Analysis: Is Slavery Ever Going To End?

Is Slavery Ever Going to End? A picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures can reflect all controversial ideas, emotions, and especially thoughts. I went across a series of pictures taken by The Humans of New York magazine, and I was furious. It is a series of picture taken in brick kilns, of people surrounded by bricks. They portray the conditions people are in in Pakistan, of how they work to pay of debts that will never stop growing. I must have seen people work in construction sites many many times, and when I looked into these pictures and read their stories, my blood boiled. It was not that far from slavery for these people. They all have family and debts, and to be able to help their family, they took on a debt that they didn’t know

The picture series is on a woman named Syeda Ghulam Fatima. She was named Pakistan’s Harriet Tubman and fight have been fighting against bonded labor. She was shot and harmed in other ways due to her activism and The Humans of New York wants to bring her stories to the spotlight. The series has seven picture, consists of her, three brick kiln workers, and their stories. The workers are surrounded by bricks, wearing old clothes, with looks of despair but sheer happiness. Maybe they know they have hope beyond the red walls. The four stories that need to be told have to, of course, start with Fatima herself. She tried going against a brick kiln owner, but she was threatened by a group of men and got shot in the knee because she refused to drop the case. Doctors refused to give her treatments because local politicians forbidden them to. He assailants were never caught. Luckily, the kiln’s workers got together and helped her pay. Despite poverty, they put in little by little. I have read about great women in my lifetime, but never someone like her. She is strong and know what she is fighting for, and she never gave up, not once. I truly admire her and her

His eyes are deep as if he just wants people to know and understand his situations. His family sold everything to save his sister from kidney failure, but it wasn’t enough, so he took a loan of 5,000 rupees from the brick kiln owner. He thought he can pay it in less than a month, but when he asked to leave, the debt became 11,000 rupees. It’s disturbing because according to the third man, the owner said “You lived in our house. You ate our food. You owe 11,000 now. If you have 11,000 rupees, you can go. Otherwise, get back to work.” He couldn’t even have the funeral for his grandfather because his debt was raised to 30,000 rupees. He now has a 350,000 rupees debt and the loan he made didn’t even save his sister. He fear his next generation will have to keep working to pay for it. I don’t understand why the owners would do such a thing. They’re monsters with no hearts or compassion. Nicholas Rowe said,”Guilt is the source of sorrow, the avenging fiend that follows us behind with whips and stings.” As I was finishing the stories, I started crying. It was so sad to think about how other people have to live this way while I am probably taking my life for granted. There are certainly heartless people out there. When can we end slavery? When can those people be freed? when can they and their family reunited to get peace once again? Somehow, I can feel guilt running through my every vessels. Don’t the brick kilns owners feel