Monday, February 24, 2014

Kristi Noem's Justice Against Slavery Summit

Attended Kristi's* anti-slavery summit in Sioux Falls So. Dak. this morning. She made sure to meet everyone in the room but it was not a partisan event. No mention of "he who shall not be mentioned" or his administration or any partisan issues. I continue to be impressed by the genuine-ness of the people in the neo-abolition movement!

*We call our Reps, Senators, and other politicians by their first names in South Dakota, as a sign of respect and an acknowledgement of their humanity.

I hated to do it, but I was "that guy" in the back of the room tweeting away. Here are my tweets, in reverse order, and with my editorial comments in brackets. I'm @robertewright if you want to follow:

  1. Hypothesis: and other forms of directly correlated to income or wealth inequality. Econometricians get on it asap!
    Survivor Carrie: all age both gender @ risk. Vulnerability is individual & manifest. 2 see potential vic look in mirror.
  2. FBI guy says SD has too many small counties for effective enforcement.
  3. Crazy guy from [me!] just said in q&a that more attention needs to be paid to history, economics. [Kristi agreed so I put her onto Stan Engerman]
  4. Brittany says "vacating conviction" 4 trafficking victims better than expungement as they should never have been prosecuted in 1st place.
  5. Brittany says So Dak behind on legal front. Absolutely true but laws don't fix things, action does. Pushes uniform law.
  6. Brittany wants stronger laws. Kids trafficked via child welfare system! Doubt she means gibbeting w/o benefit of clergy.
  7. Brittany [Vanderhoof, Polaris Project] on 1st trip to So Dak happy w size of crowd. Turnout in some bigger states only 10. 50ish here.
  8. Carrie 2 explains "guerilla pimping" perpetrated by native american female gangs. Initiation includes gang rape!
  9. Another Carrie [Kerry Stephenson] helps trafficked Amerindians: sex tourism in Sturgis & huntingcamps. Women on IRs particularly vulnerable.
  10. Survivor "Carrie" says her enslavers have not been apprehended but she must speak out, help others, despite risk. Vics are brainwashed.
  11. FBI guy [I may have this wrong. May be Captain Paul Niedringhaus, Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Department? IDK] says they are working both supply and demand sides of the problem. Great! But how many economists are involved?
  12. FBI guy says we all have to work together ... wonder if 5-O [police] could do more if they weren't chasing drug stats?
  13. Speaker #1: "This is an issue we've never faced before." A USD prof [Elizabeth Talbot, PhD, MSW, MS, CSW-PIP, who approached me later to say she does recognize the problem has a past], obviously not an historian. HAS has work to do!
  14. How often do you see politicians, 5 oh [uniformed police], ACLU, nuns, recent college grads, etc. in the same room agreeing with each other?
  15. Attending Rep Noem's antislavery conference in Sioux Falls today.

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