Tuesday, September 28, 2010

FREEDOM WEEK!

Freedom Week 2010
Join a rising tide of
modern-day abolitionists.

If you are reading this, you are free. Cherish, embrace, and be thankful for your freedom. Millions of people across the globe are not. Instead, they are living in the hell of modern-day slavery, which is hidden, ignored, and growing exponentially. Only the free can rescue the enslaved.

Freedom Week was born from the belief that in order to fight the massive industry of human trafficking, today’s abolitionists must be equally coordinated and sophisticated. By uniting our efforts and consolidating resources, we can amplify attention on the issue, creating a broader voting base to push forward necessary legislation, regulation and funding, as well as educate, empower and inspire a rising tide of activists.

Freedom Week is the launching point for these goals with an annual week of cultural and academic events. We believe human trafficking and slavery can be eradicated, but it begins with shining a light on this dark industry and galvanizing the public to take action.

Join us in this battle by participating in several of the following activities and events, and celebrating Freedom Week 2010.



Date/Time/Location: Online and on-going through September 30th at RestoreNYC.org.
Presented by: Restore
Restore provides aftercare services to international survivors of sex trafficking in New York City. Currently, Restore is running a campaign called “Brick by Brick” to fund the first year of operation for their newly leased safe house for survivors. The exciting news: if they raise $50,000 from NEW donors by the end of September, there is an anonymous donor that will match the $50,000 goal! Visit http://my.restorenyc.org to make your donation today. Any amount has the impact to be truly transformative.

Be A Bio.Grapher

Date/Time/Location: Online and on-going through October 7th at BeABiographer.com
Presented by: The Blind Project
Price: *free*
The Blind Project invites you to be inspired and turn it into art. Be a Bio.Grapher brings together an inspirational story of survival with artists' portrayals of these amazing stories. The competition accepted entries through September 15th, and is soliciting votes through October 7th. Go on! Check out the amazing work! Vote! The submissions are beautiful, creative, moving, and inspiring. Please take a few moments to be touched by this artwork, to make your voice heard, and to make a difference. Winners will be announced on October 15th, 2010.


SOLD: based on the novel by Patricia McCormick

Location: Sweet Carolines, 322 W 45th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
Dates/Times [click on the date to purchase tickets]:

Presented by: The Not For Sale Campaign
Price: $10

Don't miss the stage production of SOLD. Based on the award-winning novel by Patricia McCormick and adapted for the stage by writer Tessa Hauptman and director Jennifer Mulligan, SOLD highlights the realities of human trafficking in today's society. Set inside the walls of a brothel, the play portrays the universal elements of the experiences of sex trafficking victims while retaining the intensely personal perspective of one young girl. Following each performance will be an opportunity to learn about a wide variety ways to fight human trafficking, and to purchase products from the Freedom Store, including David Batstone's popular book! Sales support prevention and aftercare projects, as well as the efforts of Not For Sale here in New York. ** Please come early ** to ALL performances, as the staging of the play does not allow latecomers to enter! Please also be advised, for those with perfume/olfactory sensitivities, that artificial smells may be used in the staging of this play.


The Center for the Women of New York Walkathon

Date/Time/Location: Saturday, September 25th, 10am, Fort Totten Park, Queens
Presented by: The Center for the Women of New York
Price: A minimum of $15 in donations is required to participate as a Registered Walker ($10 for students).
The Center for the Women of New York is part of a coalition against sex- and human trafficking in the New York area. Women and men of New York will be walking at Fort Totten Park in Queens to raise funds for the Center's new home-to-be at Fort Totten. Please join us and support our mission to assist women in need.


For Men Only

Date/Time/Location: Wednesday, September 29th, at the NYU Kimmel Center, room 914, 60 Washington Square South.
Presented by: The Not For Sale Campaign, in partnership with the NYU (Gamma) chapter of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity.
Price: *free*

An opportunity for men to openly and honestly discuss the interactions of sex trafficking and society: How does our culture support or inhibit sex trafficking? In what ways can it or should it change? How much ability and responsibility does each of us have to make a difference? The conversation will be moderated by Jonathan Walton of the New York City Urban Project.


Supersexxxed: Porn and Pop Culture

Date/Time/Location: Wednesday, September 29, 6:30 PM, 434 West 33rd Street, Penthouse Conference Hall & Terrace
Presented by: NOW-NYC
Suggested donation: $5 for NOW-NYC members & students | $15 for non-members
NOW-NYC hosts internationally acclaimed activist, scholar and social critic Gail Dines, author of Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality. Whether it’s film, television, music videos or magazine ads – you name it – our visual landscape has been “pornified.” Gail’s perspective on the industrialization of porn, now a $96 billion dollar industry, is not to be missed. Join us for what promises to be an eye-opening conversation on how porn is changing our culture, relationships and sexuality. Please note: this presentation will contain graphic images. Reserve your seat with an advance online donation or RSVP to 212.627.9895 or contact@nownyc.org .


Art Gala

Date/Time/Location: Thursday, September 30th, 7-9 pm, at Tela Design Studio, 31 Little West 12th Street
Presented by: History Starts Now
Price: $15
History Starts Now, which fights domestic trafficking of children and helps to empower women who have been victims of trafficking and domestic abuse, will host a silent art auction, curated by artist Asya Geisberg, at Tela Design Studio in the Meatpacking District. Featured speakers include HSN founder Kristina Grandstaff.


