"I determined, at every hazard, to lift up the standard of emancipation in the eyes of the nation...  That standard is now unfurled; and long may it float, unhurt by the spoliations of time or the missiles of a desperate foe -- yea, till every chain be broken, and every bondman set free!  Let Southern oppressors tremble -- let their secret abettors tremble -- let their Northern apologists tremble -- let all the enemies of the persecuted blacks tremble….

...I shall not array myself as the political partisan of any man.  In defending the great cause of human rights, I wish to derive the assistance of all religions and of all parties.

Assenting to the "self-evident truth" maintained in the American Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights -- among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," I shall strenuously contend for the immediate enfranchisement of our slave population….

I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity?  I will be  as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice.  On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation.  No!  no!  Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; -- but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.  I am in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND I WILL BE HEARD."

-William Lloyd Garrison

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US. Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. From Jan 1st-11th, we’ve be posting daily blogs with inspiration from the history of the movement to end slavery. Our resolution is to protect & defend the vulnerable and to restore & empower survivors. Join us in beginning 2012 by pausing to recharge our spirits as we carry on towards the end of slavery and the sexual exploitation of children.

"It is up to each and every one of us to raise our voice against crimes

that deprive countless victims of their liberty, dignity and human rights.

We have to work together to realize the equal rights promised to all by the United Nations Charter.

And we must collectively give meaning to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that

“no one shall be held in slavery or servitude.”


- Ban Ki-moon

"I am a believer in that portion of the Declaration of American Independence in which it is set forth, as among self-evident truths,

"that all men are created equal;

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Hence, I am an abolitionist.

Hence, I cannot but regard oppression in every form – and most of all, that which turns a man into a thing – with indignation and abhorrence. Not to cherish these feelings would be recreancy to principle. They who desire me to be dumb on the subject of slavery, unless I will open my mouth in its defense, ask me to give the lie to my professions, to degrade my manhood, and to stain my soul. I will not be a liar, a poltroon, or a hypocrite, to accommodate any party, to gratify any sect, to escape any odium or peril, to save any interest, to preserve any institution, or to promote any object. Convince me that one man may rightfully make another man his slave, and I will no longer subscribe to the Declaration of Independence. Convince me that liberty is not the inalienable birthright of every human being, of whatever complexion or clime, and I will give that instrument to the consuming fire. I do not know how to espouse freedom and slavery together. 

Every slave is a stolen man; every slaveholder is a man stealer. By no precedent, no example, no law, no compact, no purchase, no bequest, no inheritance, no combination of circumstances, is slaveholding right or justifiable. While a slave remains in his fetters, the land must have no rest...

Such, at least, is the verdict of my own soul, on the supposition that I am to be the slave;

that my wife is to be sold from me for the vilest purposes; that my children are to be torn from my arms, and disposed of to the highest bidder, like sheep in the market.

And who am I but a man? What right have I to be free, that another man cannot prove himself to possess by nature? Who or what are my wife and children, that they should not be herded with four-footed beasts..."

-William Llyod Garrison, 1854

January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US. Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. From Jan 1st-11th, we’ll be posting daily blogs with inspiration from the history of the movement to end slavery. Our resolution is to protect & defend the vulnerable and to restore & empower survivors. Join us in beginning 2012 by pausing to recharge our spirits as we carry on towards the end of slavery and the sexual exploitation of children.

"'I got me slave-girls and slaves.’ 

...For what price, tell me?

What did you find in existence worth

as much as this human nature?

What price did you put on rationality? 

How many staters did you get for selling that being shaped by God? ...If he is in the likeness of God, and rules the whole earth, and has been granted authority over everything on earth from God, who is his buyer, tell me? Who is his seller?

-Saint Gregory of Nyssa, 335-395AD

We repeat it, every man knows that slavery is a curse.
"Whoever denies this, his lips libel his heart.
Try him; clank the chains in his ears, and tell him they are for him.

Give him an hour to prepare his
wife and children for a life of slavery.

Bid him make haste and get ready their necks for the yoke,
and their wrists for the come chains,

then look at his pale lips

and trembling knees,

and you have nature's

testimony against slavery.

-Theodore Dwight Weld

January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the US. Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. From Jan 1st-11th, we’ll be posting daily blogs with inspiration from the history of the movement to end slavery. Our resolution is to protect & defend the vulnerable and to restore & empower survivors. Join us in beginning 2012 by pausing to recharge our spirits as we carry on towards the end of slavery and the sexual exploitation of children.