Human trafficking is a major social justice issue recently used as a summer reading topic for first year students to learn about before entering Cabrini. The college is inviting the author of “Not for Sale,” to host his Backyard Abolitionist Tour at the college on Monday, Nov. 2.
The event will include an afternoon workshop hosted by author David Batstone and then a formal presentation in the evening with award-winning singer and song-writer Brant Christopher. Batstone and Christopher will collaborate to make the presentation a multimedia event that brings together lecture, music and video to expose human trafficking to those who may have never thought twice about the issue.
“I think any student who cares about social justice issues, or any student who takes our justice matters curriculum seriously should attend this and get something out of it,” Dr. Paul Wright, assistant professor of English and chair of the summer reading committee, said.
The afternoon workshop will be held in Jazzmans Café at 4 p.m. The workshop will be hands-on in that Batstone will provide maps of local areas in order to show where human trafficking is taking place “in our own backyard.” Students will be given practical ideas on how to combat this issue, as well as how to educate others about it.
“We are holding the workshop in Jazzmans because we hope to attract people who are walking in or passing through,” Wright said. “The evening event in the Grace Hall Atrium is more of a formal show than a workshop.”
The winner of the first student essay award will be announced during the evening event and the winner will have the opportunity to introduce Batstone to the Cabrini community.
The presentation in the evening will coincide with the first year summer reading assignment, “Not for Sale.” The book contains non-fictional narratives of victims, as well as those working on the abolitionist side. According to Wright, the book has a global perspective that is refreshing. It does not treat human trafficking as a local issue in only one area of the world with a certain culture held responsible, but rather emphasizes that the world is intertwined and the issue is worldwide.
Batstone is the professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco and was the founder of the social venture firm, Right Reality. He writes regularly in USA Weekend edition as America’s Ethics Guru.
Batstone has brought his crusade to many colleges and universities, as well as to government officials.
“I know that former President Clinton has had some events where Batstone was featured as a speaker and people from different administrations in our government agreed that this is a kind of pressing human rights matter that most people don’t know about,” Wright said.
Wright explained that human trafficking is an extremely important issue.
“We live with a notion that slavery is something that is over and a part of our past,” Wright said. “We have a historical awareness of the issue, but we don’t realize that it’s going on all the time.” Both events are open to the entire Cabrini community. “Even if students have not read this book or heard about this issue I think it is an opportunity for them to get educated in a very user-friendly way,” Wright said. “I think it would be silly to miss that kind of opportunity on our campus.”
More information on Batstone’s campaign can be found at notforsalecampaign.org, as well as on Twitter under DaveBatstone or Not_For_Sale.
