mustang, the GTO, "American muscle" — life was like a tattoo of a bald eagle wrapped in barbed wire back then.

Image via iStock.

Of course, there was a downside to all this coolness: safety. With little regulation to guide them and even fewer laws to govern them, many automobile manufacturers opted to cut corners in their production process in order to meet growing demand as quickly (and as cheaply) as possible.

That was until safety-conscious rebel Ralph Nader published "Unsafe at Any Speed" in 1965, a revolutionary book that called out the Big Three (among other automakers) for the dangers their negligence was placing upon the public.

Ralph Nader aka "The Nadester." Image by Sage Ross/Flickr.

The book became an instant bestseller, and The Big Three's subsequent efforts to blackmail and drag Nader's name through the mud only further spurred the public to action.

When faced with Nader's cold, hard data and increasing demand for accountability, Congress soon passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, which not only established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but also implemented several safety regulations — chiefly, seat belts, front head restraints, and stronger windshields — that have saved over 250,000 lives in the past 40 years alone.

One man taking on a booming industry in a time when it could do no wrong, and winning. Sometimes the pen truly is mightier than the sword.

Speaking of automobile safety...

3. MADD changes how we think about drinking and driving.

Founded in 1980 by Candace Lightner, the mother of a 13-year-old girl who was tragically killed by a drunk driver, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has been instrumental in implementing many of the modern laws and safety features on vehicles related to drunk driving over the years.

The organization was a crucial part of Congress' decision to lower the national legal blood-alcohol content limit of a driver from 0.10 to 0.08 in 2000, campaigned for breath alcohol ignition interlock devices to be installed in the vehicles of drunk driving offenders, and helped develop a dedicated National Traffic Safety Fund.


Alcohol ignition interlock system. Say that five times fast. Image via iStock.

The punishments for drunk drivers weren't all that severe — or even defined before MADD came to be — and the results the organization has engendered in the time since have been nothing short of astounding.

Thanks in large part to the awareness MADD brought to the issue of drunk driving, alcohol-related vehicle fatalities have decreased 52% since 1982.

In states where ignition interlock devices have become mandatory for all drunk driving offenders, fatalities have been reduced by over 30%.

Even advocates for decriminalizing drunk driving like Radley Balko cannot deny the effect MADD has had on society.

"In fairness, MADD deserves credit for raising awareness of the dangers of driving while intoxicated," Balko wrote in a 2010 article. "It was almost certainly MADD's dogged efforts to spark public debate that affected the drop in fatalities."

Those "dogged efforts" were part of Lightner's quest to turn a personal tragedy into a means of educating the world about the dangers of drunk driving. The massive public awareness campaign included press conferences and candlelight vigils, protesting at state capitols, tying red ribbons onto cars, and popularizing the term "designated driver," to name a few.

MADD was able to create an immense change by simply shining a light on an issue that many people didn't realize was an issue in the first place. And now, there is at least one MADD office in every U.S. state, as well as each province in Canada.

I guess you could say that if you really want to get things done ... (*removes sunglasses*) ... you gotta get mad.

It's easy to feel powerless when looking over the average day's headlines. But change is possible.

It's disheartening to see our government locked in seemingly endless squabbles that garner little to no results. We see the same haunting reminders of centuries-old hatred and bigotry being revived on our streets. For every step we take toward a brighter world, it sometimes seems as if we take two steps back.

But as Winston Churchill once famously declared, "To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often."

Change is something we're all capable of, no matter how insurmountable the odds, and one step toward it is recognizing how it has been achieved before.

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Three women, three MS journeys: How multiple sclerosis looks different for everyone

Gina, Nathalie and Helga share their reactions to being diagnosed with MS and how they stay informed and positive in the face of ever-changing symptoms.

Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga, Nathalie and Gina all have MS, and their experiences show how differently the disease can manifest.

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It’s been 155 years since neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot gave the first lecture on a mysterious progressive illness he called “multiple sclerosis.” Since then, we’ve learned a lot. We know MS causes the immune system to attack healthy tissue, including damaging the brain and spinal cord. Resulting symptoms can be debilitating and include fatigue, blurred vision, memory problems and weakness. Huge advancements in our understanding of MS and its underlying causes, as well as treatment advances, have been made in the past few decades, but MS remains a complex and unpredictable reality for the 2.8 million+ people diagnosed around the world.

Ironically, the only real constant for people living with MS is change. There’s no set pattern or standard progression of the disease, so each person’s experience is unique. Some people with MS have mild symptoms that worsen slowly but sometimes improve, while others can have severe symptoms that drastically alter their daily lives.

All people with MS share some things in common, however, such as the need to stay informed on the ever-evolving research, find various lines of support and try to remain hopeful as they continue living with the disease.

To better understand what navigating life with MS really looks like, three women shared their MS stories with us. Their journeys demonstrate how MS can look different for different people and interestingly, how the language used to talk about the disease can greatly impact how people understand their realities.

woman with horse, woman riding horseGina loves riding her horse, Benita.Courtesy of Sanofi

Gina—Hamburg, Germany (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2017)

When her youngest son was 4 months old, Gina started having problems with her eye. She’d soon learn she was experiencing optic neuritis—her first symptom of MS.

“Immediately after the diagnosis, I looked up facts on MS because I didn’t know anything about it,” Gina says. “And as soon as I knew what could really happen with this disease, I actually got scared.”

