It’s finally here… the 2009 Backyard Abolitionist Tour with Not For Sale founder David Batstone and in-house artist Brant Christopher! This year, Dave and Brant will be hitting the road hard to recruit and inspire Abolitionists across the US and abroad.
These fast-paced and interactive shows will be like a movie on stage… live music, dynamic media, and a powerful message of freedom for the captives. These events are a remarkable way to spread awareness, motivate the community, and launch an Abolitionist movement in your area!
Here’s How It’s Happening
Universities – These dynamic evening events will jump-start a student movement on your campus. The shows have a sliding price scale – $2500 for small private schools and $5000 for large public universities. Prices within that range are negotiable dependent on components of the show.
High Schools – These exciting daytime events are interactive and engaging for students. They happen as an appendage to other scheduled events in the area, and are $500 per event. If you are wanting to bring NFS to your high school, consider partnering with your local church or a university!
Churches – Church events are $950, with the opportunity for a Love Offering at the end of the show. Though the event is free to the public, NFS will send ahead printable tickets for the event that can be distributed throughout the community. We will also be partnering with our church hosts to put on an IHOP event in their area!
IHOP – The Influential House of People (IHOP) is an opportunity to gather with individuals in a community that carry political capital, cultural capital, social capital, or financial capital. Typically these will be a gathering of 15-20 people of influence.
Corporate – Increasingly we are receiving invites to speak at corporate gatherings. We welcome these inquiries, and specific rates will be negotiated at the NFS office.
David Batstone – Keynote Speaker
Bono refers to David Batstone as a “heroic character”. A professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco who started his “career” guarding Salvadoran pastors and literacy teachers from death squads, Batstone was a member of the founding team of Business 2.0 magazine and is the founder of the social venture firm Righ Reality. He writes regularly in USA Weekend edition as “America’s Ethics Guru.” He traveled around the world investigating the slave trade before writing Not For Sale, the book associated with this campaign.
Brant Christopher – Musical Guest
Award-winning singer/songwriter Bran Christopher may be best known for fronting the popular KOCK Records trio Fort Pastor. Serving as the voice and main songwriter for the group, their last album “Beautiful Imperfection” received rave reviews from Billboard, Christianity Today, Sirius Satellite Radio, and others calling Brant’s voice “Gritty and Magnificent!” and the album “A rare triumph!” Founder of the community service based organization The Social Justice Army, Brant has watched the group grow to over 2000 members who completed over 20,000 hours of community service last year.
Tell me more
The Backyard Abolitionist Tour is a one-day event at your college campus or church. It begins with a morning workshop on how the people trade operates including a multi-media presentation of our undercover investigations, trafficking scenarios from around the world, and intervention strategies, including where the people trade is likely operating in the region around the college campus. During the afternoon, we equip participants with rescue tools and send them out into the community to distribute them to clubs, cafes, restaurants, shelters and migrant labor centers. All resources feature a local hotline phone number that has direct lines to law enforcement and social service resources. The tools serve a triple purpose:
- Educate the recipients
- Inform trafficking victims of available help
- Solicit tips for witnesses and/or collaborators to forced labor
In the weeks after the event, Not For Sale staff will inform the campus groups of the results of calls into the hotline number. In the evening, event continues with a multi-media concert event featuring Koch Records recording artist Brant Christopher and keynote speaker David Batstone, president of Not For Sale. Together, they weave stories, pictures, and video into a compelling presentation of the current abolitionist movement.
Want to host an event?
To host the Backyard Abolitionist Tour in your area, please email brantm hailing from notforsalecampaign from the TLD of org
Tour Requirements – Large University (.pdf) 
Flyer (.jpg) 
Tickets (.jpg) 
