As the Harrisburg region recovers from Grand Review 2000 festivities that commemorated the sacrifices made during the Civil War, it is now time to remember that slavery, the institution abolished as a result of that tragic conflict, is still being practiced in many parts of the world.

In Sudan, for example, Christians, who reside primarily in the south, are being captured during slave raids sanctioned by the Muslim lead state government based out of Khartoum in the north. It is not just religious divisions that those in power use to justify putting their fellow citizens into bondage. A civil war, sparked by ethnic differences between northerners and southerners, has lead the Sudanese government to use slave raids as a means of terrifying those in the south who might be tempted to join the rebels. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that many unknown thousands have been forced into a life of bondage.

While the media has generally failed to cover this story, a group of activists are doing what they can to spread the news about the continuation of this horrific institution. The Boston based American Anti-Slavery Group has not only created a web-site (anti-slavery.com) detailing the terrors that Sudanese who have been forced into slavery face, but have also started a campaign to cut off the funds that the Sudanese government needs in order to carry out its crimes against its own citizens.

The Sudanese government has been able to carry on the civil war, despite the crippling effects that the fighting has had on the economy, and the slave raids that have become one of its main strategies through the funds it gets from oil revenues. This oil is produced in partnership with a Canadian firm, Talisman Energy (NYSE symbol TLM). As reported by Nat Hentoff in a recent Village Voice column another firm, PetroChina, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Company (China’s largest nationalized oil firm) is seeking to have the investment banking house Goldman Sachs & Co. underwrite an IPO to help pay for PetroChina’s investment in a new oil producing scheme — the Greater Nile project. According to Hentoff this project — in which PetroChina would have a 40% stake — is worth $40 billion.

An analysis of the Sudanese economy by the American Anti-Slavery Group has shown that without the money that Talisman pours into the economy, the Sudanese government would be unable to continue war and the enslavement of parts of its population. The Sudanese government’s attempt to start another oil project, through its partnership with PetroChina, demonstrates just how dependent it is on these revenues to continue its catastrophic assaults on the south and the enslavement of its own people.

So what can those of us in the mid-state do about this tragic situation? In this era of 401k plans, Internet stock trading, and a greater awareness of financial matters in general, citizens of Central Pennsylvania have a powerful weapon — economic divestment — which they can wield against this government that does not respect the basic humanity of its citizens. Call and write your elected officials and ask them to review the investment portfolios of city and state pension funds to see if they hold stock in Talisman or PetroChina or do business with Goldman Sachs & Co. Review your own portfolio and those of any mutual funds you hold. Write to the fund managers and tell them that you believe that any company aiding such a regime is engaging in business practices that are unethical and also unsound, and therefore you think it would be wise for them to dump any Talisman or PetroChina shares as soon as possible. Their CEO’s, having a fiduciary duty to their stockholders, must take action against anything that can drive down a stock’s price and will have to change business practices due to the bad publicity’s pressure on the stock. If you think that your voice does not matter recently, TIAA-CREF, one of the largest pension funds that manage money for professors’ retirement, sold its shares of Talisman due to its members’ pressure.

Divesting worked in South Africa, where the large amount of negative publicity that anti-apartheid activists were able to bring on the companies doing business with the South African government forced those firms eventually to pull out of South Africa, and bring down the white-rule regime. With the new medium of the Internet, and its ability to spread information about a company’s activities to millions of potential new investors, coupled with the rapid growth of the stock market, the people of Central Pennsylvania can use their new found financial power to once again be a vital part of the fight against slavery.

Smelling Better

Dear Editor,

I saw the ad for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and that motivated me to take home your paper.

I always considered that this paper was another example of what’s wrong in Harrisburg. But you’re starting to smell better to me … a whiff of non-ass-kissing political writing.

Thanks for calling out the racists around here. I was born and bred in Central Pennsylvania and only after returning from an extended stay on the West Coast did I realize just how racist Central PA is.

Now, about this bullshit Civil War propaganda …

Thanks again,

— Dave at Acme

Entertainment?

Dear Editor,

What are you trying to do? How the heck did you get all those band ads in your last issue? If I didn’t know MODE, I’d swear you were a bonafide entertainment newspaper.

Some three or four years ago you popped up on the Harrisburg scene, and it was all fluff. I personally didn’t think you would last. And trying to be another Harrisburg magazine was a waste. Lucky for you they’re so far out of it now that nobody wants to copy them anyway.

I guess I just wanted to tell you , in my own way, that I was impressed to see all the entertainment listed in what was supposed to be a literary issue. Nice job.