The Classics join the TWENTYSEVENMILLION PROJECT

Simply AMAZING, submitted by @pecaringb:
Michelangelo's David~

and he is joined by non other than the Venus de Milo~

And here is the master himself Pablo Carvalho = @pecaringb GRACIAS!

If you build it, they will come.

If you want to be free, there is but one way; it is to guarantee an equally full measure of liberty to all your neighbors. There is no other. ~Carl Schurz

I am very grateful you are all helping me with this project. As I see it it's not something I am doing, but something WE are doing.    It's been exactly a week since this site when up.  Over 350 people have visited it.  You might think it's a little, or you might think it's a lot.  I smile and think, there are over 350 people out there talking about this that might have not known about modern day slavery before!

I will speak little and post some pictures/stories from some of you to all of us.  I just have to say is how surprised I am for the level of commitment and creativity some of you have.  I have received emails from a couple professional photographers saying they need a bit over a week to set up for their pics, must be some pic.  I appreciate that but remember, we can all do it and the main goal is to get the dialogue started.  Thank you and keep sending those pictures and stories.  I leave you with a few.

From @Thomas_Scott_

You will see that a lot of things posted here are by people who's name has the "@" symbol at the beginning.  It's because they were submitted from Twitter and you can use their name as shown to follow them if so inclined.
From @Javafreak68:

There's a lot more pics from @Javafreak68 and you can see them on her Twitpic page, right here! Once you see the main pic, keep clicking on the other ones on the bottom right hand of the page.  She is doing so much! but I will let her tell you some of here experiences:

"The interesting thing that happened was while in Stop and Shop in
West Haven, CT 2 ppl were sitting where you post signs. The older
gentleman had asked what the project was and what modern day slavery
was. He asked if it was here at all. I explained what it was, and
which cases had be in the US and how even the ones in other countries
effect us because we import the goods, take them into our homes, use
them. He said it was a great project idea. I went to pick up groceries
and he was in the line in front of ours. He told the cashier and
bagger about the project and pointed to me and said how I had just
explained it too him. It was great to get the word out and see him
sharing it as well ;0)

We tagged many places, the stores or brands known for slave labor were
tagged ie Hanes was tagged in a few stores. In addition to putting
flyers on the community boards in the towns we went to- New Haven,
West Haven, Milford, Orange. I figured even if only 1 person see the
flyers before they were taken down maybe they will not buy the item.
We posted signs outside of IKEA, LL Bean, Walmart in and outside as
all 3 made the top 10 for worst companies for slave labor.

It is mentioned in her email about stores and brands that are known for slave labor, yes, unfortunately it DOES happen.  You can read more about that here , here & here

Recognizing slavery.

First let me start saying: THANK YOU!! Your response has been overwhelming and positive.  Now I have no doubt we can do this together.  As I said when I posted the first blog 3 days ago, I am far from a technical savvy person, in fact borderline embarrassing.  I also said on that first blog that i was not going to use that as an excuse to not do this.  And the site went live, full of mistakes and things that could and can be improved.  In less than 24 hours I got some kind people helping me to make the site make sense and look better.  Out of their kindness they made time on their busy schedule to help: thank you Avi Lewin and H. Smith, you both are incredible.
So we are up and running, pictures are coming in and I will start posting a few on each post and then a lot when I don't write something.
Some of the questions I got were about slavery itself, what is it? How to know? etc.
I am going to share with you about some of the shapes that slavery takes:
Chattel Slavery: the slaves and any children they might have are considered "property" of their "owner."
Debt Bondage: the most common type of slavery today, accounting for approximately 20 million of the slaves today.  After a person takes a loan (usually for basic necessities) the person must work to pay off the loan.  Moneylenders use deceptive techniques to prevent the debt from ever being paid, usually carrying on to future generations.  Entire families can be enslaved for generations for what amounts to $20
Contract Slavery: A worker enters to a false employment contract to earn wages; the slaveholder then refuses to pay the person but uses the false contract to use and hide their activities.
Sexual Slavery: Persons, usually women and girls, are sold into the sex industry and often transported across borders.  Slaveholders lure vulnerable individuals by promising them or their parents that they will be given jobs as waitresses, cleaning or watching children.
This are just a few examples and of course there are many variations of these practices and as many stories as slaves are.
You can see some specific cases here , here & here
Now, download that logo, put it in your office and inform others.
Thank you,
P.
p.s. next post will have mostly pictures, hope yours is in there!

