(WBEN) Mayor Byron W. Brown, Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, and a crowd of supporters gathered on the steps of city hall Saturday to offer well wishes to The FreeTHEM Walk. The FreeTHEM Walk is a 902-mile walk from Lynchburg, V.A. to Buffalo, N.Y., to end human trafficking. The idea for the walk came from the Free Them Center Founder Kelly Galloway.
Free Them Center Founder Kelly Galloway
Since human trafficking is modern-day slavery, The FreeTHEM Walk will travel the Underground Railroad with visits to historic sites in nine cities to pay homage to abolitionists who fought to end slavery generations ago. The FreeTHEM Walk will travel to Warrenton, Richmond, Cambridge, New Castle, Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, Auburn, and Rochester. The walk will conclude in Buffalo on June 19 in a Juneteenth celebration. Juneteenth is a national holiday to celebrate abolishing slavery in the U.S. The group's arrival on Juneteenth is a symbolic representation of The FreeTHEM Walk's demand for freedom for the modern-day slave. To document this journey, a traveling film crew will follow The FreeTHEM Walkers to capture moments and experiences throughout their journey. Additional information about the docufilm will come later this year.
The march is expected to end on Juneteenth in front of City Hall and then everyone will March over to the Michigan Street Baptist Church.
