S.T.O.P: A Message from Barbara Vogel

Dear Friend:

In February of 1998, my students were devastated when I read them an article from our local newspaper about the enslavement of women and children in Sudan. We had just finished a unit on slavery in American history, and we had all thought that slavery was over. One of my students asked the obvious but profound question: "Haven't we learned from our past?" This concern, combined with an intense need to take action, planted the seeds for our anti-slavery campaign.

As an educator, I believe that my students should "think globally and act locally." So when my children read the horrifying report of slavery and asked, "What are we going to do?" I took them seriously. We began to research the issue of slavery in Sudan and found ourselves writing letters to the editor, collecting pennies in a jar, and becoming activists.

This endeavor became the S.T.O.P. Campaign, which stands for Slavery That Oppresses People. Our essential goal is to educate ourselves, our school, our community, and the world about slavery. Our message against silence and for freedom resonated with Americans from all walks of life and garnered coverage of our campaign in Education Week, Time Magazine, The New York Times, and Marie Claire -- as well as on CBS Evening News, NBC World News Tonight, NPR, and Nickelodeon's Nick News. In February, my students spoke before a worldwide audience at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's international symposium on slavery in North Africa.

All this attention has helped the S.T.O.P campaign raise more than $50,000 to help redeem enslaved Sudanese and return them to their villages. To date, over a thousand former Sudanese slaves have regained their freedom due to the work of the S.T.O.P. campaign. Our young humanitarians have ignited a freedom campaign that has captured the attention of people everywhere -- including South America and Europe, where anti-slavery campaigns were inspired by our class' example.

While my students are proud to have focused attention on slavery in Sudan through their efforts, I can also see that the S.T.O.P. campaign has been an excellent learning experience for them as students. Not only have my children understood that they can make the world a better place, but they have broadened their academic horizons in geography, history, social studies, and even math. They have developed research and writing skills, especially in composing over a thousand letters to leaders and celebrities asking for assistance in the fight to end slavery.

The S.T.O.P. campaign establishes a circle of interaction between the past and the present, and between America and the world. My students learned the lessons of American history and applied them in the present. In doing so, they have developed a deep affinity to a part of the world they would hardly know otherwise. And, in turn, they have been moved by the knowledge that kids can stand up for fellow kids, and that they can use their knowledge and their academic skills to make a difference. Our abolitionist campaign makes the statement that America can triumph over its own legacy of slavery.

But you don't have to take my word for it. The S.T.O.P. campaign has been launched by classes across the country, with a school in nearly every state taking part. Sixth grade teacher Michelle Marano read about our campaign and brought it to her classes. As she told The Miami Herald: "My students, many of whom are Haitian immigrants, have been transformed by our anti-slavery campaign. By freeing children their own age in bondage, they have been empowered." Or, as Rae Pelletier, an 8th grade Social Studies teacher in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, told her local paper: "This is one of those things that every teacher dreams of having happen with a lesson, it takes off and accomplishes something. It has been thrilling for the kids."

Now I want to address concerns I often hear from teachers. Some wonder whether this is merely a fundraising campaign, which mistakenly teaches children that money solves everything. We always explain that the redemption campaign is just a band-aid and not the ultimate answer to slavery. As one of my students told CBS News, "Money is not the solution -- awareness is." Others worry that buying back slaves actually makes the situation worse. The quick answer is that the slave raids are driven by military and not economic objectives -- but see our website to reassure yourself and your kids. There is an extensive question and answer that explains how buying back slaves does not increase the slave trade or raise market prices. Also, note that American abolitionists have a long history of buying the freedom of slaves. Frederick Douglass is the most famous beneficiary of this abolitionist strategy.

Finally, some dismiss our campaign as a political tool. This is nonsense. Slavery is a matter of right and wrong, not Left and Right. We always make it clear that we are not adopting any political or religious position. We simply demand an end to slavery. When CBS News called one of my students "a politician," he responded: "Politician isn't the word, 'abolitionist' is more like it." The reporter asked him to explain this big word, and he replied: "It means people who help free slaves."

These are the future leaders of America -- abolitionists -- and they are emerging from schools across the country. They are your students. And we welcome you to our campaign.

In Freedom,

Barbara Vogel
4th Grade teacher
Highline Community Elementary School
Aurora, CO

« Back to S.T.O.P.