Pepsi, 27Million & YOU

Here we are. All of us, a lot more than 27 million people.  However there are an estimated 27 million people living in conditions of slavery TODAY.  I know, crazy.  How do we not know? How come seems like nobody is doing anything? How is this happening?  I thought the same, years ago when I found out.
From then on I've decided I cannot just know and do nothing.  I have been looking for ways to help, raise awareness, DO something.  Along the way I've learned a few things.  Let me share:
-It is NOT something that happens in "another place," chances are, it happens in your city/state/country.
-Why isn't anybody doing anything? Well, the better question is why aren't YOU doing anything about it? (but we'll get to that soon).  In reality there are government agencies, non-profit organizations and courageous individuals DOING something.  Which leads me to the next point:
-Why doesn't everyone know? I am not the holder of all the answers, and there are many for this question.  I personally think that this is not an easy topic, it's a harsh reality and a lot of people upon finding out feel that: a) this MUST be happening somewhere else, so it's not my problem, or b) well I know now, but there's NOTHING I can probably do about it.  However, as I said it is happening in your community and you CAN do something about it.
-What can I possibly do?  When I found out about slavery, I read and read and researched and felt powerless.  I felt: "well, I know this horrible things are happening, but nobody tells me how I can help."
That single question sent me on a quest to research more, to find out what is being done.  There are a lot of things being done by many organizations and individuals.  I personally feel that what we are not doing enough is EDUCATING ourselves on the issue, and making educated decisions/contributions to the cause.
So here is what I am going to do:  I am going to have this blog, which hopefully soon will be a full on website where I pledge to INFORM all of you, and be INFORMED by all of you about modern day slavery.  I will make it a place where you can send your local/personal stories, pictures, resources info, etc.  A virtual place where we can all gather and help each other become an educated, full of love army that will help our 27Million enslaved siblings.
Now if you go back to the title of this particular blog, you might ask: what does PEPSI has to do with it?  A lot and nothing at the same time.  January 13th 2010 Pepsi is taking a gamble, taking millions of dollars out of advertisement and putting them towards community projects presented by us.  This projects are voted on by us and we choose where the money goes here  When I heard of this I thought: "yes!! I will apply for the 27MillionProject!!"  I envisioned getting the grant, being able to pay someone to make a spiffy website and such.  Along the lines it dawned on me that I cannot let money, my technological ignorance or any other excuse get on the way of doing this simple thing: helping each other be educated about slavery and educating others.  Look at me, I am doing it in a free blog and granted, its not a great website designed by someone with the Pepsi money but it's a start.  I will still submit the project, but regardless the outcome, we have a home and a voice (thanks to this site.)
So what can YOU do?  If you ask me (I know, I know, you didn't) the single most powerful yet easy and free thing we can ALL do is: educate ourselves and educate others.  If we could let 10 people know about slavery today and they would let 10 others know...you get the idea.  And what happens when you have a society that is well aware and informed about something like this?  Well, said society will want changes and will be aware and more importantly, will be doing something.
So you tell me, now I have learned about the issue, I read, researched and such, but how do I go and tell 10 others about it?  Weird huh?  Let me help you out a bit, See this picture? It was created by a friend of mine for another project we are working on about human trafficking.  I love its simplicity.  Two hands making a 27, we can all do that.  So here's the deal, take this picture, enlarge it, minimize it and print it.  Tape it to your office wall, your car, go and take pictures with it, print it on a shirt, etc, then people will ask you:"what's that all about?" and bam!! you can now tell them, and within days they'll be posting their print outs too.  Then you send me an email and we post your stories and pictures. I will make a 2 minute video with some of them, you ready??
RECAP:
Print logo (download the PDF)
Post visibly.  Be ready to answer questions about it.
Take pictures with it (by landmarks, office, home, with friends, on a shirt, get creative!!)
Send them to me (along with stories and anything else relevant): freedomnow@twentysevenmillion.org
Let's cover the world with this sign and bring freedom to everyone.
You have been hereby, recruited.