Thirty years ago, Doubleday published a book written by Alex Haley called ROOTS. Nearly everyone read the book and watched the TV mini-series. African Americans from the Pacific to the Atlantic and all points in between revisited their own “roots”: interviewing great-aunts; poring over microfilm (no ancestry.com then!) and squinting to make out spidery handwriting on 19th century documents. We wanted to know. Who are we? Where did we come from? On whose shoulders do we stand?

When I was a child, my great-grandfather presided over the Thanksgiving table, assisted by my grandfather, who carved the turkey, and served by my father and mother. If I behaved myself (which I often didn’t), I was allowed to stay up past my bedtime and listen to the grown folks’ conversation. It was the late fifties and we were colored then. They talked about the NAACP and discussed articles in The Crisis and what Mrs. So-and-So down the street was doing. And later, if I was still awake, I heard family stories, too: the “mountain man” grandfather who smoked a cheroot pipe; the grandmother who gathered herbs and plants to make medicines. I wish I’d asked more questions but I didn’t.

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The Partnership for Human Freedom, an initiative at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, is hosting a first-ever Ohio Statewide Meet-Up on Human Trafficking on August 27, 2008.

This event will bring together Ohioans who are involved in addressing local and regional human trafficking/contemporary slavery issues. Attendees include law enforcement, legal entities, social service providers, health care providers, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, survivors, etc. Attendees from anti-trafficking organizations in Indiana and Kentucky also have been invited to participate.

The Partnership for Human Freedom envisions the meeting to be an annual event to continue the American abolitionist tradition of seeking to end slavery, said Kathleen YS Davis, the Freedom Center’s Director of Contemporary Slavery Programs. The key, she said in a recent interview with CityBeat, is educating people that slavery is not only a problem on the other side of the world. “Unfortunately, slavery does exist today, Davis said. “It happens in Cincinnati. It happens in Ohio. It happens nationally, internationally.”

The one-day event is supported by several Ohio Anti-Slavery coalitions/agencies, including Second Chance of Toledo, End Slavery Cincinnati (Rescue & Restore), Central Ohio Rescue & Restore (Columbus), and Collaborative to End Human Trafficking (Cleveland).

For additional information about the meeting, contact Kathleen Davis at kdavis@nurfc.org.

Members, thank you for your interest in joining us on our first ever Member outing to the historic Ripley, Ohio. Prices for the day include all our transportation, tickets to the historical houses, our specialized tour guide and lunch on the scenic Ohio River! Come travel with the Freedom Center for only $50 per adult and $40 per child. This memorable and educational outing is appropriate for all ages. Mark your calendars and RSVP today! Here is our itinerary for the day.

To RSVP for the trip or for more information please call our membership department at 513-333-7583. You can also RSVP online.

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Check out all the benefits of becoming a member of the National Underground Freedom Center.