“I had the luxury of swimming in wonderful memories…of being brought to my knees by the sheer grace and majesty in the eyes of the people I met in so many remote villages — usually after being stuck in the mud.” ~ Peggy Callahan, Co-Founder of Free the Slaves (FTS)
Peggy Callahan is an abolition hero. From helping to found Free the Slaves in 2001, Peggy helped to usher a great movement of human trafficking awareness, legislative advocacy, funding, and inspiring thousands of community activism all across the U.S. and world. The abolition community will miss her as she moves onto “special projects” for the abolition movement in general and for FTS.
I got a chance to briefly talk to Peggy when I was helping to coordinate, with Patricia Hamilton, the first Seattle Against Slavery’s Benefit and getting our keynote speaker, Ron Soodalter (co-author with Kevin Bales on The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today) via FTS. Peggy was so helpful and just great to work with.
Best quote from blog on this huge news: “We are forever grateful for Peggy’s unparalleled contributions to the abolition movement. She helped inspire the global media to alert the world that slavery still exists, and created a video library that helps journalists create awareness about slavery worldwide. Through her talents as a gifted filmmaker and her reputation as a trusted journalist, Peggy framed the struggle against slavery in positive, optimistic terms. By humanizing the problem, she helped everyone know that they have a role to play. Her films are a timeless legacy; they reveal one of history’s great crimes and the rebirth of a movement to end it.”
Read FTS’ blog on this news here and Peggy’s personal reflections here
HUMAN RIGHTS SOCIETY 