Search Results for: blog slave labor

Anti-Slavery: Today’s Fight for Tomorrow’s Freedom

As I said once before in a blog, when many Americans hear the word “slavery,” they think of African Americans being freed after the Civil War. But unfortunately, slavery is still very much a part of the world today. While researching the SlaveryFootprint.org website, I ran across the Anti-Slavery website. Anti-Slavery points out that although slavery was prohibited by the UN in 1848’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, slavery still exists today. Modern slavery includes many different things – prostitution, bonded labor, trafficking, slavery by descent, child labor, forced labor, and forced marriage. The site estimates that as many as … Continue reading →

How Many Slaves Do You Own?

The question in the title may be offensive to many. After all, this is the 21st Century; slavery in the U.S. was abolished in 1865 – over 100 years ago. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t own slaves. Oh, I don’t mean you have indentured servants working at your beck and call, but you may be indirectly responsible for some of the slavery that still exists in the world today. That’s right, slavery, while technically illegal in the U.S., is still a problem here and in many parts of the world and you may unknowingly be a part of it. … Continue reading →

Slave Labor

The other day I reminded my 7-year-old that unless she made her bed and picked up the 50 million plastic pieces from her disassembled Deluxe Marble Race that lay scattered on her bedroom floor, going to see “The Smurfs” in 3D was out of the question. “What am I a slave?” she asked flatly. Precious, huh? Not so much, but definitely relatable if you are a parent of a child who is willing to go to great lengths to get out of completely his chores. Just ask the parents of an 11-year-old German boy, who actually turned to police, in … Continue reading →

Put Kids to Work

My parents were huge proponents of the idiom:  “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” In other words, my mom and dad hated seeing their offspring sit around when there was work to be done.  And when you’re living in a home occupied by six people, there’s never a shortage of tasks to be completed. For me, summer meant tennis camp, swimming lessons and plenty of chores.  In my dad’s eyes, no job was too dirty for his little girl.  Looking back, I don’t begrudge my father for keeping me and my brothers busy during the dog days of summer.  In … Continue reading →

Little Hands = Big Help

Know how you can save money around the house?  Put your kids to work. Many parents shy away from assigning household jobs to their young children rationalizing that it takes less time and energy if they simply complete the tasks themselves.  Of course, a child is never going to learn how to make a bed, clean a toilet or fold laundry if his parent doesn’t allow him to get hands-on experience and make mistakes along the way.  Most kids learn from their errors, though that’s little consolation to the mom who has to refold an entire basket of clean laundry … Continue reading →

How to Spare Your Child the Pain of Divorce

Norwegian researchers believe they know how to prevent the pains of divorce from being inflicted on innocent children. According to a new study entitled “Equality in the Home,” parents who share housework duties are 50 percent more likely to get divorced than couples where the woman does most of the chores. In other words, the more housework the man does, the higher the divorce rate. A part of me died typing that sentence. The rest of me is trying to swallow the vomit that’s pooled in my mouth. Basically, the study is saying that if you are a stressed out … Continue reading →

Pakistan Factory Fire

The factory was full of workers, most working for slave wages. Employees were treated like slaves too, being locked inside the factory by the uncaring management to prevented theft and unauthorized breaks. Then, the worst happened – a fire broke out. Trapped in the building behind locked doors, hundreds died. Some of smoke inhalation, some that jumped to their death. In 1911, that scenario happened in New York City at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The fire killed 146 workers, mostly female victims between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three years old. (This media file is in the public domain in … Continue reading →

Human Trafficking in America – Part 1

I saw a commercial for a local news station the other night about human trafficking right. I missed the newscast (as I often do – on purpose because it is just generally depressing), but today, I saw the article on the news web site and decided to read it. A local woman claimed she was a victim of human trafficking racket here in my hometown of Memphis. Now, I’ll admit, I read this with some skepticism. She claimed that at age 18, a “friend” sold her into a commercial sex ring. One night she went to a party house with … Continue reading →

Genealogy Podcast Roundup – Week of July 16, 2012

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Each and every week, the Genealogy Podcast Roundup brings you brand new episodes of your favorite genealogy podcasts. This is a great way to find genealogy podcasts that are new to you, and to catch up on your favorite genealogy podcasts. African Roots Podcast released episode number 171 on July 13, 2012. In this episode, host Angela Walton-Raji brings you up to date on how the derecho storm took out the electric power for the people in her area, and how this has affected her. She also points out upcoming genealogy events in places like Little Rock, Arkansas, Topeka, Kansas, … Continue reading →

The Plight of Burma – Part 1

I love Facebook. I have liked certain sites and every once in a while, a status gives me insight into things I either don’t know or haven’t thought of. Yesteday, it was a Mental Floss article about “modern” antiques, i.e. things today’s children have never seen. Boy, did I feel old when I saw #1 was a 45-rpm record adapter! However, today’s “Ah” moment on Facebook was not amusing. United to End Genocide posted that Burma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world. As a citizen of country where the majority of people try to protect … Continue reading →