Ron Soodalter
Highly Experienced Lecturer
The Slave Next Door
In The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (UC Press, 2009), Ron and his writing partner, Free the Slaves President Kevin Bales, have written the first book to specifically address modern-day slavery in the United States. It offers a combination of case studies, interviews with government officials, trafficking activists, survivors of trafficking, and in some cases, the actual traffickers. In both the book and his lectures, Ron evaluates what is and isn't being done, on the local, state and federal levels to combat this blight that sees many thousands enslaved within our borders each year. He offers suggestions as to what the average citizen can do to help in the fight.
Most of us do not know that slavery not only exists throughout the world today, it flourishes. Slavery is legal nowhere, yet it is practiced everywhere. An estimated 27 million people in bondage worldwide — more than twice as many people as were taken in chains from Africa during the entire 350 years of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In seeking to place blame, we're tempted to point to the "emerging nations" as the culprits, whereas in fact slavery exists in such "civilized" countries as England, France, Spain, Italy, Israel, Ireland, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Japan, China… and the United States. Most Americans are clueless that slavery is alive and flourishing right here, thriving in the dark, and practiced in many forms in places you'd least expect. This subject is an important one, to us as Americans, and as citizens of the world.
Soodalter, a highly experienced lecturer, teacher and historian, is known for his excellent study of the nineteenth century slave trade, Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader (Atria, 2006), the story of the only man in our history to be executed for this horrific crime. He is available to talk about both the historic and modern-day slave trade, with emphasis on its terrible and insidious impact on our own lives. No stranger to wide audiences, he has spoken on such highly respected radio programs as the Tavis Smiley and the Leonard Lopate shows, and appeared on world-wide television, including the Riz Khan Show, Al Jazeera Television's flagship program, with an international audience of over 120 million. Soodalter is a writer, a passionate educator, and a respected historian. He holds a B.A. in American History from Boston University, an M.A. in Education from New York University, and an M.A. in American Folk Culture from the State University of New York. A lifelong student of American History, he has taught extensively, and has worked as curator of a history museum. Ron was retained as a consultant by the New York State Historical Association, and was named to the Board of Directors of the 10-state Mountain-Plains Museum Conference. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute. Soodalter teaches classes and seminars to various age groups on the historic and modern-day slave trade. He has written articles for The Smithsonian, New York Archives, and Civil War Times, and is a featured columnist for America's Civil War. His next book - Annex Cuba! - will examine the United States' nation-long obsession with owning or controlling its Caribbean neighbor.
Contact the lecture bureau for booking information, lecture schedules, speaking engagement questions and to check the availability of Ron Soodalter appearing at your next special event.
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