Students Protest Slavery in Sudan

Last Friday, 152 years after Frederick Douglass published the first issue of his abolitionist journal The North Star, the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) held a rally on the steps of the State House protesting modern-day slavery in Sudan.

Approximately 30 students from area schools came out to demand that professors stop TIAA-CREF, a financial corporation which manages the pensions of professors at many colleges, from investing in Talisman Energy, an oil company that has been charged with supporting slavery and genocide in the North African country.

TIAA-CREF, which manages pension funds for Harvard, Tufts and Boston University, holds over 300,000 shares in Talisman, according to the AASG.

But AASG founder Charles W. Jacobs said he believes professors will demand divestment once the issue has been brought to their attention.

"Not only is [divestment] a moral imperative, it also makes business sense," Jacobs said, pointing to a drop of over 25 percent in Talisman's stock price over the last few months.

Jason A. Williams '03 was one of the five students who spoke at the rally.

"The fortunate can sleep all day and relax at night," Williams said. "But all are not free," he added, in a refrain he repeated throughout the speech.

He said he is appalled that people in prominent positions know about the issue but haven't done anything to correct it.

Williams, a member of the Black Men's Forum, said it is hard to get people interested in new issues at Harvard because there are already so many worthy causes to support.

He said students are also reluctant to get involved because they deal with large amounts of schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

"But this is one thing that is grossly wrong and we need to do something," Williams said. "Even if that means staying up a little late to finish a paper or a problem set."

This was the first rally organized by the anti-slavery group that was founded in 1993 by Jacobs, Mohamed Athie, an African Muslim and former diplomat from Mauritania, and David Chand, a South Sudanese Christian activist.

The group is planning to hold a rally at Harvard in February, when they will also hold a three-day conference featuring live music by the Roots at Boston University.

Dave B. Rossini, 19, who is taking time off from the University of Michigan to work for the anti-slavery group, began the rally by shouting questions into a microphone.

"What do we want?" he asked the crowd, which responded "Divestment!"

"When do we want it?" he continued. The crowd answered "Now!" as it marched in circles, carrying signs.

"A beast has not died--27 million slaves still exist worldwide," Rossini said.

Protesters carried signs with slogans including: "In Sudan it's easier to buy a slave than a VCR," "Teachers AID Slave Raids," "Don't Side with Genocide" and "Educate Don't Eradicate."

Jesse A. Sage '98, who works full time for the group as its associate director, discussed the moral significance of the group.

"It is a question of, 'Are you going to use your freedom to free other people?'" he said.

Tommy R. Calvert, who was dressed in a pinstripe suit with an Africa-US unity pin on one lapel and a www.anti-slavery.org pin on the other, asked the crowd to join hands and repeat after him.

"Together we can make a difference," he said.

As a sophomore at Tufts University and a student representative to Tufts' Board of Trustees, Calvert said he plans to "take the issue to the top."

Some of the speakers, including Simmons College student Margaree Cotten, commented on the significance of the rally's location.

"We are at the historic center of education and abolitionism," she said.

The rally drew reporters and photographers from the Associated Press, in addition to numerous student publications, including Boston University's Daily Free Press and the Suffolk Law School Journal.