Anti-Slavery Day.
It’s the 18th of October. That means it’s Anti-Slavery Day!!!
In honor of the day, I want to challenge each and every one of you reading this to think hard about what YOU – yes, YOU – can do to help bring an end to slavery. (Basically, I think a major next step in ending slavery is about ending poverty and raising people’s quality of life. [You can read about that in more detail in the conclusion to my dissertation, which is here.] This broadens the spectrum of what you can do to help, so don’t think you don’t have a role to play!)
- Wilberforce was a politician.
- Wedgwood was a potter.
- Clarkson was headed for the ministry in the Anglican church.
- Morel was a clerk and a journalist.
- Garrison was a compositor.
The people on the outside, the people who weren’t and had never been slaves, who helped make a difference on behalf of freedom weren’t like me. They didn’t move to Hull to get degrees in the subject. They were people with real jobs who, when confronted with the horrors of slavery, made decisions to take action.
So wrack your brains, and tell me how you think you can be involved in fighting injustice around the world!
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You can also get involved by joining forces with one of the many great organizations already doing work. Here are some of my favorites:
Free the Slaves (I freely admit bias towards this one. You can read why here.)
These Numbers Have Faces (I know the founder’s brother! He was a Rotary Scholar like me.)
Trafficking HOPE (Baton Rouge based!!)
Anti Slavery International (The oldest in the business!)
Love146 (You can read more about their founder here.)
