Remember how in US History class you learned about Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Remember how the Emancipation Proclamation was supposed to end slavery in the US. Well...

Today it is estimated that 27 million people live a life of slavery, globally. Don't think for a second that some of those people are not in the US. Just because we live in a country where people are no longer forced to work the fields of a plantation doesn't mean that men and women and children aren't forced to do horrible things against their will.

I am not undermining the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation had a profound impact on millions of people. It did. It helped shape our nation. I'm just saying that we need to put aside naiveity and open our eyes to the injustices that surround us.

Modern day slavery puts on a different mask. Slaves can still be found in the fields, but they can also be found in the basements and attics that have been transformed into sweatshops. They are found in the kitchens of restaurants. They are found locked in suburban homes waiting for 'Johns'. They are found on the streets in your local red light district. They are there. You just may have not recognized them as slaves because they didn't look like the slaves from your history books. I didn't.

Some friends of mine are hosting an event this Thursday night, November 8, 2007 at 7PM, in hopes to bring this injustice to light. They are bringing in David Batstone and the Not For Sale Campaign to give a talk on modern day slavery and how we should be reacting to this injustice. Batstone is the author of the book Not For Sale and has traveled the world investigating the slave trade.

Please come out and listen to his talk and see his presentation.

Thursday, November 8, 2007, 7PM
117 S. West Street, Raleigh, NC map

Labels: activism