As her family’s primary income provider, she worried about how MS would impact her ability to work as a writer and editor. Her family was afraid she was going to end up in a wheelchair. However, for now, Gina’s MS is managed well enough that she still works full-time and is able to be active.

“When I tell somebody that I have MS, they often don't believe me the first time because I don't fulfill any stereotypes,” she says.

Overwhelmed by negative perspectives on living with MS, Gina sought support in the online MS community, which she found to be much more positive.

“I think it’s important to use as many positive words as you can when talking about MS.” It’s important to be realistic while also conveying hope, she says. “MS is an insidious disease that can cause many bad symptoms…that can be frightening, and you can't gloss over it, either.”

To give back to the online community that helped her so much, Gina started a blog to share her story and help others trying to learn about their diagnosis.

Though she deals with fatigue and cognitive dysfunction sometimes, Gina stays active swimming, biking, riding horses and playing with her sons, who are now 11 and 6.

Cognitive dysfunction is common in MS, with over half of people affected. It can impact memory, attention, planning, and word-finding. As with many aspects of MS, some people experience mild changes, while others face more challenges.

Gina says that while there’s still a lot of education about MS needed, she feels positive about the future of MS because there’s so much research being done.

woman in wheelchair holding medal, woman rowingNathalie is an award-winning rower with multiple international titles.Courtesy of Sanofi

Nathalie — Pennes Mirabeau, France (diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in 2002)

Nathalie was a teenager and a competitive athlete when she noticed her first symptoms of MS, but it would take four years of “limbo” before she was diagnosed.

“Ultimately, the diagnosis was more of a relief, than a shock,” she says. “Because when you have signs and you don’t know why, it’s worse than knowing, in the end, what you have.”

However, learning more about the disease—and the realities of disease progression—scared her.

“That glimpse of the future was direct and traumatic,” she says. Her neurologist explained that the disease evolves differently for everyone, and her situation might end up being serious or very mild. So, she decided to stop comparing herself to others with MS.

She said to herself, “We’ll see what happens, and you’ll manage it bit by bit.”

By 2005, Nathalie’s MS had progressed to the point of needing a wheelchair. However, that has not dampened her competitive spirit.

Nathalie began her international rowing career in 2009 and has won multiple world titles, including two Paralympic medals—silver in London and bronze in Tokyo. Now, at 42, she still trains 11 times a week. Fatigue can be a problem, and sometimes hard workouts leave her with muscle stiffness and shaking, but she credits her ongoing sports career for helping her feel in tune with her body’s signals.

“Over the years, I’ve learned to listen to my body, letting my body guide when I need to stop and take breaks,” she says.

Nathalie explains that she used to only look backwards because of the initial shock of her diagnosis. In time, she stopped thinking about what she couldn’t do anymore and focused on her future. She now lives in the following mindset: “Even when doors close, don’t miss out on those that open.” Instead of focusing on what she can’t do, she focuses on the opportunities she still has. Right now, this includes her training for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will compete for another rowing medal.

“I only go forward,” she says. “Well, I try, anyway…It’s easy to say, it’s not always easy to do. But that’s what I try to do.”

woman exiting water after swimming, woman with great daneHelga's Great Dane has become a helpful and beloved companion.Courtesy of Sanofi

Helga—Johannesburg, South Africa (diagnosed with relapsing multiple sclerosis in 2010)

When Helga first started having balance issues and numbness in her feet, she chalked it up to her training as a runner. But when the numbness moved to her face, she knew something was wrong. She never guessed it was MS.

“When I was diagnosed, I felt completely overwhelmed and clueless,” Helga says. “I felt that I had nowhere near enough information. I did not know anything about the disease…I had no idea that it was going to be a process of continually monitoring and adjusting your lifestyle.”

In the beginning, Helga’s symptoms developed slowly, and she didn’t appear ill to others. She was even able to run for a few years after her diagnosis, but she couldn’t do marathons anymore, and she began to fall frequently due to balance issues and right-foot dragging. Then her cognition issues became more problematic, especially in her job as a trainer in a printing company.

“My executive function, decision-making and short-term memory were affected to the point that I was eventually medically unfit for work,” she says. She stopped working in 2017.

However, she didn’t stop living life. Even though she could no longer run, she continued to swim competitively. She got a Great Dane puppy and trained him as a service dog to help her walk. She also serves as vice chair of the patient support organization Multiple Sclerosis South Africa, and she advises others who have been diagnosed to join a patient advocacy group as soon as possible to get reliable information and meet others with MS.

Helga says she is “hopeful” about the future of MS. “I must say that I am so grateful that we have all the new medications available, because my life would not be the same if it wasn't for that,” she adds.

Part of how she manages her MS is by looking at the positives.

“If I could tell the world one thing about MS, it would be that MS is an incurable disease of the nervous system, but it's also the greatest teacher of valuing your health, family, friends, and managing change in your life,” she says. “My life is diversified in a way that I never, ever thought it would, and MS has been honestly the greatest teacher.”

Each MS journey is unique – with each person impacted experiencing different struggles, successes, and feelings as they manage this unpredictable disease. But the common thread is clear – there is a critical need for information, support, and hope. We are proud to participate in World MS Day and share these incredible stories of living life while living with MS. To learn more about MS, go to https://www.sanofi.com/why-words-really-matter-when-it-comes-to-multiple-sclerosis.

MAT-GLB-2301642-v1.0-05/2023

This article was sponsored by Sanofi. Participants were compensated when applicable.

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