Not-So-Normal Mom

Yesterday, I went to a lecture on our community college campus. Initially, I went because my professor friend was the one who organized the event, and to be honest, the lecturer is a beautiful man. So what drew me in ended up not being the same thing that kept me hooked.

E. Benjamin Skinner is a modern day abolitionist. He wrote a book called A Crime So Monstrous:Face-To-Face With Modern Day Slavery. I learned from this man that there are more slaves in the world today than there ever where at the time when slavery was legal in our country. He shared stories of heartache and horror. He told the audience about being able to buy human life for only 50 dollars in many parts of the world. He told us about a young down syndrome girl who was offered to him for the price of a used car. He told us stories of all of these atrocities that I had no idea were still happening on the level that he describes. And now, I am forever changed.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." To me, that means that when you know that something awful is happening, if you don't speak out about it, and do something to change it, you are just as much at fault as those who perpetuate the evil injustices. I don't want to be one of those people. And to be honest, after seeing Mr. Skinner, and meeting him afterwards, I just don't think that I can just sit back and let it all happen.

After the lecture, there was a luncheon that I was lucky enough to be invited to. When I met him, up close and in person, he was a very genuine and warm man. I told him that I was honored to meet him. My friend told him what I do and he replied that everything that he ever learned about writing, he learned from an English tutor. And everything that he learned wrong was from an English teacher. Of course, that really made me like him even more. ;-) I asked him what someone like me, just a simple mom and tutor, could do to help. He said that there were organizations that help to rehabilitate freed slaves and they need help with education-learning the basics. Immediately, I thought, "I can do that!"

Now, my goal is to find out what I can do to make a difference-as small as it may be-and encourage my friends to do the same.

You can find information on his book here: A Crime So Monstrous

You can also find information on Free The Slaves, an organization that helps free and rehabilitate slaves, here: Free The Slaves

I hope that the stories, and the plight of enslaved people around the world, touch your heart as much as they did mine.

Peace Out,
Mom