“The story of the seder, the story of freedom and justice, is a universal story. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that just about everything we do stems from this story—this idea that we were slaves, and we were freed, and now it’s our responsibility to work for freedom for people all over the world,” says Rabbi Shira Stutman, director of Jewish programming at Historic Sixth & I Synagogue. More →

April 3, 2015

A delegation of top Yazidi spiritual leaders is seeking help for their ancient religious minority in Iraq, which has been particularly targeted by ISIS. “We became victims of one of the largest…atrocities of the modern world,” says Yazidi human rights advocate Murad Ismael. More →

October 31, 2014

Vietnamese women and children from rural villages are regularly targeted for labor and sex trafficking. They are often lured with opportunities for work in China, and then sold as wives, prostitutes, or forced labor. “We were told that if we didn’t agree to be wives, we would be sold into brothels,” says one victim who managed to escape. More →

June 20, 2014

The recent reconciliation service in New Orleans was “about acknowledging what has taken place in history, apologizing for that, and seeking ways to see our neighbor in a different light,” says Bishop Morris Thompson of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. More →

February 21, 2014

A movie based on the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery, portrays the complex relationships between slaves, slaveowners, abolitionists, and religion. More →

October 18, 2013

“It’s about remembering and never forgetting and understanding from the past and embracing your past in order to go forward into the future.” More →

October 18, 2013

Watch excerpts from our interview with Yolanda Pierce, associate professor of African-American religion and literature at Princeton Theological Seminary, as she talks about the new movie “12 Years a Slave” and about Christianity and slavery in America. More →

October 18, 2013

Generations of African slaves found a powerful way of singing through suffering in spirituals that were rooted in biblical stories and images. More →

May 4, 2012

Voodoo recognizes an invisible world of great spiritual power, according to Sallie Ann Glassman, a Voodoo priestess, community organizer, and founder of the New Orleans Healing Center. More →

May 27, 2011

“The idea that it’s possible to move from slavery to freedom and from darkness to light and from despair to hope—that is the greatest Jewish story every told.” More →

April 15, 2011