did you know? Slavery is still legal in the U.S.

 
Dear Chris,

Today should be a momentous occasion. We should be celebrating 158 years since slavery was abolished in the U.S. However, within the noble proclamation the 13th Amendment seemingly presented, lay a subtle betrayal: the exception that allowed slavery to persist as a form of punishment for crime.
 
Today, we find ourselves at a pivotal juncture, where the echoes of the past reverberate through our present reality. U.S. policymakers must decide whether to abolish slavery for ALL – or let economics trump human rights.   
 
We’re counting on your help to end lingering injustices.
Take action
 

Kevin Bales, Professor of Contemporary Slavery, co-author of the Global Slavery Index and Amend the 13th campaign ambassador, on this occasion shares that, "The fact of prison slavery is a deep, ugly, and long-lasting stain on America — 160 years of “legal slavery” in the "Land of the Free” is a crime against our deepest beliefs and our collective conscience. It is time to end this cruel exception and end legal slavery in America forever.”
 
The heart of our campaign beats in unison with the anti-slavery community, urging Congress to pass the Abolition Amendment (SJR 33/HJR 72)[1] which boldly declares an end to the exception — a declaration that unequivocally denounces the insidious practice of slavery in any guise.
 
In just 5 minutes, you can make a difference:
 
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Share the petition: We need you and your community! Share the petition calling on Congress to end slavery with your friends, family and coworkers.

Freedom United Campaign

1982 letter Bill Higginson ("haiku godfather")

16 October 1982

Dear Christopher Faiers,
               "Cricket",


Always assuming that you are the same person - - which I'm
fairly sure you are:

Delighted to be back in touch with you, after what must be
more than a decade. I have frequently come upon "I AM A
GUEST IN A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN" and CRICKET FORMATIONS in my
shuffling moves from one place to another - - now done with
for a while, I hope    - - and smiled, looked through them again.
They are not 100% GREAT, to be sure, but so much verve and
ZIP, compared to most of the DRECK surrounding itself with
covers in the name of haiku.   AND THERE ARE some fine poems
in the two little booklets.

                                                   I wonder if you have put out
anything since?  I've been pretty much out of the haiku
world until quite recently - - if you get FROGPOND you will
have seen some of my more recent efforts at an article on
the haiku scene.  But I'm back now that a 5-7-5 year period
of turmoil in my life is somewhat behind me, and coming on
strong.  

Anyway, I've asked Keith to pass this along to you because
(1) I really mean what I say, I do like your little book-
lets,  and
(2)  I have a project in mind that will involve some of your
work, and I would like to see more, as well as be directly in
touch with you.

Please drop me a line - - a post card will do - - with your
current address.  If you've got the time to be chatty, let
me have an update on events since you left Eel Pie Island
Hotel.   But if you don't want to,  or don't have time to,
why that's ok too.  (I never realized that you were a Canadian
when you were writing from England.)

And if you're ever heading into the NYC area, let me know.
We can probably promote a bed and some board for a day or
two,  and I'd love to meet you.

Best wishes,

Bill Higginson (signed)    

 

Notes: I've been going through drawers, files, long stashed boxes, etc. to find haiku related materials to donate to the Haiku Canada Archives. I started investigating a folder yesterday and discovered this correspondence from 1982. I believe the project Bill was referring to was the seminal The Haiku Handbook published by McGraw-Hill in 1985. A few years later Bill kindly included one of my haiku in the gorgeously illustrated children's haiku book, Wind in the Long Grass.    

from Haiku Handbook:

vine

leaves pressing

church window

from Wind in the Long Grass:

streetcar rumble

kept me awake last night

puts me to sleep

Keith is Keith Southward, the editor of Inkstone, the original publication of Haiku Canada (then The Haiku Society of Canada)