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Understanding Brazil’s Present Day Quilombos: A Small Term for a Big Reality

During a conference in March 2012 on race and racism in Brazil, a Brazilian sociologist—and expert on affirmative action—posed a significant question about black rural communities in Brazil: “Those communities, do they actually descend from runaway s

11 Facts About Modern Day Slavery

  It’s not just sex Forced Labor is much more rampant than sex trafficking. In fact, 65% of the world’s slaves are in a forced labor situation. [1] Watch what you eat 90% of companies shipping shrimp to the U.S. use some type of bonded or forced lab

Why I Became Involved in the Human Trafficking Fight: The Business Role in Human Trafficking

When I first reached the decision to support the creation of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center almost 20 years ago, I believed that the story of the Underground Railroad and the abolition of slavery needed to be recalled in their own r

“It was always in my heart.” Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, and His Fight Against Child Slavery

On Friday, Kailash Satyarthi became a Nobel Peace Prize winner, alongside Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.[1] The world has spoken. Children’s rights, and women’s rights, are important. Mr. Satyarthi has over thirty years of human rights experien

Fair Trade in One Local Community

As the owner of a growing Fair Trade shop in Northern Kentucky, I have plenty of opportunities to talk with people about what Fair Trade is, as well as what it isn't. While I definitely find that the general public's awareness of sweatshops, unfair w

Language Matters: Defining Human Trafficking and Slavery

“The way we think about problems is extremely sensitive to the language used to describe them.” - Deborah Stone, Policy Paradox Language is fundamentally how we as humans communicate meaning. We choose specific words to mean specific things. It is al

Human Trafficking Behind Bars and Beyond.

Their stories go beyond heart break, but they are true: At age 11, she ran away from home because of an alcoholic mother and a sexually abusive step-father. After three days on the street, a much older man befriended her, took her home, clothed and f

Will You Pay a Penny More? The Clinton Global Initiative and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

From a harvest of shame to grounds for hope, a group of farmworkers are changing the tomato growing industry and getting recognized for their effort. The Clinton Global Initiative this last week gave two of the co-founders of Coalition of Immokalee W

Remembering and Interpreting Northern Slavery

The perception that American slavery existed exclusively in the South persists even after decades of scholarship detailing slavery in the North. Several factors contribute to the perpetuation of the slavery as Southern myth. To be sure, the overwhelm

Am I Still Not a Man and a Brother?

As noted in a recent gallery marking the 175th anniversary of Anti-Slavery International, photographs and images have long been central to antislavery campaigns. In this guest post drawn from a longer article, historian Zoe Trodd asks what contempor