American Anti-Slavery Group

CONTACT:

198 Tremont Street #421
Boston, MA 02116
617-426-8161
www.iabolish.org

Dr. Charles Jacobs, founder and chairman of the board

DESCRIPTION:

Today, worldwide, there are 27 million adult and children slaves— forced to work for no pay, with no choice, under threat of violence. AASG was founded in Boston, in 1993 (inc.1994); today it has 45,000 members, a website, a $500,000 budget, and excellent, methodical, leadership. It has exploded the myth that slavery ended in 1865; a 1999 Boston Globe editorial noted that “[AASG has] broken through the wall of silence that surrounds slavery.” Its “Bearing Witness” Program provides a platform for ex-slaves to tell their stories—e.g., former Sudanese slave Francis Bok’s book, Escape from Slavery. It litigates to defend abolitionists; in 2002 it broke up a Pakistan slave auction selling Afghan refugee children. Its FREE US program litigates to free slaves in the US—currently aiding a woman enslaved by a family in a Boston suburb! To prepare the next generation, its S.T.O.P. (Slavery that Oppresses People) Program has website- distributed teaching materials for grades 4-12; 150 schools in 13 countries use them; STOP has won an Anne Frank Award and the Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Reward. For college students AASG has an internship program. In ten years, AASG has helped free tens of thousands of slaves, but that is only a beginning. Massachusetts abolitionism is resurgent—please help.

(2004: INTERNATIONAL)