In his 1999 book, Disposable People, Kevin Bales brought to light the existence of modern slavery and described how, nearly two hundred years after the slave trade was abolished, global slavery stubbornly persists. In his new book, Ending Slavery, Bales again presents the ideas and insights that can finally lead to slavery's extinction and freedom for the 27 million people currently held in slavery worldwide. Recalling his own involvement in the antislavery movement, he recounts the lives and stories of today's slaves, and explains how governments and citizens can build a world without slavery. President of the human rights organization Free the Slaves, he joins the Council to discuss what is needed to bring global slavery to an end and how to rebuild the lives of freed slaves and victims of human trafficking- World Affairs Council of Northern California
Bio
Kevin Bales
Going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed how modern slavery penetrates the global economy and flows into the things we buy. Named by Utne Reader as a "visionary who is changing your world;" and the originator of one of "100 World-Changing Discoveries" by the Association of British Universities, he is a leading abolitionist in the anti-slavery movement. In 2001 he founded Free the Slaves, the American sister organization of the UK’s Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights group. In eight years it has helped to liberate thousands of slaves in India, Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Bangladesh, and worked with them to build new lives of dignity.
After reading Bales' book Ending Slavery, President Clinton told the plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative: "It tells you that it is a problem we can solve and here’s how to do it." This year, with Ron Soodalter, he published The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, an expose and plan to make America slave-free at last.
Harold Brooks
Harold oversees the strategic development of one of the leading American Red Cross chapters in the country (serving over 4.5 million), and manages the daily operations of over 3,000 volunteers and 100 employees.