The Mercury Saturday November 12th 1864: The Employment of Slaves … The African is of an inferior race, whose normal condition is slavery. Prone to barbarism, and incapable of any other state than that of pupilage, he is at his best estate as the slave of the enlightened white man of this country. The Mercury newspaper article, cited Ken Burns, The Civil War: War is All Hell (1865)
The scandal of Britain’s secret slaves: thousands of women brought into this country as domestic workers by their wealthy employers … Slavery: we find it alive and well in Britain today. Exposure: Britain’s Secret Slaves, ITV 2015
15,000 domestic workers brought into the UK each year by their wealthy employers. ibid.
Under the new rules she can’t legally work for anyone else. ibid.
Honolulu, Hawaii: The trap of a heartless human trafficker: Kil-Soo Lee ran a south-Pacific sweatshop … The women at Kil-Soo Lee’s garment factory were prisoners of their heartless boss. Very Bad Men s2e2: The Inhuman Trafficker, ID 2006
North Korea’s modern-day slave trade. 150,000 workers sent abroad to raise billions for the regime. Hidden cameras capture Korean work gangs in China, Russia and even in Europe. Panorama: North Korea’s Secret Slave Gangs, BBC 2018
‘People need to know that in the 21st century people can be used for money and treated like animals.’ Panorama: The Hunt for Britain’s Slave Gangs, East European dude, BBC 2019
It’s 5 a.m. in West Bromwich. Detective constable Mike Wright is on his way to arrest a man he believes is involved in human trafficking and may have breached an anti-slavery court order. Mike’s part of a West Midlands police team carrying out the biggest ever investigation into modern slavery: Operation Fort. ibid.
The slaves were held in houses across the West Midlands. They were put to work in legitimate well-known businesses. The gang committed their crimes in plain sight. ibid.
It’s become clear to the police that the gang they’ve caught is one of many operating across Britain. ibid.
Back in Birmingham the trial has now been running two months. ibid.
When the police raided the traffickers’ homes, they found a Bentley, designer clothing, cash and a stack of debit cards, as well as evidence they had control of 174 bank accounts. In total police believe the gang had made £2 million. ibid.
The trial is finally drawing to a conclusion. Caroline is working on her closing speech; it’s the last chance she’ll have to remind the jury of the evidence given in court by more than sixty slaves. ibid.
The 5 gang members convicted in the first trial are sentenced between them to 35 years behind bars. Later the three other members including gang elder Ignacy Brzezinski are also convicted – they get a total of 20 years. ibid.
Hungary: I met a woman, Eta, who was proud of keeping three servants and not having to work herself. I asked for her permission to film one of the servants, Marish, who lived in Eta’s house and worked 12 hours a day in a factory. Eta made it clear that I was not to meet Marish without her permission. Later she demanded I pay her money to be allowed in the house. Marish, originally offered refuge in Eta’s house, had become trapped in servitude through coercion, intimidation and violence. Storyville: A Woman Captured, BBC 2018
‘I have to give all my money to Eta. Every single cent. Nothing: she only gives me food and some cigarettes.’ ibid. Marish
There is a dark side. We also have the highest number of kids in the world forced to work. Storyville: Selling Children, BBC 2018
How can millions of children in the world’s biggest democracy still be so easily exploited and abused? ibid.
Thousands of children are trafficked on India’s railways every year from the remotest parts of India. ibid.
In June 2014 so-called Islamic State fighters occupied huge areas of Syria and Iraq, entirely overwhelming the Azidi community who lived Mount Sinjar. Thousands of Yazidis fled before the advance. Those that fell into IS’s hands were met with the utmost brutality: men were killed and young women forced into slavery. In a few short weeks, a culture that had existed for thousands of years was brought to the brink of destruction. I Was a Yazidi Slave, BBC 2018
‘Thousands of Yazidi girls were imprisoned. They had the most terrible things done to them.’ ibid. victim
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement. Maid in Hell: Why Slavery? UN Declaration of Human Rights 1948, BBC 2018
2.8 million women work as maids in the Middle East region. They are bound to their employer under a system known as Kafala. ibid.
Despite bans from numerous countries, the Doumits import 200 maids every year. They charge employers a fee of 1,000 USD per maid. ibid.
After reports of abuse, Kenya banned women from working in the Middle East countries in 2012. To preserve its economic interests, Kenya began negotiations with Saudi Arabia to lift the ban. ibid.
Washington was a slave owner. American History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley, BBC 2019
The American Civil War: It’s gone down in history as a battle to liberate the slaves in the south and reunite the nation. But is that really true? American History’s Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley II
Conflicting accounts of the Civil War continue to divide the nation to this day. History is a murky business. ibid.
11 southern states broke away from the United States and set out to create a confederacy. ibid.
‘In 1858 Lincoln is decidedly not for racial equality.’ ibid. Professor Medford
It was a very limited kind of freedom. Many state quickly instituted racial segregation laws. ibid.
The end of slavery was a lie. ibid.
In the Gulf, women employed as domestic workers are being sold on apps provided by Apple and Google. It’s been called an online slave market. Our World: Silicon Valley’s Online Slave Market, BBC 2019
There are more than 700,000 domestic workers in Kuwait. ibid.
The seller sends us the passport of the 16-year-old girl. ibid.
Oh your bruises will be OK in no time. Eden 2012 starring Beau Bridges & Jamie Chung & Matt O’Leary & Scott Mechlowicz & Tantoo Cardinal & Jaret Jackson, director Megan Griffiths
Columbus and his lessers describes them as a very benign people, very gentle, how friendly they were. And how open and trustworthy. And they didn’t appear to have any weapons, any methods of defence. So they were ideal people to enslave. European man brought with him disease, which was to wipe out many people this side of the world. Natural World: Wild Cuba: A Caribbean Journey, BBC 2020
People all over the world take the knee. But for centuries black resistance to oppression has taken many forms: when the Quarterback Colin Kaepernick first took the knee in 2016, during the national anthem at an NFL game, there was a huge backlash. Ultimately, this act of defiance cost him his livelihood. In the years since, taking the knee has become a powerful symbol of resistance. 400 Years of Taking the Knee I, Dotun Adebayo narrator, History 2020
Queen Nanny – Granny Nanny – aka Granny of the Maroons, is Jamaica’s original national hero. Her face adorns the country’s $500 bill, recording the story of a freedom fighter who stood up to the might of the British people to win freedom for her enslaved people. ibid.
Toussaint Louverture, St Dominique: Emerged as the rebellion’s national leader … and abolished slavery from Hispaniola for ever … Bonaparte’s army suffered huge losses. ibid.
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, The African, written by himself: it was far from the last such attempts to discredit the veracity of black suffering. ibid
Phillis Wheatley: poems on various subjects were published in London in 1773 when she was 19. She was born in Gambia, and like Sancho, was separated from her family for ever when she was snatched … ibid.
Sojourner Truth ... She heard the spirit of God calling on her to tell the truth … She began to preach restlessly … on the abolition of slavery … She came to know other prominent abolitionists. ibid.
Ned Turner was hanged … Fredrick Douglass escaped his enslavement in 1838. He became a great writer and orator. ibid.
Canada, Harriet Tubman: The Underground Railway had many heroes. Chief amongst them is Harriet Tubman … ‘I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.’ [Tubman made 13 trips to the South and rescued approximately 70 people from bondage. ibid.
It is about how African bodies became properties and source of labour. Exterminate All the Brutes I: The Disturbing Confidence of Ignorance, Sky Documentaries 2021