Hey, guys! We’re about halfway through the school year. It’s hard to believe how fast it’s gone by! Before any more time passes, I want to fill you in on a pretty cool opportunity I had a little while ago. I was invited to the White House to take part in a round-table discussion on the topic of modern-day slavery.
There were about 10 other presenters at this event, and each talked about his or her role in abolishing slavery. Many of the people are working in the government, and some of them report directly to the president. Others are on the front lines of the fight, actually rescuing people from slavery, freeing girls from brothels and risking all to bring freedom to others. These people are some of my heroes, and it was really humbling to be with them. I also had the privilege of meeting the great-great- (hmmm, I actually don’t remember how many greats-) grandson of Frederick Douglass, the former slave who went on to become a great antislavery activist in the 19th century.
The event organizers had asked me to come and talk about the role all of us teenagers have been playing in the fight and how we can share in the struggle together. So I went in with my written speech, feeling pretty nervous. I normally don’t write out a speech, but I didn’t want to forget anything I wanted to say. I talked about how many of my heroes and “friends” are dead people. This is because I have learned a lot from the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and William Wilberforce. I also talked about how, according to Wilberforce and his circle of friends, there is room for everyone at the table to bring about change. Ending slavery is going to take all of us—not just the lawyers and investigators, but also Sunday school teachers, moms and dads, and young guys like us. One of the things I’ll be doing this year is encouraging our generation to think hard about how we spend our money and not to support companies that are involved in the slave trade. (More on that in my next blog. You might
be surprised to learn how your buying impacts slavery.)
At the White House we discussed the various kinds of slavery in the world today, including bonded slavery, which is usually inflicted upon someone because of a debt he can’t repay. Sometimes the slave works weaving rugs, rolling cigarettes or making bricks all day long and in awful conditions.
Then there’s human trafficking, which, as its name suggests, is smuggling human beings from one place to another like cargo. This type of slavery often includes either sexual exploitation of children and women or domestic slavery, where victims are held against their will, refused pay or common necessities and forced to work in homes or villages for individuals or families. Many of you who read this, and all of the people in the room on that day, are angered by this. My friends who are experts in the field of abolition (they are older and a lot smarter than I) tell me that the hope for ending slavery rests on our generation.
In my message that day in D.C. I said, “Many people think my generation is self-centered, distracted and materialistic. That may be true. But let me tell you what I’ve seen. My generation knows that the world is a very small place. Thanks to the media, we have seen the suffering up close, and many of us feel responsible to do something about it. As I speak to students about modern-day slavery, they are outraged.”
And we want to change things. Please prove me right, bros. I pray for everyone who reads this blog, that he would get involved in the fight against slavery. The right to be free and not to be owned by someone else is the most basic human right. Our only Master should be Jesus. Let’s bring freedom to others.
Peace. Love. Justice! 
