How Is It That Slavery Still Exists In The 21st Century?

We live in a very modern advanced society. Women are powerful entities who are in control of their own destinies. The days of subservience & obedience seem to be of a bygone era. Unfortunately for some, it is not. There are some females who are being sold into slavery as we speak. Here is an excerpt from Economist:

"BORN into slavery in Niger, Hadijatou Mani was just 12 years old when she was sold for the equivalent of $400 to a wealthy Muslim businessman with four wives. At 13, she was raped for the first time by her new master, going on to bear him three children, two of whom survived. Both were taken from her. For almost nine years, she had to work long hours in the fields and in his home without pay. If she did anything wrong or tried to escape, she was beaten. But after she fled and married a man of her own choice, she was charged with bigamy and sentenced to six months in jail. “No woman”, she says, “should suffer the way I did.”(END OF EXCERPT) Read the rest here:
http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12517060

Black Civil War Veterans Finally Get Some Respect Paid To Them!

On Veterans Day, I always tend to think of the soldiers who fought in recent wars. But what about those who were never acknowledged for the risking their lives in wars long past? Well, I found an interesting article that covers the story of a black civil war soldier who finally gets honored with a tombstone by the National Parks Service in South Carolina. Here's the link to that story :
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051107/NEWS/511070334/1004
This video is also about a man's quest to honor the black civil war veterans who are in unmarked graves with tombstones.

Person Who Tackled An Issue : Anne C. Bailey Who Is The Author Of " African Voices Of The Atlantic Slave Trade"

This book was written a few years back but I just now discovered it at the library. It is called "African Voices Of The Atlantic Slave Trade." Anne C. Bailey has painstakingly pieced together accounts of the slave trade from an African perspective. You will hear tales that have been recounted by generations of Africans that live in the area of Ghana that was known as the "Old Slave Coast". The author, whose origins lie in Jamaica, became interested in the history of slavery because of the deafening silence on the topic. If you are a history buff like me, this book will definitely enthrall you. It reveals that some Africans were slave traders & doing business with the European slave traders. Through the oral history of the Anlo-Ewe community of southeastern Ghana, the author was able to gather information about slavery that even some Africans are in denial about. Another aspect of slavery that Anne C. Bailey introduces to the reader is how it gave birth to globalization. It is an important read which I am still engrossed in!