Check This Out!

MODERN-DAY SLAVERY MUSEUM TO TOUR NEW YORK

FROM AUGUST 2ND TO AUGUST 4TH

The Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum consists of a produce truck of the same model that farmworkers were locked inside of and chained in one of the latest slavery prosecutions (U.S. v. Navarrete, 2008), accompanied by displays on the history and evolution of slavery in Florida agriculture. The museum's central focus is on the phenomenon of modern-day slavery – its roots, the reasons it persists, and its solutions.

The exhibits were developed in consultation with workers who have escaped from forced labor operations as well as leading academic authorities on slavery and labor history in Florida. The museum is endorsed by several leading human rights and anti-slavery organizations, including Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery International, respectively the largest human rights organization and the oldest human rights organization in the world. It has recently been hosted at the U.S. State Department building and the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The museum was conceived by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the human rights award-winning farmworker organization that has aided in the prosecution by the Department of Justice of seven farm slavery operations and the liberation of well over 1,000 workers since 1997. A federal indictment for the most recent forced labor case in Florida agriculture was unsealed just this month.

The tour will also raise awareness about labor conditions in the tomato supply chains of Ahold's USA supermarket brands, including Giant, Stop & Shop, and Martins.

“Slavery in Florida agriculture today is not separate from the past – indeed, its roots extend deep within our state’s history. Farmworkers have always been, and remain today, the state’s poorest, least powerful workers,” explains Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “If we are to abolish slavery once and for all in Florida agriculture, we must pull it up by the roots by addressing farmworker poverty and powerlessness.”

NEW YORK CITY STOPS INFORMATION

Date: Monday, August 2nd

Location: Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 1047 Amsterdam Ave.

(between 112th and 113th Streets)

Time: 10am - 9pm.

Date: Tuesday, August 3rd

Location: Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South (West

4th at Thompson)

Time: 10am - 9pm.

Date: Wednesday, August 4th

Location: Middle Collegiate Church, 50 E. 7th Street (between First

and Second Avenues)

Time: 10am - 9pm.