Our fall ABOLITION project culminated in an art event attended by approximately 250 friends. We were able to raise $1,100 through this event for local and global human trafficking aftercare efforts. We displayed artwork and art installations by various project participants and poets and bands performed through out the night as people mixed and mingled with food and drink. In the weeks leading up to this event, we wrote letters to government officials asking for immigration reforms that would protect and provide better for trafficking victims. We also launched a city-wide awareness campaign along with a referral website (www.abolitionsf.org). Hailey, Noah and Isaiah had a fun time distributing coffee cup holders with the logo “Stop Human Trafficking” in our neighborhood cafes. Through this project we learned that awareness and advocacy are important steps toward ending modern day slavery.
One thing that surprised us with this project was how much the issue is related to public policy. A measure on the ballot in San Francisco would have legalized prostitution and eliminated funding for local trafficking aftercare programs. Many of the people in the ABOLITION project became loud public advocates against the proposition (which was defeated on election day). Lisa and I didn’t grow up in households that were particularly political, so it has been new for us to ask, “What does it mean to follow the Way of Jesus in our political process?”
