Best Day Yet!!

"Each time a man strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." -Robert F. Kennedy

I thought about this as I ran. I thought about the giant Walk to Stop Child Trafficking Now that is happening all over the world on September 27. I thought about the Giant worldwide carwash being hosted by Love146 an organization which rescues girls from slavery. I thought about the Global Forum on Human Trafficking hosted by Not for Sale aimed at educating the public and implimenting plans to end slavery, and the UNGIFT’s work on the research of slavery, or "Invisible Childrens" efforts to free the 3000 Child soldiers in Uganda. In my mind I saw Carmen Morris the founder of the Sanctuary of Moses and her work bringing education and freedom to African children, there are so many great people, doing great things.

Today as I ran, I passed a red car. After seeing in four different places I started to get worried that it was following me. I was right. I came face to face with Jack the owner of Crabby J’s Seasoning. Courageously I asked him what he was doing, and to my surprise he responded "I found out about what you were doing, so I’ve been driving ahead of you and telling everyone in all the businesses that a guy is running 500 mile to tell the world about modern day slavery". What a great guy!

Though no one person can end slavery alone, together all of us can end slavery together. Together you and I, with all our tiny ripple of hope can bring freedom to the world.

Little Girl on the Bike

Crowd watches Eric finish for today

What has surprised me so far on this run is how different every day has been so far. Each time we isolate the source of a problem and move to correct it, something new comes to make this journey hard. As you can imagine blogging after 20 miles of running (its been 60 miles so far in the past 3 days) so I’ll be keeping this brief.
Tonight was the first time a crowd was there to greet me at the ending place. It was great. We even got curious people coming from the park to find out what was going on. This cute young girl on a bike grilled me and finally concluded that I was crazy and didn’t have to do this to my body. I guess the pain was evident.

.

Crowd watches Eric finish for today

I told her that when young girls her age are being forced into slavery all over the world and even in America, I feel like I do have to do this.

Who knew running 20 miles a day could be so painful

and wonderful.

and worth it!

I am so grateful for everyone’s support, and the comfort of seeing hundreds of people each day learn a little bit more about slavery is the great reward for all of us.

The Dancers

Eric Proffitt

Ken Morris

Emancipation Day

Exactly 175 years ago today, all the slaves in the british colonies were liberated marking the beginning of an annual celebration which would  cross over boundaries of nations and cultures - Emancipation Day it was called. Even in America which still held over 4 million slaves, this celebration,  charged with the yearning of the millions of slaves and abolitionists, was a spark of light in the push for America to TRULY be the land of the free. Finally the emancipation was signed by Abraham Lincoln which marked the first step toward American freedom from slavery which wasn’t fully realized until the signing of the 13th amendment 3 years later.

Today I started the Run 4 The Rescue in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, with an amazing line up of people who have dedicated their lives to bring freedom to people around the world.

Kenneth Morris- great, great, great, grandson of Frederick Douglass and founder of the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation.

Marcia Dyson - Hailed as one of Americas most formost spiritual writers and a  human rights activists whose compassion spans the globe in causes from Modern day slavery to the environment.

Carmen Morris - The visionary leader who founded the Sanctuary of Moses to bring educational opportunities to the children of Benin, Africa and help them ecape the risks that would make them prime targets for human trafficking.

here are my 5 lessons for the day:

1. This was told to me by one of the gangster looking guys in a rough part of town - "Be safe"
2. You’re welcome to look away in embarrassment from me while I run in chains(of course that’s for those who think I’m crazy or something), but I’m embarrassed for all those who look away from the cause of modern slavery.
3. switching gear at the last minute can lead to some uncomfortable situations…
4. While two guys I met were arguing about Booker T Washington and FRederick Douglass having diametrically opposite beliefs in some aspects of the best future for Black america, I couldn’t help but chuckle that this didn’t stop their offspring from finding common ground enough to get married and bring about the fabulous life known as Kenneth B Morris Jr. The point is that celebrating unity is way more wonderful than squabbling over differences.
5. Thank People. I feel such gratitude for all those who have or are helping me, praying for me, and supporting me in this labor or love. Thanks to all of you!

Eric

It’s Time

Not only is it the right time to be addressing slavery, but it is also the right time for YOU to be addressing slavery.

