Every time I get groceries, I’m tempted to get a cheap chocolate bar at the checkout stand, AKA the guilt lane. Unfortunately, my personal health concerns aren't the only reason to feel guilty about buying chocolate. Around 2 million children in West Africa are forced into 80-hour work weeks with little pay—or no pay at all—to make most of these chocolate products. Earlier this year, Sarah Beech wrote an article for Dressember about the connection between slavery and chocolate.
Read MoreI've always loved the art of painting. I'm primarily drawn to it for its beauty, but subject matter is equally important to me. That's why I was delighted to stumble upon a book by John Michael Vlach entitled The Planter's Prospect: Privilege & Slavery in Plantation Paintings. In it, Vlach describes paintings and drawings of plantation landscapes and what they have to say about slavery. There's an important lesson to be learned about what the art we create can do.
Read MoreChelsea Utta always wanted to start a business, but she was too busy. Busy living abroad, getting married, adopting a child, and working for A Family For Every Orphan, a non-profit whose mission is their name. The timing and the funds meant a business would never be easy. But Amma’s Umma couldn’t wait.
Read MoreShe wanted to provide education to those who really needed it, but couldn't easily get it, and she realized educational workshops were not enough.
Read More“I’m Barbara Amaya. I’m not 21. I’m 15-years-old, and I’m from Fairfax Virginia. Please help me. Please find my family, I just want to go back home.”
Read MoreThe Jim Crow laws are a thing of the past. Though prejudice exists, we have come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement. How is Martin Luther King, Jr. relevant today? If we look at Dr. King’s life, we can see how his approach to advocacy is as significant now as it was then.
Read MoreForced labor trafficking is when people are employed to perform work against their will, with some sort of threat motivating them to perform. Victims of trafficking are often deceived into working, manipulated with violence, left in poverty due to debts owed, or imprisoned.
Read MoreAtlanta, GA’s illegal sex trade made $290 million per year at last report. In her TED Talk, “3 ways businesses can fight sex trafficking,” Nikki Clifton tells us that’s more than Atlanta's illegal gun and drug trades make combined.
Read MoreEvery time I get groceries, I’m tempted to get a cheap chocolate bar at the checkout stand, AKA the guilt lane. Unfortunately, my personal health concerns aren't the only reason to feel guilty about buying chocolate. Around 2 million children in West Africa are forced into 80-hour work weeks with little pay—or no pay at all—to make most of these chocolate products. Earlier this year, Sarah Beech wrote an article for Dressember about the connection between slavery and chocolate.
Read MoreThis year, Dressember is proud to partner with Thorn, an organization that uses technology to combat child sex trafficking. The internet has become a widely used place for sex traffickers to advertise. The good news is, this can help investigators track down traffickers. The bad news is that law enforcement just doesn’t have the time, energy, or manpower to efficiently pursue the information available online. That's where Thorn comes in.
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