TAKE 30 discusses modern day slavery

Monti Datta, professor of political science at University of Richmond, will lead a discussion titled “Still for Sale: How Does Slavery Persist in the USA Today?” for this month’s installation of TAKE 30, a free half hour lunchtime series led by community members and professors to discuss important issues.

Datta said the discussion would be about modern day slavery in the United States, why it persisted, who was vulnerable and what could be done about it.

Datta said students should attend this discussion to “see more of how great life is in the Richmond community, outside of campus and to think more critically about why slavery persists in USA today.”

The TAKE 30 event partners with the Library of Virginia’s exhibition, “To Be Sold: Virginia and The American Slave Trade.” The exhibition explores Richmond’s role in the domestic slave trade and is on view from Oct. 27, 2014 through May 30, 2015. There will be a guided tour of the exhibition following the discussion.

Alexandra Byrum, UR Downtown educational programming coordinator, said she highly recommended this event and said Datta would be a wonderful speaker who had a specialty in this area.

These TAKE 30 events help make the scholarship of the university campus more accessible to the broader Richmond community and to provide engaging lecture series for both the community and students, Byrum said. Datta said he looked forward to this event as a chance to connect with the greater Richmond community.

Datta teaches courses regarding international relations, human rights and modern day slavery, among other topics. He is currently working on several projects about human trafficking with Free the Slaves and Chab Dai.

The TAKE 30 discussion will take place at 12:30 p.m. Thursday Nov. 20. The half-hour event will occur at UR Downtown, 626 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA and is free and open to the public.

More information about TAKE 30 can be found by contacting 804-955-4003.

Contact reporter Bridget Friendly at bridget.friendly@richmond.edu