Meet Savannah and Amber, spotlighted in our May 2023 Quarterly Newsletter.

Savannah Eldrige is ASNN's Lead Organizer since September 2022. She began work on abolishing slavery after inside organizers reached out for assistance on a virtual panel, Free the 13th. Inspired to act by their strength, she began the work in Texas.  In 2020, she co-founded the Coalition to Abolish Slavery in Texas with David Johnson. CAST's statewide mission is to educate Texas residents about the important movement toward an absolute end to slavery and involuntary servitude. CAST has been a crucial supporter for House Joint Resolution (HJR) 89, introduced in the 2023 state legislative session, which would protect all Texans from enslavement. Texas' constitution currently has no language about slavery, leaving residents vulnerable to the exception in the 13th Amendment. Savannah also initiated actions in Alabama which led to the prohibition of involuntary servitude and slavery in that state. Going forward, Savannah hopes that community stakeholders lead with education about the omnipresent vestiges of slavery, that we center the voices of directly impacted people, and divest from entities that benefit from the exploitation of incarcerated workers.

Amber Phelps founded Abolish Slavery Virginia, whose mission is to create a society free from the chains of slavery and eradicate oppressive practices within the criminal legal system. Abolish Slavery VA strives to promote social justice and uphold human rights by advocating for racial equity, dismantling systemic racism, and disrupting the prison industrial complex and carceral system that have perpetuated the profit-driven warehousing of bodies in our country. They believe that the abolition of all forms of slavery is an essential step towards achieving this goal.