What’s in a name…

Last week as I was talking with Ken Morris from the Frederick Douglass Family Foundation, I realized part of what’s keeping global awareness from getting out there on the issue of Human Trafficking.

With words like forced labor ,  indentured servitude , prostitution , pornograghy ( or porn  ) , child porn , sex tourism , call girl , mail order bride , and beggar ring floating around it’s so easy to believe these are separate issues. I think we should call a spade a spade. Coercion through fear, threat of death, abuse, addiction, manipulation, and deceit to profit from another person is slavery. period.

This minimization through muddied nomenclature seems to me somewhat like a bizarre trick by we are duped into believing ‘the appearance’ which seem more palatable to our tastes than the more disturbing reality.

I think we should get Pen & Teller to come and shed some light upon the audiences along the route, but short of that, I thought I’d at least let their video illustrate.

Meeting an Amazing Woman! A survivor of modern-day slavery

The trip to D.C. has been an adventure all to itself and the run hasn’t even officially begun yet. some of these adventuresome times have been good and sometimes they have been on the undesirable side, but in all we have felt blessed to be here.

After two missed flights and a foot run over by a car (not mine I’m happy to report - my daughter’s ) we finally flew into D.C. and walked out of the airport into a place so humid it feels like we should be able to swim anywhere we might need to go. my girls were searching for the swim goggles and bathing suits when I finally gave them the low down on this mysterious new weather phenomena known as humidity. They didn’t stick around long to hear me blab, but instead they took off running to the air conditioned van.

This has already been one of the most amazing times of my life. It has been so tiring and draining with all the preparations and all, but the people we have met these last few days have been world class people. Today as I drove down the street, my daughter remarked that each person we were excited to introduce our daughters to have been SOOOO nice. I had to take one of those teachable moments to remind us all that wisely choosing friends is one of the most important activities we undertake i this life. Our friends often have the most influential perspectives to either help us change the world or to hinder us - keeping us in our current comfortable life rhythms.

First of all, meeting Theresa Flores was wonderful. She is  an amazing woman who has persevered through so very much. The thing that I really must applaud her for, though, is her humble non-judgmental attitude toward those who inflicted such severe abuse for those hellish years of her life. Though she draws so much from her past in awakening the public outrage necessary to motivate change and and inspire compassion for those victims who fear for their lives every day, her life is about her future. Otherwise she would still not be free; her present would be too bound up by the stronger-than-steel cords of hate and anger from her past.

Today we also met with Marcia Dyson. What an angel and a lifesaver she has been to me and to this cause. Of course after my daughters autographed her whole house with their fingerprints and pulled down the curtains (rod and all) I wasn’t so sure she reciprocated as much excitement for our visit, but even in that I was pleasantly surprised. She just laughed and said that there was nothing they could do that her granddaughter either ‘hasn’t done’ or ‘hasn’t done yet!’ Then compound that angel heart with the brilliant mind she has a go-getter and you can begin to see why Rebecca and I thank God above for arranging for our paths to cross on this miraculous Run4 The Rescue.

One last thing to say.

If you are ever planning to drive around Washington D.C. - Get a GPS locator to guide you on your way. We just got one today and I now have hope that I can get to my appointments on time without losing my way to Annapolis!

The Heavy Hitters Come up to Bat

I just want to share something that has warmed up my heart. I’ve given the tip of the iceberg here , but I just wanted to give you an update.

Inspired by the story of Alex’s Lemonade A number of kids I know and love have put their thinking caps on and developed many different ways to spread awareness and promote action to end modern slavery.

Here’s an example of one ingenious plan put into motion:

So a whole crew of kids have done all these things to raise money from having garage sales, bake sales, art sales, booths at the fair, performing, and special video requests (here’s another of those ) .  If that wasn’t enough to amaze you, I just thought you should know that up until today this group of kids that call themselves "Kids Can Make A Difference" have been our biggest contributors/fundraisers.

Do not ever give in to the false belief that your hands are tied and some external thing is keeping you from what you intend to do. These kids had faith and put it to action with ingenuity and they have raised literally thousands of dollars!

If you’re thinking how sad because how much money could a bunch of kids raise and be the largest single contributors. Let me remind you of the words of the master who invited us to become like unto a little child.

I can vouch for the fact that we would all be a LOT more successful if we did!

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