As the Web Communications Intern for Free the Slaves, I was lucky enough to be featured on MTV.ACT's "A Day in My Life" series. Of course, it's not every day that you get to see Jason Mraz sing Freedom Calling in person, but that's another story. Check out Jason...
We're really excited to announce the launch of our new crowdfunding initiative, The Freedom Education Project! Based on platform IndieGoGo, the goal is simple– get 27 copies of Slavery: The Book donated to California Public Schools and Libraries. The book will also...
It's closing in on that time of year: the time of year for holiday parties, and end of year giving! You can do both—celebrate, and give back—in one fell swoop on Tuesday, December 6 at L.A.'s legendary Hotel Café. The Charitable Living group is putting on an amazing...
"Freedom of Expression" was the theme for The New Hollywood's Benefit on Sunday for Free the Slaves—and they couldn't have expressed it better. With rousing tributes to Marvin Gaye, Christina Aguilera, and Maya Angelou, the group sang, danced, and shimmied their way...
Last year's recipient of the Fredrick Douglass Freedom Award, activist Tina Frundt, made headlines when she returned to Cleveland—the place she had been trafficked into sex slavery when she was just a teenager. Frundt has been active in the fight against the...
Get ready! On October 23, the New Hollywood Women’s Goal Group will be hosting their first-ever performance benefit entitled “Free to Express” to raise money for Free the Slaves. TNH is asking for a $27 dollar donation, in honor of the 27 million people in slavery...
Thousands of Nepalis have petitioned their government to adopt the world's primary anti-trafficking treaty. Nepali anti-slavery groups supported by Free the Slaves have mobilized impressive grassroots support for the "Palermo Protocol." The protocol's official name is...
There's slavery in every shopping mall in America. From cocoa, coffee and clothing—to cars, computers and cell phones—many products sold in the U.S. are tainted by slavery. Sometimes it's sweatshop slavery where goods are manufactured. Other times, it's brutal child...
[galleryview id=1] Inventive abolitionists this summer found creative ways to say in a photo what we want all slaves to become: “FREE.” Our second annual FREE Photo Competition was a terrific success. You can see wonderful ways to visualize the word “free” in the...
Dear abolitionists, We need your help at the Capitol today. In July, we asked you to tell your U.S. senators to take a stand against slavery by supporting the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Many of you did just that, and 15 senators are now...
Free the Slaves board member Jane Covey is featured in an interview on the Huffington Post! The interview was conducted by Jennifer Hamady, a New York city-based creativity coach. Hamady's specialty is creativity and art—and she brings this perspective to her...
Free the Slaves' college chapter coordinator Laura Murphy has been doing an awesome job recruiting and maintaining the FTS presence in schools. (If you haven't already, check out our new "students" page on our website to find out how you can make your own student...
CNN covered how Free the Slaves staff and partners work to alleviate modern-day slavery despite challenges like extreme poverty. Ghana director Emmanuel Otoo shares his gratitude for his mother's choices and his motivation to continue his work. "We observe a lot of...
CNN's Freedom Project reminds us that while the internet can be wonderful for awareness it is also a tool for trafficking people in slavery. It's shocking to hear that in 2010 slave traders made more than Google, Nike , and Starbucks combined! It's important to be...
You may already know that slavery is connected to you. It’s in the products you buy, the clothes you wear and the car you drive. There are thousands of slaves in America, some hidden from view, others standing on street corners you pass every day. Ever wonder: What...
The June 23rd ATEST/CNN International event featured Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, the State Department’s human trafficking chief, Academy Award-winning actress and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for Human Trafficking Mira Sorvino, CNN...
Kate Rosin, who assists Free the Slaves at our Washington, D.C. headquarters and frequently contributes to this blog, recently wrote a beautiful article for SGI Quarterly, about 2010 Freedom Award winner Tina Frundt. Here's an excerpt: Tina Frundt was 13 when she...
Following the recent release of our groundbreaking video (which you can watch below) and investigative report on slavery in the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Free The Slaves eagerly awaits the release of documentary film, Crisis in the...
A new groundbreaking video and investigative report about slavery in the mining industry in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are now online. The video is called “Slavery in Your Pocket: Breaking the Congo Connection.” In the film, three child slaves—Busho, Anyesi...
Because it deserves more attention—and I didn't give it its proper due when I blogged about this last week—I'd like to put a magnifying glass to a couple of quotes from Free the Slaves' Director of Programs Karen Stauss that were featured in Vanity Fair's recent...
Free the Slaves and its local partner in India just helped three survivors of sex trafficking to gain a legal victory against their three traffickers, now sentenced to 10 years in jail. In an unusual step, the judge also awarded half of their fine of approximately...
2008 Frederick Douglass Freedom Award winner James Kofi Annan's continued humanitarian work has garnered yet another prestigious award! It was announced last month that James is the 2011 recipient of a Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice award. The...
CNN's year-long Freedom Project continues to churn out great coverage on modern-day slavery. We were excited to see Amanda Kloer's (editor of Change.org's Human Trafficking blog) recent article highlighting the importance of the U.S. government appointing a special...
We write a lot in the FTS Blog about frontline heroes who free slaves and dismantle the economic, political, social and legal systems that allow slavery to still exist. But there are dedicated heroes behind the scenes, too. Without them, FTS would not exist. Two new...
Here is a heartwarming update from two 2010 Freedom Award winners! One of the most moving moments from the 2010 Freedom Awards occurred when Wilberforce Award winner Roger Plant announced from the stage that he was donating his cash prize to another award-winner,...
