There will be tens of thousands of people today, inspired by the End It Movement, who will wear a red ‘X” on their hands to symbolize a commitment to end slavery.

Philosopher and rhetorician Kenneth Burke wrote extensively on the power of symbolism. He believed that people naturally respond to symbolism in their quest for identification and that it is a powerful means of “inducing cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols.”

Throughout history symbolism has been used to inspire and galvanize social movements. Symbols have even helped unite people within a movement who have differing philosophies, approaches and agendas for a common good. Sometimes words aren’t even necessary. The symbols below speak volumes in their imagery, history and the feelings they provoke:

At the end of the day, these symbols didn’t bring about any meaningful change. But the people behind them did. A symbol doesn’t change anything. People do. And if a symbol can help “induce cooperation” and inspire more people to the fight…then I’m in.

So… a red ‘X’ won’t end slavery. But the people who wear it might.

Rob Morris
President & Co-Founder Love146
(t) 203-772-4420
www.love146.org 
Twitter:@ROBLOVE146

I’m a fool and I’m better for it. 

I woke up yesterday morning to a shock. News of a merger between Love146 and Not For Sale lit up social media, including a new website, and I didn’t know anything about it -- which is really awkward since I’m the President and Co-Founder of Love146.

I immediately called our CEO and left a bit of a blunt message basically asking, "What the heck is this about?"

You’d think that because I have six kids that I should know better.

Turns out it was an elaborate April Fools prank and I had forgotten that it was April 1st. Unbeknownst to me, the prank was planned out and executed over the weekend (not during work hours) by our CEO and Communications Strategist, along with Not For Sale’s Executive Director and communications accomplice.

I was had. Badly. I think our CEO is saving my voicemail to continue to mock my naiveté.

Which brings me to this thought… It’s important in the work that we do to take time to laugh. Even at ourselves. (Maybe mostly at ourselves.) It’s important to remember to embrace joy and celebration. To pull our heads out of the dark waters to catch a breath.

We practice this daily at Love146 by sharing lunch together every day. We sit at a huge table and on couches that face each other…and we share stories from our weekend adventures, our families, our lives. And we laugh. Sometimes until we cry. Or almost pee in our pants. It’s healing. It’s how we stay in the fight. It’s how we stay alive.

I think Gary Haugen from International Justice Mission says it best when he writes:

“We cannot ache and sweat through history’s long arc of justice without clutching life-giving stores of beauty, laughter, goodness, love and light, without snatching delicious naps in the cool grassy spots, and without late night fires with friends who make us flush and ache with laughter. To carelessly ditch the cool canteen of joy in the name of a severe urgency is to misunderstand the expedition and to render one’s self useless in the fight against aggressive evil. The grim, sophisticated, self-serious activist finds himself angry and spent and exceedingly bad company.”

So…take a moment today to laugh. To breathe. To perhaps be a fool with me. You’ll be the better for it.

Rob Morris
President & Co-Founder Love146
(t) 203-772-4420
www.love146.org
Twitter: @ROBLOVE146

A couple of years ago my wife and I were in Vietnam completing the adoption of our youngest daughter. We were there for three weeks. Our daughter was almost four at the time. Because of the losses she had experienced, she wasn’t taking any chances anymore of being abandoned or left behind. So every night before bed, she would put her shoes in mine next to the hotel room door to ensure that I wouldn’t be able to leave without her.

It broke my heart – that a child so young would be so concerned about being forgotten. She was resolved and determined that it would not happen again.

I see a similar determination in the children we partner with at Love146. Many of these girls and boys, have lived most of their young lives in the shadows. The only people noticing or remembering them were those who wanted to use them for horrific reasons.

Yet in spite of (or as a result of) what they have experienced, I see a steely determination. You can see it in their eyes. You can see it in how they begin to excel in school. You can see it in how vigorously they become active participants in their own recovery. You can see it in how they are reaching out to other children at risk. You can see it in how tenaciously they pursue their dreams. You can see it in the fact that, no matter how many times they fall along their journey, they get up again. You can EVEN see it in how they get fierce on the huge punching bag that hangs from a tree on the safehome property. They shout with their lives…

”I will not be forgotten. I will not be left behind.”

My daughter is no longer leaving her shoes in mine next to the door. She is confident that we are not going anywhere. We’re in it together for life.

The children we have the privilege of partnering with at Love146 are convinced of the same. And it makes all the difference.

Through the years I have discovered that a good way to approach life is that of a learner. I feel like I am always on a learning curve and it keeps me open and teachable.

I’m continually learning about the power of words. Do words shape our thinking or does our thinking shape our words? Is it a little bit of both? You may interpret the following as me being picky or over-sensitive. I hope that I’m not. I’m just letting you in on some of my own struggle with words, their meaning and power.

I often hear victims of human trafficking and slavery described as “invisible”, “silent”, “defenseless” or as having “disappeared”. I understand that these words are used to describe those who are often in the shadows and go unnoticed, but I suggest that these terms, though powerful, may be pointing us in the wrong direction.

I am reminded of the movie Mystery Men, a superhero comedy film starring superheroes with unimpressive superpowers. One of the superheroes was Invisible Boy, who after years of being ignored as a youth developed his superpower of invisibility. The catch was that he was only able to turn invisible when no one was looking at him.

I think about the children we partner with in Love146 and I don’t believe that any of them would have wanted to be described as “invisible”, “silent”, “defenseless”, or having “disappeared”. I wonder if it is a more accurate use of words to instead speak to our own blindness, refusal to see, or just not knowing where or what to look for to identify victims. The problem is not that they are invisible; it is that we do not see. In addition, I have rarely met a “silent” trafficking victim, though I’ve met many who aren’t listening to them. I think we need to be asking questions -- Are we listening? Are we adding our voice to amplify theirs? Do we really see?

Invisibility is not a real superpower -- but listening, seeing and learning may be.

I am a father of six children and I’m raising rebels.

I never thought that I'd be proud and beaming while saying such a thing. But I am. I remember my “rebellion years” all too well while I was growing up in New York -- and it wasn’t pretty. I still feel the need at times to apologize to my parents for those years. They lost a lot of sleep when I was a teenager.

But since becoming a father, I’m actually determined to raise rebels. I want my children to rebel and this resolve only deepens with each passing year. 

I was reminded of this again last night while watching the Super Bowl with my kids. I think it is a sad day that while watching the biggest game of the year, I find myself on the edge of my seat, not because it’s a great game, but because I have to be so vigilant with the remote, getting ready to switch channels or cover my kids eyes in case some sleazy commercial comes on. (Yeah GoDaddy… I’m talking to you.)

I remember watching my first Super Bowl. It was the classic matchup of the Baltimore Colts and the New York Jets in Super Bowl III back in 1969. I was seven years old. The whole family was gathered around the black and white TV. I’m pretty sure that my parents weren’t concerned about what might pop up on a commercial. Has the day come when watching a sporting event like the Super Bowl has ceased to become “family-friendly”?

Call me over-protective. Call me over-sensitive. Call me a prude. No, actually call me a DAD. I will continue to teach and inspire my sons to rebel against a hyper-sexualized culture that normalizes the objectification and exploitation of women and girls. And I will teach my daughters to rebel against a culture that is grooming them to believe that their value, worth and acceptance is based upon their sexuality instead of their humanity.

I'm raising rebels.

Rob

President & Co-Founder, Love146
Follow me on Twitter HERE