“The Power of Words” written by Benita Porter, explains the effect and importance of words in daily life. Porter’s article describes how words got her through the hardest situations throughout her life. Reading the stories of countless authors, Porter states, “I felt nurtured through the words of authors who wrote in the context of their communities, triggering images and memories of extraordinary characters I longed to know and emulate.” When Porter was just eleven years old she exclaimed that on an August afternoon in 1963 she stood at Washington Monument. “For sixteen electrifying minutes, the melodious speaking voice of Martin Luther King Jr. flowed forth with a cascade of words to lift, inspire, instruct, and transform the world.” She states, “ Even fifty years later, my tears run as I recall my mother’s arms encircling me when he cried out, ‘Free at last.’” Porter goes on to describe how words and the art of writing helped her through when she lost a friend to ovarian cancer. Words were there for her when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 24. “Words comforted and healed...” her discontent when her “...beautiful first-born son was severely autistic with limited speech.” Words consoled her when her husband suffered a paralyzing stroke.
Porter states, “ Words became a valuable tool for analysis, confrontation and redress, my best friend in a fight for justice. Over time, my words morphed into a therapeutic balm, a means to dispel negative thoughts, a way to conjure positive self-affirmations. Humor crept into my pages, allowed me to laugh at the consequences of my own uniqueness. Words allowed me to embrace life, to claim my power as an African American woman, and to challenge ignorance and bigotry.” That single quote wrapped up writings whole meaning to me. Words affect us in such a huge way, and most the time we don’t notice it. The world itself runs on words. It is how we communicate, negotiate, and live. It is an escape. As Porter displays, words allow you to do anything. You can release bad emotions and collect positive ones. How do words really affect you as a person? Things people say, and words you read may change you as a person. What would the world be without a language? What would we do with no way of communication? How would that change the way we view and describe things? Porter portrays that no matter what she went through words were always there for her. You may lose a friend, or a job, or a family member, but no matter what the power and magic of words will never leave.
