ROUNDTABLE EVENT AT BROOKLYN HISTORICAL SOCIETY JANUARY 10 ADDED TO LET FREEDOM RING! WEEKEND THAT ALSO INCLUDES PLYMOUTH CHURCH CONCERT BY THE IMPRESSIONS, NAOMI SHELTON & THE GOSPEL QUEENS, AND MEMBERS OF THE DAP-KINGS

ROUNDTABLE TO FOCUS ON MODERN-DAY SLAVERY AND ONE SLAVERY SURVIVOR/ACTIVIST ALONGSIDE TWO EXPERTS OFFERING ACTION PLAN AND INSIGHTS

In conjunction with the all-star concert January 11 at Plymouth Church featuring The Impressions, Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, The Inspirational Voices of the Abyssinian Baptist Church, and members of the Dap-Kings, a roundtable discussion will take place January 10 at the Brooklyn Historical Society on modern-day slavery.

The events take place around National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and will benefit Free the Slaves, which is dedicated to ending slavery worldwide in our lifetime. Free the Slaves has presented a Freedom Award to courageous slavery survivor, activist, and roundtable participant Tina Frundt and she will join Harvard's Timothy Patrick McCarthy and Free the Slaves' Maurice I. Middleberg for a discussion.

Doors open at 6pm for a sneak peek at Brooklyn Historical Society's major new exhibit, Brooklyn Abolitionists/In Pursuit of Freedom and a reception.

WHO: Tina Frundt, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Maurice I. Middleberg
WHAT: Fighting Modern Day Slavery: A Panel Discussion
WHEN: 7pm, Friday, January 10
WHERE: Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11201
TICKETS: Free, RSVP here

The panelists include:

Tina Frundt is a sex trafficking survivor from Chicago who now rescues young people from slavery on the streets of Washington, D.C. She runs a telephone hotline and recovery shelter staffed by survivors like herself. Tina’s personal experiences provide special insight for providing rescue and rehabilitation services for trafficking victims. She is a vocal advocate in the anti-slavery movement: testifying before Congress, speaking to journalists, and telling her story in a TEDx talk. In 2010, she was awarded a Free the Slaves Freedom Award for her courage and diligence as a survivor and activist. Her organization is called Courtney’s House. Click here for Tina's TEDx talk.

Timothy Patrick McCarthy: A lecturer on history, literature and public policy, Dr. McCarthy is director of the Human Rights and Social Movements Program at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard University Kennedy School. Educated at Harvard College and Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in history, Dr. McCarthy is a historian of social movements who specializes in slavery and abolition, media culture and communications, and the politics of race, gender, and sexuality in American culture. He is also a frequent media commentator, and a regular contributor to The Daily Beast, The Nation and The Huffington Post. A national leader in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, Dr. McCarthy was a founding member of Barack Obama’s National LGBT Leadership Council.

Maurice I. Middleberg: As executive director of Free the Slaves, Maurice Middleberg oversees the organization’s wide range of innovative anti-trafficking initiatives around the globe. These include frontline community-based projects in hotspot countries to liberate slaves and transform the economic, political and social systems that allow slavery to persist – as well as guiding the group’s policy advocacy, corporate engagement and awareness-raising programs inside the United States. His experience includes projects in 50 countries for CARE, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), The Futures Group, IntraHealth International, and others. Mr. Middleberg has a 15-year record in senior and executive positions, including extensive relationships with international development institutions.

More info on the panelists here.

Most Recent Facts about Modern Day Slavery

• 21-30 million people are trapped in slavery around the world today
• 22% of slavery victims today are in sex slavery
• 78% of slavery victims today are in forced labor slavery
• 55% of slavery victims today are women and girls
• 45% of slavery victim today are men and boys
• 26% of slaves today are children under age 18

Where is Slavery Worst?

• Mauritania has the highest percentage of its population in slavery: 4%
• India has the largest number of people in slavery: 14 million
• The U.S. has 60,000 victims in slavery today
• Top 10 per-capita slavery hot spots: Mauritania, Haiti, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Gabon,
• The U.S. ranks 134th out of 162 countries for slavery prevalence

Sources cited here.

About Free the Slaves

Free the Slaves liberates slaves, helps them rebuild their lives, and transforms the social, economic and political forces that allow slavery to persist. We support community-driven interventions in partnership with local groups that help people to sustainable freedom and dismantle a region’s system of slavery. We convince governments, international development organizations and businesses to implement key changes required for global eradication. We document and disseminate leading-edge practices to help the anti-slavery movement work more effectively. We raise awareness and promote action by opinion leaders, decision makers and the public. Free the Slaves is showing the world that ending slavery is possible. Free the Slaves works in India, Nepal, Ghana, Congo (DRC), Haiti, Brazil.

THE IMPRESSIONS, MEMBERS OF THE DAP-KINGS SING IN CELEBRATION OF CIVIL RIGHTS AT HISTORIC PLYMOUTH CHURCH FOR LET FREEDOM RING: A CONCERT TO BENEFIT FREE THE SLAVES

On January 11, 2014, Plymouth Church will present "Let Freedom Ring!: A Concert to Benefit Free the Slaves." This major musical event, held on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, will feature The Impressions, members of the Dap-Kings, and other special guests. Funds raised will benefit the organization Free the Slaves, which is dedicated to ending slavery worldwide in our lifetime.

The Impressions will team up with Brooklyn's Binky Griptite and a group of musicians featuring members of the Dap-Kings and some very special guests. Many consider the music of Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Impressions the soundtrack to the civil rights movement. They are 1998 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees for their hit "People Get Ready," which is ranked at #24 on the Rolling Stone list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

This is a rare chance to hear The Impressions' best known songs addressing and advancing the black freedom movement of the Sixties on the strength of indelible songs of striving and transcendence, such as "Keep on Pushing," "Amen", "We're a Winner" and "People Get Ready," all performed by the group's original members Fred Cash, Sam Gooden and Reggie Torian (who replaced former lead vocalist Curtis Mayfield in the early '70s), and backed by a mighty band.

As part of a weekend that will focus on the problem of historical and modern-day slavery, Plymouth, in partnership with Brooklyn Historical Society, will also be offering a panel discussion featuring anti-trafficking experts on January 10 at Brooklyn Historical Society, where the exhibit "Brooklyn Abolitionists: In Pursuit of Freedom" will open in early January.

Although Plymouth Church was not established until 1847, just fourteen years before the start of the Civil War, it later became known locally as "the Grand Central Depot" of the Underground Railroad. Plymouth Church is one of the few active Underground Railroad congregations in New York still housed in its original location. Minister and church founder Henry Ward Beecher was a prominent abolitionist who compiled a book of hymns and understood the power of music in faith and in politics.