New Orleanians Confront Human Trafficking

NEW ORLEANS - Dec. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- New Orleans, LA, December 1, 2014 – On December 2, in recognition of the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Amistad Research Center, National Slave Ship Museum, Inc. The City of New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy and WYES New Orleans will host film screenings of the PBS Series, American Experience: The Abolitionists followed by a discussion between the audience and a panel of scholars. The films will be used as a catalyst for discussion about issues surrounding contemporary forms of slavery. The day long program will be held at the Lindy Boggs International Conference Center, 2045 Lakeshore Drive in the Research & Technology Park.

    “The UN estimates that at any given time nearly 27 million people-- men, women, and children-- are entrapped in modern slavery, a market valued at approximately $32 million annually”, according to Susan J. Eddington, program producer. The U.S. Dept. of Justice identified New Orleans as one of the top 20 destinations in the U.S. for human trafficking.

    The films cover one of the most contentious periods in American history. Told in three one hour segments,The Abolitionists is the story of men and women who were central characters in the movement to end the slave trade. The films give life to the intertwined stories of historical figures Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Angelina Grimké, Harriet Beecher Stowe and John Brown. The arguments between the anti-slavery and pro-slavery advocates turned violent and eventually lead to the civil war. The program is free and open to the public with registration at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-day-for-the-ab....

    Participating scholars are: Raphael Cassimere, Ph.D., a civil rights leader, retired Seraphia D. Leyda University Professor from the history department at the University of New Orleans; L. Roseanne Adderley, Ph.D., associate professor at Tulane University specializing in the history of the African Diaspora, the Atlantic Slave Trade, black enslavement in the Americas, Caribbean history, and African-American history; Patricia Boyett, Ph.D. visiting professor at Loyola University whose research focus is on struggles for racial and social justice. Susan J. Eddington, APR is the moderator. Eddington is a journalist and media scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in Media Psychology at Fielding Graduate University. Her research interests are inter-group relations, social identity, media effects, gender empowerment and sustainability.