According to Checkiday.com

More than 40 million people around the world are trapped in modern
slavery, which is usually regarded as forced labor, debt bondage, forced
marriage, and human trafficking. Slavery is a condition where a person
can't leave because of threats, violence, abuse of power, deception, and
coercion. Those most affected by modern slavery are the poorest and
most socially excluded groups, including migrants, women, discriminated
ethnic groups, minorities, and indigenous peoples. Besides the more than
40 million adults in modern slavery, over 150 million children—almost a
tenth of all children—are forced into child labor.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery aims to eradicate
forms of modern slavery-like sexual exploitation, human trafficking,
child labor, forced recruitment of children for armed conflict, and
forced marriage. It is held on December 2nd, the anniversary of the
General Assembly's 1949 adoption of resolution 317(IV),
which is the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the
Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of
Others.

The US Constitution, FWIW, still permits involuntary servitude;

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

California, in 2024 rejected a proposed amendment that would strike similar language from the state Constitution, and I suspect many other states have similar clauses as well.

On this day in history:

1766 – The Swedish parliament approved the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act and implemented it as a ground law, thus being first in the world with freedom of speech

1823 – In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaimed American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warned European powers not to interfere in the Americas.

1845 – In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposed that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.

1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown was hanged for his October 16 raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

1899 – The Battle of Tirad Pass, known as the "Filipino Thermopylae", was fought.

1917 – Russia and the Central Powers signed an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk began.

1942 – During the Manhattan Project a team led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

1943 – A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sank the SS John Harvey which was carrying a stockpile of mustard gas.

1949 – Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was adopted.

1956 – The Granma reached the shores of Cuba's Oriente Province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembarked to initiate the Cuban Revolution.

1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he was a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba would adopt Communism.

1962 – After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield became the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.

1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency began operations.

1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm al-Quwain formed the United Arab Emirates.

1975 – The Pathet Lao seized the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forced the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaimed the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

1976 – Fidel Castro became President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.

1980 – Four American missionaries were raped and murdered by a US backed Salvadoran National Guard death squad.

1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark became the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.

1991 – Canada and Poland became the first nations to recognize the independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union.

2020 – Cannabis was removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Some people who were born on this day:

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

~~ Georges Seurat

1578 – Agostino Agazzari, composer and theorist
1759 – James Edward Smith, botanist and mycologist, founded the Linnean Society
1859 – Georges Seurat, painter
1863 – Charles Edward Ringling, businessman, co-founded the Ringling Brothers Circus
after which US electoral politics was modeled
1866 – Harry Burleigh, singer and songwriter
1891 – Otto Dix, painter and illustrator
1909 – Joseph P. Lash, activist and author
1913 – Marc Platt, actor, singer, and dancer
1917 – Sylvia Syms, singer
1923 – Maria Callas, soprano and actress
1929 – Dan Jenkins, journalist and author
1931 – Wynton Kelly, pianist and composer
1941 – Tom McGuinness, guitarist, songwriter, author, and producer
1946 – David Macaulay, author and illustrator
1947 – Isaac Bitton, drummer and songwriter
1948 – Toninho Horta, guitarist and composer
1950 – John Wesley Ryles, country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1950 – Paul Watson, activist, founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
1960 – Peter Blakeley, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1960 – Deb Haaland, politician, 54th United States Secretary of the Interior
1960 – Razzle, rock drummer
1960 – Rick Savage, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1968 – Nate Mendel, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1978 – Christopher Wolstenholme, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1979 – Yvonne Catterfeld, singer, songwriter, and actress
1981 – Britney Spears, singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress
1986 – Tal Wilkenfeld, bass player and composer
1989 – Etta Bond, singer and songwriter
1989 – Cassie Steele, singer, songwriter, and actress
1991 – Charlie Puth, singer, songwriter, and pianist

Some people who died on this day:

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.

~~ Cyrano de Bergerac

1469 – Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, banker and politician
1547 – Hernán Cortés, general and pillager. Conquistadore
1594 – Gerardus Mercator, mathematician, cartographer, and philosopher
1774 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, organist and composer
1814 – Marquis de Sade, philosopher, author, and politician
1859 – John Brown, abolitionist
1885 – Allen Wright, Principal chief of the Choctaw Nation; proposed the name "Oklahoma", from Choctaw words okra and umma, meaning "Territory of the Red People."
1892 – Jay Gould, thief, crook, and swindler; robber baron and railroad owner
1918 – Edmond Rostand, poet and playwright And with the refrain, thrust home
1927 – Paul Heinrich von Groth, scientist who systematically classified minerals and founded the journal Zeitschrift für Krystallographie und Mineralogie
1936 – John Ringling, businessman, co-founded Ringling Brothers Circus
1966 – L. E. J. Brouwer, mathematician and philosopher
1969 – José María Arguedas, anthropologist, author, and poet
1980 – Romain Gary, author, director, and screenwriter
1987 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, physicist, astronomer, and cosmologist
1990 – Aaron Copland, composer and conductor >BR?
1997 – Michael Hedges, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist (b. 1953)
1999 – Charlie Byrd, guitarist
2008 – Odetta, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress
2009 – Eric Woolfson, singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer
2013 – Junior Murvin, singer and songwriter
2014 – Bobby Keys, saxophonist

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (United Nations)

Today's Tunes

Slavery

Harry T. Burleigh

Maria Callas

Tom McGuiness

Toninho Horta

Tal Wilkenfeld

with Jeff Beck at Crossroads

with Herbie Hancock

Jay Gould

Aaron Copeland

Charlie Byrd

Blues for Night People

Manha de Crnival

Django

Odetta

Mule Skinner Blues

Midnight Special

God on our side

No Expectations

Junior Murvin

Bonus TW:
Jessica

Whipping Post

with Beggi Smari

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, Slavery, Monroe Doctrine, Manifest Destiny, The Granma, Harry T Burleigh, Maria Callas, Tal Wilkenfeld, Aaron Copeland, Charlie Byrd, Odetta