This Juneteenth, Where Does Slavery Still Exist Today?

By Ashish Valentine
People stand outside their home in a poor neighborhood of Nouakchott, Mauritania in this June 26, 2006 file photo. The northwest African nation of Mauritania passed a law late Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, that promises jail time for people who keep slaves, a monumental step in the country’s attempt to route out the long-standing practice.
People stand outside their home in a poor neighborhood of Nouakchott, Mauritania in this June 26, 2006 file photo. The northwest African nation of Mauritania passed a law late Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, that promises jail time for people who keep slaves, a monumental step in the country's attempt to route out the long-standing practice. Schalk van Zuydam / AP Photo
People stand outside their home in a poor neighborhood of Nouakchott, Mauritania in this June 26, 2006 file photo. The northwest African nation of Mauritania passed a law late Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, that promises jail time for people who keep slaves, a monumental step in the country’s attempt to route out the long-standing practice.
People stand outside their home in a poor neighborhood of Nouakchott, Mauritania in this June 26, 2006 file photo. The northwest African nation of Mauritania passed a law late Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, that promises jail time for people who keep slaves, a monumental step in the country's attempt to route out the long-standing practice. Schalk van Zuydam / AP Photo

This Juneteenth, Where Does Slavery Still Exist Today?

By Ashish Valentine
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Today is Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the day Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas to tell slaves that the Civil War was over and they were officially freed. This was two and a half years after Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery formally ended in the US that day - June 19, 1865, but Black people are still enslaved, today, in other parts of the world.

The West African nation of Mauritania formally abolished slavery in 1981, but the practice continues. The Abolition Institute, a Chicago-based organization working with escaped slaves and support organizations in Mauritania, is aiming to change that. Its cofounder, Sean Tenner, and a board member, Judge Anthony Simpkins, join us to talk about slavery in Mauritania and what the Abolition Institute and its Mauritanian partner organizations are doing to address it.