Last year, I became aware of a second “fashion challenge” focused on fighting human trafficking. I had already been a participant in Dressember for several years, but a friend was doing Blackout Trafficking during March. I was in the midst of the first year of widowhood, and needed to surround myself with color to keep my head above water. But, I was intrigued by the simplicity of wearing a black piece of clothing for a month to spread awareness and focus on the need to donate toward effective nonprofits this arena.
From their website: Limiting Our Freedom To Bring Freedom To Others — Once a year individuals from around the world commit to igniting a broader awareness of human trafficking while raising funds for anti-trafficking organizations. The method is simple–wear your chosen black item of clothing each and every day of March.
We’ve been so busy developing out trainings, online challenges, and building the Bring Freedom programs. I felt the need to ground myself in a daily choice to show this mission of ending human trafficking to anyone I encounter. So, I chose to wear an item of black clothing every day in March. Surprisingly, I do actually feel limited.
Zona and I have been posting daily, and decided to focus our own fundraising efforts on Bring Freedom’s upcoming K-8 program. Our goal is to reach children in the classrooms with short video messages in order to prevent trafficking and abuse, as well as offer partnerships to their parents so that the entire family is equipped and educated to fight this injustice in their own homes and communities. By breaking it down through the numbers of our goal reach, it will only take $25 to sponsor a classroom for this groundbreaking educational tool. We can all Blackout Trafficking by working together!
