Tag: slaves

Help end modern day slavery (2011)

Slavery is wrong
Slavery is wrong

Jan. 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Modern day slavery exists in the world today for 27 million held in some form of captivity. 80% of them are women; 50% are underage children and 70% of the females are trafficked for sexual exploitation purposes.

These are not prostitutes. These are women and girls that are being prostituted.

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report, every year:

  • 200,000 American children are at risk for trafficking into the sex industry
  • 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked into the United States
  • 5,000-7,000 people are trafficked into the United States from East Asia and the Pacific
  • 3,500-5,500 people are trafficked into the United States from each of the following regions: Latin America, Europe, and Eurasia

On Jan. 12, 2010 a massive earthquake destroyed much of Haiti. Since the earthquake it’s estimated that more than 2,000 Haitian children have been sold into slavery and trafficked to other countries.

Each year, 800,000 people become human trafficking victims and are transported across international borders. According to the Texas Attorney General, 20 percent of those people (or 160,000 people) pass through Texas.

Closer to home, Irving Police busted a man earlier this month for trafficking children through Dallas.

Modern slavery is alive and all around us.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say you did not know.” – William Willberforce

Find out more…

And finally, I challenge you to do at least 1 thing today to help raise awareness. Whether it’s a Facebook status update, changing your online avatar, a Twitter update, sharing a link to this post or one of the great resources listed here… do something.

Help end modern day slavery (and five ways you can help)

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day…

It’s also the just a few days away from the 146th anniversary of the day our 13th Amendment was introduced to Congress — which set out to abolish slavery in the United States.

Yet today — modern day slavery still exists — in so many forms.

Sex trade, immigrant farmers working in Florida, children mining for coltan, chocolate and coffee farmers around the world — and so much more.

I encourage you to do a 5 things today…

1. Change your Twitter/Facebook/MySpace avatar to support One Voice to End Slavery:

2. Join One Voice to End Slavery

3. Visit the Human Trafficking section on Change.org and read at least 5 articles

4. Share the link to at least one story from Change.org on Facebook or Twitter

5. Watch David Bastone talk about human trafficking at Google:

Then let us know what you learn.

What impacted you the most? What did you learn when doing one (or all) of the steps above?

What other steps have you taken to end modern day slavery?

12/365 freedom

12/365
12/365
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D. Blundell.

freedom

i am not for sale.
you are not for sale.
no one should be for sale.

trafficking is…
to be taken against your will, bought, sold and transported into
slavery for sexual exploitation, sweat shops, child brides, circuses,
sacrificial worship, forced begging, sale of human organs, farm
labour, domestic servitude. 80% of all victims are women and girls,
50% are children.

trafficking is…
where family members and friends deceive parents to release their
CHILDREN or SELL them FOR AS LITTLE AS $20 EACH, selling
them on to local gangmasters or serious organised international
trafficking rings.

trafficking is…
growing. 2–4 MILLION men, women and children are TRAFFICKED
across borders and within their own country EVERY YEAR. more
than one PERSON is trafficked across borders EVERY MINUTE,
which is equivalent to five JUMBO JETS every day. a trade that
earns twice as much worldwide revenue as Coca Cola.

trafficking is…
where victims usually suffer repeated physical abuse, fear, torture
and threats to families to break their spirits and turn them into
saleable commodities. a person can be sold and trafficked
many times.

www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.stopthetraffik.org

God’s Spirit is on me;
he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”

justice is what love looks like — in public

27 million people still live in slavery. TODAY.
whare are you going to do about it?

call + response coming in fall 2008:

related ::
call + response
stop the traffik
amazing grace movie
free the slaves
SSL :: red light jobs available
SSL :: abolish modern day slavery

Love me some grace

Martha, Laurie’s mom sent me a link to this video. It’s a great rendition of Amazing Grace and a great story behind the song. I’d love it to be true, but from what I’ve read it doesn’t appear to be true. But I’d love to be wrong.

As mentioned in the video, the current melody we know as Amazing Grace is pentatonic which has been linked to African-American spirituals but the pentatonic scale can also be found in other traditions including Celtic and the music of Greece and southern Albania.

The words to the song were originally written in 1772 by John Newton, a slave trader.

The words first appeared in print in Newton’s 1779 Olney Hymns, that he worked on with William Cowper. The University of Texas at Austin has one of the few remaining copies of the hymnal, which was typical of the day and was printed with words only and no music.

Many historians have said that the tune we now know as Amazing Grace is a variant of New Britain which was likely not published until 1829.

The joining of the New Britain tune and the words to Amazing Grace may not have happened in print until 1835 in William Walker’s, Southern Harmony.

However, the first appearance of Amazing Grace with any tune may have been to the tune of Hephzibah which was published in A Companion to the Countess of Huntingdons Hymns in 1808, 29 years after the words were first published.

It is possible that Hephzibah was the tune Newton’s church may have sung the words with but it’s also possible they may have chosen any number of popular songs at that time. (Hmmm. Funny how that happens. Many of Martin Luther’s hymns were also sung to the tune of popular bar songs in his day. After all – why should the devil have all the good music?)

Over the years the words have also been sung to many differing tunes including the Gilligan’s Island Theme, House of the Rising Sun, and the Eagle’s Peaceful Easy Feeling.

But regardless of the tune you sing it to or where the tune came from, it’s hard to escape the power of God’s grace when you read the lyrics and know the history behind them.

“Amazing Grace”

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

John Newton, Olaney Hymns (London: W. Oli­ver, 1779)

The final verse was included in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin which was published in 1852:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.

Chris Tomlin also added a verse for his recording on the soundtrack to the recent Amazing Grace movie:

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
My God, my Saviour, Has ransomed me
And like a flood, His mercy reigns
Unending Love, Amazing Grace

UPDATE: This information came from a variety of web sources, including Wikipedia and Mark Rhoads site.