S L A V E R Y. The very word sends chills. Along with genocide, slavery is one of two original sins and a bloody stain on the history of the United States.
There are “hear no evil” people who do not want to hear about it, and people who can’t see how it matters today. Thankfully, we have before us a campaign that connects the dots and helps to address centuries of racial injustice and the need for prison reform now.
The new advocacy campaign from EP+Co is in support of the non-profit organization Worth Rises, and their drive to End the Exception.
The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, includes an exception clause that has been understood throughout history to allow slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for crime, encouraging the criminalization, incarceration, and re-enslavement of Black people.
The grassroots movement wants to see the Abolition Amendment — introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley (OR) and Representative Nikema Williams (GA-05) — become law. If passed into law, the exception clause in the 13th Amendment will, at last, be nullified.
Amplify the Importance of Juneteenth
While more than 20 states are currently organizing to abolish slavery in their state constitutions, 83% of Americans aren’t aware that the 13th Amendment legalizes slavery of incarcerated people in the U.S., an information gap EP+Co and Worth Rises are aiming to close with this campaign.
Chris Plating, Chief Strategy Officer at EP+Co, said, “When advertising agencies support the work of activists, something magical happens.”
CAMPAIGN ROLL-OUT
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June 19 (Juneteenth): The L.A. Times will run a print ad
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June 15-20: DC digital transit ads will run
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June 15: OOH billboards go up in Galveston, TX, and Savannah, GA
Bianca Tylek, Executive Director of Worth Rises, said, “it’s time that advertising agencies reevaluate the brands and projects they support, trading those that ignore or even prey on our societal failures for those that promote social good. We are incredibly grateful to EP&Co for doing just that – donating costly staff hours to our campaign to abolish slavery for all. We hope that other advertising agencies will follow their lead and dive into this fight.”
