International Justice Mission (IJM), a faith-based organization at UNC-Chapel Hill, will be hosting its annual Just Music benefit concert Friday at 7 p.m. at the North Carolina Study Center. The concert will be headlined by Joel Ansett with opening act Charlie Brown.
The event is dedicated to ending modern-day slavery and human trafficking, and the group is using music as a means of garnering support and awareness.
“We really just want it to be a celebration of people," IJM President Mandy Spalding said. "That’s something that is really important to IJM as an organization. Being able to celebrate people and their dignity through their talents and their music…we just want to be a place to showcase that.”
Just Music will be held on the front porch of the North Carolina Study Center, a place where people can enjoy live music in the predicted warm weather.
IJM member Evan Jordan said that it’s important for people to understand that modern-day slavery still exists and is very common around the world.
"We try to offer an opportunity to learn about that because it’s something so huge that so many people are unaware of,” Jordan said.
David Bussell, another IJM member, said that it can be easy to feel distant from problems that plague most of the world and much of the U.S. He said that the IJM is a tangible way to fight injustice in the meantime.
“My hope, at the end of the day, is that (God) will restore this world and bring justice finally,” Bussell said.
This event would allow people to join together with people in their community and also hear about these injustices in an accessible way.
