Bellingham: America's first slave-free city

Two nights ago I went to a community meeting featuring Kevin Bales. He is the president of Free the Slaves and author of multiple books, including Disposable People and Understanding Global Slavery. He shared for about 45 minutes on modern-day slavery and how Bellingham can become the nations first "slave-free city", something he hopes he Free the Slaves can convince every city/county in the country to become. Here's some things I wrote down while listening to his presentation:

• There are over 27 million slaves in the world today. During the entire span of slavery in the United States, only 13 million were bought and sold.
• The average cost of a slave is now at an all-time low. There are a lot of "disposable people" today; people who have absolutely nothing, including protection, options and money. They are "expendable." Comparatively speaking, a slave in the U.S. used to cost approximately $40,000 in today's currency. In other words, they were a big investment. Today, a slave can be bought for as low as $30. Let that one sink in. Think about how little a person would care about a slave if they could go out and buy another one for so little. Meanwhile, the slave holders make massive amounts of profit on the weak and marginalized of our world.
• Three things are needed to fight global slavery: awareness, resources and commitment.
• This one I found extremely interesting, though it is an idea that Bales is just beginning to work our for his next book: slavery and the destruction of nature are intertwined. They form a vicious circle and go hand-in-hand throughout the world.
• How to become a slave-free city; 1. Community decides it wants to do it, 2. People learn how to identify a victim of slavery/human trafficking (similar to the pamphlets sent by the government post-9/11 on how to identify a terrorist), and 3. Trace product supply chains to make sure they weren't made with the help of slave labor.

So that's the run-down on Bales' message for my city. I am skeptical but hopeful when it comes to all of "us" (as in comfortable Americans sitting in our comfortable houses) actually helping. But you never know. For now, I am trying to figure out how I can be the change I want to see. You never know...

Peace,

Matt