Welcome to the conversation!


Welcome to the conversation!

Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811-1896) best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), made her the most famous American woman of the 19th century and galvanized the abolition movement before the Civil War.

The Stowe Center is a 21st-century museum and program center using Stowe's story to inspire social justice and positive change.

The Salons at Stowe programs are a forum to connect the challenging issues (race, gender and class) that impelled Stowe to write and act with the contemporary face of those same issues. The Salon format is based on a robust level of audience participation, with the explicit goal of promoting civic engagement. Recent topics included: Teaching Acceptance; Is Prison the New Slavery; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Creativity and Change; Race, Gender and Politics Today; How to be an Advocate

This blog will expand the reach of these community conversations to the online audience. Add your posts and comments to keep the conversation going! Commit to action by clicking HERE to stay up to date on Salon and social justice news.

For updates on Stowe Center programs and events, sign up for our enews at http://harrietbeecherstowe.org/email.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Event Recap: How to Be an Abolitionist Workshop (4.20.13)

This past Saturday, concerned citizens and activists joined us for a special workshop on recognizing and reporting human trafficking in our local communities. The program was lead by award-winning educator and advisor for the Metropolitan Learning Center’s Student Abolitionists Stopping Slavery Wendy Nelson Kauffman, Alicia Kinsman from Project RESCUE and Director of Victim and Trafficking Services for International Institute of Connecticut, and Love146's U.S. Prevention Education Manager Kimberly Casey. Participants left the session empowered to fight human trafficking in their communities and speak out on the injustices of this social issue.

Even if you missed the workshop, you can still take action!
 
 
Inspiration to Action
  • Use your strengths/talent, write, speak, organize awareness parties, etc.
  • Be more politically active, work on legislation, lobby.
  • Back Fair Trade products and push companies to produce/sell fair trade products.
  • Use consumer power to "cleanse the supply chain."
  • “If you see something, say something”- 1/3 of people rescued were discovered by everyday people.
  • Learn about the California Transparency Act and push your legislators to adopt a similar act in Connecticut.
  • Fundraise/Financially support groups that end slavery (ie. Free the Slaves).
  • Find out how many slaves work for you at SlaveryFootprint.org and share the website with your friends.
  • Share the alarming fact that 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked into the United States every year.
  • Get modern day slavery and human trafficking into your local school system's curriculum.
  • Join a Love146 Task Force.
  • Read the U.S. Department of State's 20 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking.
  • Watch the documentary Not My Life and share it with your community (see trailer below).
  • Learn about and share the new I'm With Lincoln campaign (see video promo below)
  • Read the following books: 
    • Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales
    • Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves by Kevin Bales
    • Modern Slavery: The Secret World of 27 Million People by Kevin Bales, Zoe Trodd, Alex Kent Williamson
    • Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia by Siddharth Kara
    • The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today by Kevin Bales
    • A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-face With Modern Day Slavery by E. Benjamin Skinner

Takeaway



 
Not My Life



I'm With Lincoln


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