Free the Slaves, in conjunction with the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), a coalition of 12 U.S.-based organizations, is asking Congressmen and women to submit requests to the Appropriations Committee for anti-slavery programs that were authorized...
Free the Slaves has a new leader! Indika Samarawickreme has joined us as our new executive director. Indika brings more than 20 years of international experience as a leader and strategist. She has managed multi-million dollar programs, budgets and staffs for Fortune...
Dear Friends and Supporters, It all started around a kitchen table. It was the day that changed everything for me, and over time I came to see that it was the beginning of what would change everything for thousands of people in slavery, and would educate millions of...
Kevin Bales, president of Free The Slaves, has been awarded the 2011 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order. Bales earned the prize for his blueprint to eliminate modern slavery, as presented in his 2007 book, Ending Slavery: How We...
FTS President Kevin Bales was featured on CNN's Freedom Project last week, speaking a little bit about how he became an anti-slavery activist. "[Free the Slaves] ultimate goal is to end slavery on the planet," Bales says. "I know it's kind of like putting somebody on...
Supriya Awasthi, FTS’ South Asia Director, and our local Indian partner, DDWS, have successfully secured the release of eleven bonded laborers, toiling, without pay, on the sugar cane fields of western Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), northern India. Whilst surveying the work of...
During the 2010 Freedom Awards events, Free the Slaves became acquainted with an energetic artist and traveler, Ben Swatez. Ben did live painting during the Freedom Rocks after party, and we were inspired by his passion, and ability to connect with the audience. Ben...
Prompted by its recent findings confirming the existence of multiple forms of modern slavery in mining areas of eastern Congo, FTS is actively pressuring the US Government to appoint a Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region. Stimulating this move is FTS’ conviction...
Last Friday, March 25, Free The Slaves marked the 204th anniversary of the Slave Trade Act—an Act passed by the UK Parliament formally abolishing the trade of slaves within the British Empire. On this day in 1807, Parliament finally outlawed British ships and colonies...
The State Department has responded to the letter, co-signed earlier this month by Free the Slaves, urging immediate implementation of the conflict minerals law (PDF). Their response: "we do not support a delay" in the implementation of the law. The conflict minerals...
On March 21, Free The Slaves wrote a letter of support to Californian Senator Ellen M. Corbett, applauding her introduction of bill SB 861. A landmark piece of legislation, SB 861 prevents publicly traded companies from obtaining procurement contracts with the...
World renown photographer Lisa Kristine, in partnership with Free the Slaves, has produced a groundbreaking work of art: 'Slavery', a book of photographs depicting modern-day slavery. For this project, Lisa visited Free the Slaves' partner organizations in India,...
Tomorrow, Free the Slaves President Kevin Bales will be on Voice America radio's 'Disability Matters' show, hosted by Joyce Bender at 2pm ET. Bales was a guest on this one-hour show in February, 2010. Hear audio of that interview here. Around the 34 minute mark, Joyce...
Verite, a consultation firm specializing in helping businesses analyze their supply chains to ensure good labor practices, recently featured Free the Slaves on their website. Verite.org is a great place to start learning how the products we consume every day could be...
The third installment of CNN's series on debt bondage slavery in Uttar Pradesh, India is now live. Earlier pieces showed how entire families bec0me embroiled in bonded labor for generations, and depicted the efforts of NGOs like Free the Slaves to stage raids and...
CNN’s coverage of anti-slavery efforts in Uttar Pradesh, India continued yesterday, with Indian Labor Secretary Prabhat C. Chaturvedi (shown in the video below) responding over use of the "S" word in the news reports. Secretary Chaturvedi disagrees with the use of the...
Sara Sidner of CNN is continuing covering of Free the Slaves' work in Uttar Pradesh, India. Just launched on Monday, CNN's Freedom Project covers modern-day slavery all over the world. New stories are going online and broadcast every single day—a truly unprecedented...
More from CNN's Freedom Project: Free the Slaves President Kevin Bales, along with other modern-day slavery experts discusses the difficulty in counting the number of slaves around the world. Via CNN: The challenges of counting a 'hidden population' By Manav Tanneeru...
In the course of her work, there are times when Free the Slaves South Asia Director Supriya Awasthi feels that her safety is at risk. This was the case when she was with the CNN news crew as they documented the reality of modern-day slavery in India. At one point,...
Free the Slaves President Kevin Bales and photographer Lisa Kristine—who worked with FTS to produce a groundbreaking book of photographs depicting modern-day slavery around the world—are featured prominently in the top story of CNN's Freedom Project today. The...
From CNN's press release: This year CNN will join the fight to end modern-day slavery. With its unmatched global reach and resources, CNN will shine a spotlight on the horrors of modern-day slavery and amplify the voices of the victims. Through passionate...
Free the Slaves, along with ten other NGOs—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, and our ATEST partner World Vision—sent a letter this week to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging immediate implementation of the conflict...
Here's Maria Hinojosa's interview of Kevin Bales on One-on-One in full! We gave you a preview last week, in which we saw Bales say that the U.S. could be the first slave-free country in the world. See his full interview above to learn why! Here's an excerpt. When...
Next Saturday, March 5, Free the Slaves Deputy Communications Director Terry Fitzpatrick will be speaking at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas, California as part of their Season of Non-Violence. Terry—an award-winning filmmaker who is also the...