"Dreams Die Hard" Film Viewing and Discussion

Every year, between 15,000 and 18,000 people are illegally trafficked into the US for forced labor. Considering the controversial and horrifyingly surprising nature of modern slaver, particularly in the United States, it was heartening that a good number of people turned out for the viewing of "Dreams Die Hard," a film on this contemporary tragedy. Spread out in Fulton 511, it seemed that the number of people that did attend were truly there to learn more about human trafficking through the film, presentation and Q&A hosted by the AID-offshoot Rallying Effort Against Contemporary Trafficking (REACT). The goals of REACT, Lisby Mumford explained, are to raise awareness about modern-day human trafficking and to work with the community and other schools to be active on the issue in our area. Judging by the intense interest of the crowd in the film and presentation, it seems that REACT had a ready audience for its very important message.

"Dreams Die Hard" told the stories of three individuals who were forced into slavery in the United States, and the individuals and groups that aided them after their harrowing ordeals. Along with the narratives of each of the stories were remarks on the nature and breadth of modern slaver, in the US and around the world. One of the speakers of the film defined slavery as one person controlling another by force and threat of violence, given no payment and generally exploited economically. For the average person, the idea of modern slavery is often difficult to understand, as it seems it would be easy for someone in such a situation to simply escape by making himself known to the police or the community. But there are so many disadvantages crippling the powers of those who end up in situations of forced labor: language barriers, shock at the situation, lack of knowledge of where one is, and as time goes on, mental conditions such as battered person syndrome.

The movie made a point of emphasizing the idea that much of the slavery in the US has to do with the exploitation and corruption of the dream of making a better life in the US. People simply looking to improve their lives and the lives of their families are trapped in slavery in various ways. In the Boston area, specifically, sex trafficking is the most prevalent form of forced work; in Brighton, a police raid uncovered brothels that kept and exploited Estonian women.

One of the more powerful statements in the film that was surprising to the students in attendance was that one of the most important parts of helping to free modern slaves in the US is the vigilance of average people in their neighborhoods. People who are active and involved in their communities are instrumental in finding and caring for those who were trafficked into the country. Such a sentiment really dug into the audience, and showed the great importance of raising awareness that there is a large modern slavery problem.

Also shown in the film and the presentation were some of the organizations and groups that are working to combat the existence of modern slavery in the US. Organizations mentioned were the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (which works specifically for the rights of migrant workers, and aids former slave-laborers), and CASA of Maryland (an immigrants rights organization).

The issue of contemporary human trafficking is woefully underrepresented in major media news, which is part of why efforts need to be made to raise awareness of the issue. There needs to be a sharp increase in corporate responsibility, as well as a turn toward more active consumerism on the part of the average person. A recent effort to train electricians to recognize trafficking victims in their day to day work is an example of a way for communities to be much more proactive about helping out with this issue.

As evidenced by the size and attention of the audience of this presentation, modern slavery is an important issue to quite a few people. As a community, we just need to make sure that this becomes and issue that everyone is aware of, and knows that they can do something about.