Madison native E. Benjamin Skinner has championed the cause of abolition, devoting his journalistic talents to paint a vivid, disturbing picture of modern day slavery. His work has taken him around the globe, exposing slave trafficking in Dubai brothels, child markets in Haiti and myriad injustices on four continents. His reportage hasn't gone unnoticed; in September he was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his book "A Crime So Monstrous."

"I'm deeply honored, humbled and thrilled," Skinner said in a phone interview. He's thrilled, he said, because this honor advances the abolition cause.

"Three of the books honored focus on the issue of slavery. It's important in helping to advance awareness of this ultimate injustice," Skinner said.

Other books honored this year include "Half the Sky" and "Say You're One of Them," which each explore the issue of contemporary slavery in different ways. Skinner plans to donate the $10,000 prize to Free The Slaves, the American wing of Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human-rights organization.

"Emancipation is a complex process, and we can't get it all done in a year. We botched it so many years ago, and we're still paying the price 150 years later," Skinner said.

So what's next for the author? Skinner's still reporting on the issue of slavery, this time focusing on South Africa for a Time magazine exposé. He's infiltrating human trafficking syndicates, looking to reveal "a massive scale of child prostitution centering around the World Cup stadiums. I discovered layer upon layer of horror."

Another book likely will be in his future as well. "When you write a book about an issue like this, you don't expect it to be a best seller. But to be recognized like this raises awareness to the cause and for that I'm eternally grateful," Skinner said.

Skinner is a 1994 graduate of West High School and is now based in Cambridge, Mass., where he's a fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy of Harvard Kennedy School. Cambridge is, he said, "a nice college town - but not as nice as Madison.

"I've given half a dozen talks in Madison, and I'm always struck by the fact that Madisonians live by their ideals. They walk the talk of social justice, and I know I was influenced by my environment in that regard."

Login to post your comment. If you don't have an account, you may register for one.