National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Hosting Trafficking: The Road to Freedom
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jamie Glavic
(513) 333-7511
(513) 802-7355
jglavic@nurfc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CINCINNATI, OH (January 18, 2017) – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will host Trafficking: The Road to Freedom on Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. The program will feature a panel discussion with local organizations dedicated to help end human trafficking globally. Trafficking: The Road to Freedom will also include the opportunity to tour Invisible: Slavery Today with National Underground Railroad Freedom Center staff. The program is free and open to the public. RSVPs are requested.
“January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and with an estimated 21 million people enslaved around the world, programs like this are necessary,” says Lara Green, Modern Day Slavery Initiative Manager at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “We encourage the public to not only join the evening’s panel discussion but to learn more and get involved. We all have a role to play in ending slavery – even in Cincinnati.”
The Trafficking: The Road to Freedom panel includes Bhumika Patel, Regional Coalition Specialist, End Slavery Cincinnati/The Salvation Army; Melody Smiley, ReachOut Director of India Ministry, Crossroads Church; Nancy Knapp, CEO of Freeset USA; and Ryan Berg, Executive Director of The Aruna Project. The discussion will be moderated by Takiyah Cunningham of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. (Cincinnati Queen City Alumnae Chapter).
“Our mission requires us to ‘challenge and inspire visitors to take courageous steps for freedom today’ because freedom has not been won for all,” says Dr. Clarence G. Newsome, President of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “Slavery still exists, globally and locally. Attending this program and learning how to recognize the signs from organizations who fight human trafficking everyday can help save someone’s life. Join the modern abolition movement.”
Trafficking: The Road to Freedom is free and open to the public. The program is scheduled for Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. RSVPs are requested. For more information about this program or to learn more about modern day slavery initiatives at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, visit freedomcenter.org.
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ABOUT THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center opened in August 2004 on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Since then, more than 1.3 million people have visited its permanent and changing exhibits and public programs, inspiring everyone to take courageous steps for freedom. Two million people have utilized educational resources online at freedomcenter.org, working to connect the lessons of the Underground Railroad to inform and inspire today’s global and local fight for freedom. Partnerships include Historians Against Slavery, Polaris Project, Free the Slaves, US Department of State and International Justice Mission. In 2014, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center launched a new online resource in the fight against modern slavery, endslaverynow.org.