It was an evening of music and making a difference as Kent State hosted the Legacy of Freedom Concert Thursday in the Kiva.

Resolution Hope sponsored the event as part of its 13A National Awareness Campaign. The organization aims to raise awareness about national domestic sex-trafficking of minors.

It hopes to receive 1 million signatures to petition the national government to make stricter anti-trafficking laws.

Anthony Mossburg, a Christian, acoustic singer-songwriter, performed a number of songs he’d written, as well as quirky covers, like NSYNC’s “Bye, Bye, Bye.” He sang more serious songs like Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” to get students to think seriously about the issue.

Mossburg said he feels strongly about human-trafficking because his older sister was a stripper and had a rough past.

Speaker Brian Palumbo, who is touring with Mossburg, showed the audience a video made by a group of students about human-trafficking in America between some of Mossburg’s songs. Students learned an estimated 100,000 American children are trafficked into prostitution each year, but most people don’t know about it. Additionally, human-trafficking is the second biggest crime in the world.

“As soon as you leave here this evening, you’ll have an opinion,” Palumbo said. “When you create an opinion on mass, you create a desire for a law.”

Palumbo said Resolution Hope needs to go viral in order to make a difference.

Meredith Kinney from Resolution Hope is directing the tour in colleges across the nation.

“Our goal is to create mass public opinion about child sex-trafficking,” Kinney said. “Through that, we want to generate the laws and resources necessary for enforcement to empower the police force and FBI around the country.”

Students in the audience said they were inspired and driven to act against trafficking in America. Hannah Yackley, senior Spanish major, attended the event and found the issue appalling.

“It should not be happening in America, the land of the free,” Yackley said.

Post-secondary student Joachim Wyslutsky was also in disbelief.

“I [texted] my name for the petition earlier today,” Wyslutsky said.

Students were invited to sign the petition online at www.13ACampaign.org

and tell their friends to do the same.

Domestic minor sex trafficking is defined as the commercial sexual exploitation of American children within U.S. borders. Children may be recruited, harbored, transported, provided or obtained by a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.

Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states.

While federal law states trafficking is illegal, many states need public support to protect these children.

For more information, email [email protected].

Contact Caitlin Potts at [email protected].