Mobile Exhibit Exposes Modern-Day Slavery
Monday, July 26, 2010(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Learn about the history and evolution of slavery in Florida’s
fields at a special exhibit – developed by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
– on
display today at the Church of the Pilgrims near Dupont Circle. “A
century and a half after the Civil War, forms of slavery continue to exist in
the world, including in the United States,” says Dr. Eric Foner, DeWitt
Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University. “This Mobile Museum brings
to light this modern tragedy and should inspire us to take action against it.”
The exhibit features multimedia displays on chattel slavery, convict-lease,
sharecropping and debt peonage and includes a cargo truck outfitted as replica
of a vehicle used to enslave Florida tomato pickers in a brutal case prosecuted
by the US Department of Justice (US vs. Navarrete, 2008). “Labor and human
rights activists from all walks of life should visit this informative,
interactive and truly inspiring exhibit,” adds DC Jobs with Justice. Click
here for more information. - photo by Fritz
Myer