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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING ANTI-SLAVERY INTERNATIONAL AND S.O.S. ESCLAVES
WHEREAS, Chicago's Abolition Institute works to fight modern day slavery in partnership with two inspiring organizations; Anti-Slavery International based in the United Kingdom and S.O.S. Esclaves based in Mauritania; and
WHEREAS, Anti-Slavery International is the world's oldest international human rights organization, having led the successful effort to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire nearly 200 years ago and still fighting modern slavery today; and
WHEREAS, in Mauritania, race and descent-based slavery is still widespread and enslaved people face abuses similar to those experienced by slaves in our own country prior to the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, Boubacar Messaoud, founder of S.O.S. Esclaves, and Karine Penrose-Theis and Jennifer Castello of Anti-Slavery International, are visiting Chicago this week as guests of the Abolition Institute to jointly raise awareness of the scourge of modern slavery; and
WHEREAS, leaders from all three groups draw inspiration from abolitionists from Illinois who risked their lives to fight slavery and made our state known throughout the world as a beacon of freedom and as the Land of Lincoln; and
WHEREAS, for decades, S.O.S. Esclaves' members have stood up against intense persecution and violence to fight for the rights of all Mauritanians to be free from slavery; and
WHEREAS, this work is more important now than ever before because an estimated 40 million people are still enslaved in the world today; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the President and the Cook County Board of Commissioners, on behalf of the residents of Cook County, hereby honors and congratulates S.O.S. Esclaves and its founder Boubacar Messaoud, and Karine Penrose-Theis and Jennifer Castello of Anti-Slavery International, for their continued work for human rights and the abolition of modern slavery; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Bo...
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