Slave labor still lives right next door

You might think that the Emancipation Proclamation ended the argument for human beings to be enslaved in the United States, but it's been going on in plain sight for years ever since. Human trafficking is a VERY profitable business, so profitable that many drug traffickers are switching over to human trafficking. Unlike drugs, humans are a reusable resource and can be sold many times over then thrown away.


A friend sent this news story to me that is sadly not shocking. A group of 20+ girls were flown from West Africa to Newark, New Jersey and promised an education, instead they were bound to modern day slavery. The truth is that slavery could be right before your eyes. I look back to my life growing up in Southern California where my parents hired landscapers from Mexico to care for our lawn. My mom always had kind conversations with the organizer and leader of the group. She gave them water, food, lemonade and tried to make their day as enjoyable as possible. It wasn't clear that these men were being held against their will and/or not given the money they deserved. Anything could have been possible (and I'm not even getting into the possibility that they emigrated themselves into the USA illegally on their own will). It irks me that there is a slight possibility those men might have been slave laborers. My family works hard to promote social justice and doing what's right, but if you don't know the right questions to ask, you cold be supporting slave labor without even knowing about it. Who knows if those men were trafficked and it's my prayer that they weren't, but the thought of it is disturbing.


Please watch this short video of slave labor in a hair salon in New Jersey. I guarantee it will make you think twice about who you are paying for services and if they are actually getting money from it or not.