Increased Rights, Decreased Trafficking: Connections between Worker's Rights and Human Trafficking

Date/Time/Location: Thursday, September 30th, 8-9 pm, Columbia School of Social Work, 122nd & Amsterdam, northeast corner, Classroom C 09
Presented by: Nomi Network with special guests: Safe Horizons, Damayan Migrant Worker's Association, and others.
Price: *free*
This lively panel discussion will delve into the complex topic of worker's rights and the direct and indirect impact they have on human trafficking, and particularly labor trafficking. Panelists include: Safe Horizon, the largest victims' services agency in the US and NY; DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association, Inc., an independent non-profit grassroots organization based in New York and New Jersey that upholds and promotes the rights and welfare of Filipino migrant workers; and others. Moderated by Nomi Network, a non-profit dedicated to empowering survivors of trafficking internationally through product productions and slave free supply chains. We look forward to hearing your voice as we discuss the reality of human rights.


Shadowlands and Hold Sway Dance Performances

Date/Time/Location: Friday, October 1st, 8pm, at the 14th Street Y, 344 E. 14th St between First and Second Avenues.
Presented by: Love146, featuring the works of Sarah Council Dance Projects, with special guest speaker Faith Huckel of Restore.

Join us for an evening of provocative modern dance, compelling speakers and an interactive expert panel as we explore the lives of women trapped in a life of sex slavery, and then begin to address the ways in which we can fight against it and make a lasting change. Also, we will be collecting gently used t-shirts at the door to donate to the efforts of Hello Rewind. Don't miss a great opportunity to clean out your closet for a worthy cause.


Film Shorts and Panel on Child Labor Slavery

Date/Time/Location: Saturday, October 2nd, 4-6 pm, at the NYU Kimmel Center, 4th Floor Auditorium, 60 Washington Square South.
Presented by: Against Child Trafficking (ACT)
Price: *free*
New York University's Against Child Trafficking is proud to present two short films on child labor slavery: this year's Oscar-nominated Kavi, a fictional film about a child slave working the brick kilns in India, and Restaveks: Haiti's Child Slaves, a documentary brief focusing on the centuries-old tradition of child trafficking in Haiti and the U.S. Following the screening will be a Q&A panel with featured speakers: Carmen Russell, the director of Restaveks, and Jean-Robert Cadet, a former restavek turned activist.


An Evening of Poetry

Date/Time/Location: Sunday, October 3rd, 4-6pm, at Verlaine Bar, 110 Rivington Street (between Essex and Ludlow Streets)
Presented by: The Freedom Week Planning Committee
Price: $5
Please join us for a night of art and poetry inspired by the plight of trafficked victims. Published poet Tamiko Beyer and award-winning spoken word artist Kelly Tsai will explore themes of entrapment, deception and exploitation, as well as liberation, healing and transcendence. Featured speaker Alissa Moore of Nomi Network will talk about her organization's unique strategy to combat sex trafficking as well as respond to questions from the audience. Nomi's beautiful slave-free products, whose sale benefits women at risk and survivors of trafficking, will also be available. This event is funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.


Free2Work Workshop

Date/Time/Location: Monday, October 4th, 7pm, at 74 Trinity Place (between Rector and Thames Streets)
Presented by: The Not For Sale Campaign
Price: *free*

Imagine: you wake up in the morning, shuffle to the kitchen in your soft cotton pajamas, and set the coffee, adding sugar and a dash of cocoa to your cup to make it a mocha. Unless you've gone out of your way in purchasing these products, it is highly likely that your cotton, your coffee, your sugar and your cocoa were grown, picked or processed by slaves. How do we move toward an economy that is free of slavery? By examining supply chains and empowering consumers. Come to this workshop to learn how to use and expand the Free2Work.org platform to eliminate labor slavery in our supply-chains.


Awareness to Abolition

Date/Time/Location: Friday, October 8th, 8pm, at Calvary Baptist Church, 123 West 57th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.
Presented by: Calvary Baptist Church, featuring Deirdre Mars of the Not For Sale Campaign and Jonathan Walton of New York City Urban Project
Price: *free*

Join us, along with select NYC poets and artists, as we gather to move from apathy to awareness into focused action in fighting human trafficking. Not For Sale NY State Director Deirdre Mars will lay out a comprehensive definition on the types of modern-day slavery and how to get involved in the abolition movement through the Not For Sale Campaign. Jonathan Walton will perform and lay out a framework for staying involved in this work for the long-term as we seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly after God. Light refreshments will be served and representatives from other organizations will be on-hand to answer questions and offer further opportunities to convert awareness into action.
The Stop Child Trafficking Now Awareness and Fundraising Walk

Date/Time/Location: Saturday, October 9th, Lincoln Center. Check in from 9:00 a.m., walk begins at 10:00 a.m.
Price: *free*
An extension of Freedom Week, we are pleased to announce the annual walk sponsored by a partner from last year's Freedom Week - Stop Child Trafficking Now. Please join us! Start raising funds now and recruit friends and family members to be part of something exciting and inspiring. The link below provides all the necessary details. See you at the walk!

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