Twenty-seven million people, nine times the population of Mississippi, the number of people standing hand-in-hand to reach across the entire United States, is the number of slaves in the world desperate for a way out of bondage.
The Holmes Cultural Diversity Center will hold a series of events titled Modern Day Slavery weeks from Feb. 26 to March 4 to bring awareness to the dangers of modern day human trafficking.
Ra’Sheda Forbes, assistant director of the HCDC, said the center plans to increase understanding through a variety of methods, from performing arts, to visual arts, to an account from a trafficking survivor.
“People don’t realize human trafficking is actually the third most profitable criminal activity. We want students and faculty and staff to be advocates for those who don’t have a voice to speak up for themselves, and we have to do that first by educating them,” Forbes said. “It’s kind of hard to be an advocate if you don’t understand the depth of what’s going on, so first we want to educate them about sex trafficking and where it takes place.”
The HCDC will kick off Modern Day Slavery Weeks on Tuesday, Feb. 26 with a workshop titled “In Our Own Backyard,” which Roth said will educate students about just how close trafficking is to them.
“We want to say that ignorance is blissful – and it is, not knowing, but we used to think trafficking meant bringing internationals into America. Within the last couple of years it’s made a shift because it’s cheaper to use our own children,” she said. “Now there’s kidnapping here so they don’t have to go through smuggling fees; Jackson, Miss., is a huge hub for human trafficking because there are so many highways going to major cities. Right now – most people don’t know – this is most slaves we’ve ever had in human history.”
Susie Harvill, director of Advocates for Freedom in Biloxi, Miss., will lead the workshop by training students on the realities of slavery and how to spot human trafficking in Mississippi.
“We will be speaking about human trafficking in the United States, but mostly in Mississippi. University students are some of the ones that can be lured and forced into a trafficking lifestyle, and human trafficking has become the second largest crime in America,” Harvill said. “This is affecting all of us in a huge way. Just like we can’t say we’re not affected by the drug industry, we are, every one of us, affected by human trafficking. This is the worst slavery for us to imagine.”
“In Our Own Backyard” will be at 6 p.m. in Roger’s Auditorium in McCool 124.
Feb. 26 will also mark the first day of the Human Trafficking Fair. The fair is a large collaborative effort with ARISE, Baptist Student Union, Burlaep, the Department of Counseling & Educational Psychology, IDEAL, Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education, Run to Rescue, Sigma Lambda Beta, Student Association, Threads of Hope and Wesley Foundation. These organizations will present facts and statistics about modern-day slavery, free-slave clothing and more.
Katie Heckel, associate campus minister for Wesley, said she believes so many different people and organizations are coming together for these events due to a growing movement that has begun.
“People are beginning to realize one person can make a difference and shine a light on slavery; their voice can be heard. One person tells another, and it becomes a rippling effect,” Heckel said. “I’ve even heard people say as more people shine a light, we might be able to end modern day slavery in our generation. The organizations are coming together now because more and more people are realizing what we can do and that we’re stronger as a body. The time is now.”
The Human Trafficking Fair will be on the Drill Field from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 26, Feb. 28 and March 4.
Heckel said Wesley will also hold a concert the night of Feb. 26 to benefit the International Justice Mission, which rescues victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and violent injustice.
“We’re having an R&B artist named K.B. coming to Wesley for a concert that starts at 8 p.m. We’ll have a table with facts and info about human trafficking during that concert, and we’ll have a packet where people can write a letter to the senators and representatives in Mississippi,” she said. “We’re hoping hundreds will flood our representatives with our concern to speak for those who have no voice.”
Thursday, Feb. 28 will also be a day the HCDC examines modern-day slavery in conjunction with Black History Month.
Roth said speakers said the number of slaves is now at an all-time high, and speakers will look at these facts at 6 p.m. in the Taylor Auditorium in 124 McCool Hall.
On March 4 at 5 p.m., the HCDC will hold “Live at 5 – A Right to Torture Girls” in McCool Hall room 128, examining incidents of female circumcision around the world.
Immediately following that presentation, the HCDC will bring in Shamere McKenzie, a survivor of human trafficking, for a presentation titled “Modern Day Slave: Survivor’s Account.”
McKenzie was a college student when she first experienced trafficking, in a situation to which Roth said she believes many other college students on campus will be able to relate.
“She (McKenzie) just kind of got involved in one of those make-money-quick schemes and was blackmailed,” Roth said. “She was a track athlete in college; she wasn’t a stupid girl. I want people’s eyes to be opened around us.”
According to McKenzie’s online bio from the Survivors of Slavery organization, she speaks out to help other girls across the country from sharing her horrible experiences as a sex slave.
“Shamere tells the inspiring story of a woman who was able to survive a fate that is all too prevalent in the U.S. But she knows that thousands of other girls are still enslaved by tricky pimps,” the biography reads. “And she also knows that many vulnerable young girls who are seeking a little bit of help or a little bit of love are just a flirtation away from the same harrowing experience she had.”
McKenzie will speak at the Colvard Student Union Foster Ballroom at 6 p.m.
Wesley will hold another concert the night of March 4 with a folk pop group named Jenny and Tyler performing in the Taylor Auditorium of McCool Hall at 7 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $5, and every $2 of the price will go toward IJM.
Then, from March 6 at 3 p.m. to March 7 at 6 p.m., the HCDC will hold an event called Stand for Freedom. Along with other students across the U.S., MSU will stand for 27 hours in honor of the current 27 million slaves in the world, in an effort to raise $2,700.
Roth said the profits will benefit the FreedomMaker campaign to raise support for IJM.
“In the past 15 years, they have helped to free thousands of children, women and men across Africa, Asia and Latin America,” she said. “IJM helps survivors of violence receive the healing and restoration they need to rebuild their lives and works with local governments to help protect the poor. Together we can make a huge difference in the world.”
The last event will be Run to Rescue, a 5k and optional fun run on March 7. Roth said the race is to help increase awareness for local human trafficking and raise money for IJM through race registrations and donations.
Run to Rescue will begin at 6 p.m. Anyone can register at runtorescue.org.