SoJust Leadership Series presents speakers who are committed to social justice around the world
Kevin Bales leads off the SoJust Leadership Series on Sept. 2
The Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism and the International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life are jointly hosting a Social Justice Leadership Series for the 2009-10 academic year.
The series aims to bring to campus inspiring speakers whose work lives are driven by a commitment to social justice and human rights in the United States and around the world.
The first program in the series will feature Kevin Bales, one of the world’s leading experts on modern slavery and human trafficking. Bales estimates that at this moment, 27 million slaves -- more than twice the number of people taken from Africa during the 350 years of the African slave trade -- toil in rich and poor countries around the world, their forced labor providing consumers with dozens of ordinary products.
During his presentation and discussion, to be held Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 7 pm in Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library, Bales will share ideas he believes can finally lead to slavery’s extinction. He will discuss his own groundbreaking work in the antislavery movement, and describe the unique path that led him to be an outspoken abolitionist. The event is free and open to the public.
Bales is president of Free the Slaves, the U.S. sister organization of Anti-Slavery International, which is the world's oldest human rights organization. He is the winner of numerous international humanitarian awards, and his book “Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy” was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Cosponsors of this event are the Brandeis Interfaith Chaplaincy; Feminist Sexual Ethics Projects; Gen Ed Now; the Journalism Program; the Legal Studies Program; the Office of the Provost; Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies; and Social Justice and Social Policy Program.
Upcoming programs include a talk by Iraqi journalist Haider Hamza on Oct. 20 and a screening of “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” a film on the Liberian civil war, on Oct. 21.
Late in the fall semester, the Social Justice Leadership Series will present the inaugural Distinguished Lecture in International Justice and Human Rights by Hassan Jallow, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
In the spring, the series will present a talk by Gloria White-Hammond, a founder of the faith-inspired, multiracial, collective of women known as My Sister’s Keeper that provides humanitarian assistance to communities of women globally, with a focus on Sudan.
