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Ok I know that title was corny but yes, like the Philly Phlash, I had to go there. Now that we’ve had a laugh, let’s get on to more serious matters. There is a hidden epidemic taking over our society. It is the commodification of human life. In a word: SLAVERY.
When I was a child, I remember hearing a quick run through about slavery around the world. As an American, the focus of my education was on the slavery that took place in the U.S. I remember the words in my Social Studies books. They made slavery seem like a distant and archaic concept that no longer plagued our more civilized minds. But as I grew older I realized slavery was alive and well; in fact that it had only gotten worse. I learned that those who were enslaved in the past never received the resources they were robbed of. I saw that slavery from the past destroyed the souls of many…pain that would be passed on to the next generation in the form of countless manipulations and wrongdoings. I saw that slavery was occurring around the world in this present moment. It was happening in my own city. And I discovered that if this cycle did not end, slavery would continue on throughout the future. Slavery is the product of many social problems. There is no simple solution, and many steps and years will pass before we eradicate the epidemic altogether. But the key to any of this happening is starting now. Citizens must get educated on the realities of enslavement. With the advancements of the 21st century, slavery has become an insidious reality in all locations around the world: human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry, right after arms dealing. With the invention of the internet, slavery has potentially entered everyone’s home. If you or anyone you have lived with has watched a porn online, surfed Craigslist, or such, you may have seen or read about a person who is currently enslaved. When we start looking closer, we see how widespread this problem is. But as all industries, someone is thriving off of it and working very hard to keep you from interfering with their greed.
That’s why citizens of Philadelphia are hitting the streets on Sunday, September 18th at 9:30 am for the “Stop Child Trafficking Now(SCTNow) Walk” 2011. The walk will start and end at the Piazza at Schmidt’s, 1050 North Hancock Street. We want to see the end of slavery and bring our energy together to do so.
This walk will be an opportunity to join like minds, make some new friends, and start a serious conversation about the next steps we must take as a community to end slavery/ trafficking. I’m gonna get myself up early…well early for me that is…and hit the streets with my friend and phellow Philly blogger, Dianne Furphy of createwhatyouwant.wordpress.com. We hope to see you there! Please spread the word to your friends and get the conversation going even if you can’t make it to the walk. You can also show your support by donating to the cause.
I’ll leave you with this quote from one of the strongest womyn around, and one of my role models:
“Human trafficking flourishes in the shadows and demands attention, commitment and passion from all of us. We are determined to build on our past success and advance progress in the weeks, months and years ahead. Together, we must hold a light to every corner of the globe and help build a world in which no one is enslaved.”
—–Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State
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