What would the world be like if when everyone put on their shirt in the morning they checked the tag and took a moment to think about the people who made it and what their life was like? How would it inform our worldview?
I spent the weekend at the a conferencein Olympia, Washington. I’ll do a summary later, but for now I wanted to share this picture of a painting by Janet Essley. The painting is part of a traveling exhibit. To bring it to your community contact Liana at liana(at)sweatfree(dot)org.
Here’s what the artist had to say about the paintings:
“As we remember [the sewer’s] hands on each piece of clothing that we wear, may…
I’ve never been to Burma. But somebody forgot to tell that to the folks at the CBS-Affiliate in Rockford, Illinois. They interviewed me while I was at Rockford College and reported that Burma was one of the countries I visited on my Where Am I Wearing quest.
The station sent one fella out. He seemed hurried, apparently not even having the time to say hello when he walked in the room. He started to set up his equipment without so much as a nod of acknowledgment. Not a “Hi, I’m Jim” or a “I hate my job….
I’ve written about Jake and NURU before. I’m thrilled to share my latest piece on the World Vision Report. I’m still sort of new to the full-length radio feature thing (this is my second), but am really proud of this one.
I feel for Juan Williams, I really do. The dude should not have been fired, especially in the manner that he was. A phone call! They could’ve at least had Carl Kassle call him and leave a message on his voicemail.
But even more than that I feel for NPR. NPR is getting hammered in the press for being this liberal conspiracy to take over the world. (Full Disclosure: I would totally vote Tom and Ray of Car Talk into the White House. There is all of this talk of which party, the Democrats or the Republicans, drove the bus into the ditch and who is going to drive us out. Well, at least with Tom…
I was on one side of the room. My head full of stories of the garment workers I met around the world and ideas about how students can make a difference in their lives.
On the other side of the room were two recruiters from Marlboro. Their heads filled with information on who their customers are and ideas of how to get more.
Between us sat 150 business students. The battle for their souls began.
Okay, it wasn’t quite that dramatic. I wasn’t the angel on one shoulder and the Marlboro men weren’t the devil on the other. They were actually really cool…
I usually wrap up my presentations talking about how sweatshops and child labor are all symptoms of poverty and that the garment industry done right should be part of the solution.
This is what I mean…
The Alta Gracia workers in the Dominican Republic get their first paychecks – 300% more than what other workers in the Dominican Republic get:
Tonight I have the honor of speaking at the Columbus (IN) Library. The community selected Three Cups of Tea for their community reading program and since they apparently couldn’t get Greg Mortensen himself, they contacted me. I’m super pumped. I love the book and every time I read about Mortenson I’m amazed by his psycho-like dedication to his cause and all the positive change he is bringing into our world.
I’ll be talking about the Girl Effect, the importance of educating and employing women, and up and coming Greg Mortensons like Jake Harriman of NURU who I’ve had the pleasure to meet.
Here’s the official description of my chat:
Common Threads: Exploring Poverty One Story at a Time presented by…
I often ask myself this. No matter how much I try to pretend there isn’t, there is some bitterness in the thought. Some, “I wrote a book that’s serious and funny about a subject very relevant to now, and I didn’t get on the Daily Show.” Hrmph!
Last night Philip Dray was on the Daily Show talking about his 784-page book on the fight for worker’s rights: There is Power in a Union. Last night during the show I checked Amazon. The book was ranked 35,000-something. This morning it is in the hundreds. After my five-second pity party about “that shoulda been me” I got to thinking about this.
Is a book on unions good for ratings? Probably not.
A big thanks to John at Provocate for passing along this underwear related news item to me. It’s only with the help of friends like John that I maintain my ranking as one of the top 10 living underwear journalists in the state of Indiana.
A Guantánamo commander has accused British lawyer Clive smith of smuggling Under Armour Briefs and a Speedo swimsuit to two prisoners he represents. Smith denied the claim and responded in a letter:
It seems obvious that the same people delivered these items to both men, and it does not take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that members of your staff…did it…. I have done a little research to help you in your investigations.
I feel for Juan Williams, I really do. The dude should not have been fired, especially in the manner that he was. A phone call! They could’ve at least had Carl Kassle call him and leave a message on his voicemail.
Tonight I have the honor of speaking at the Columbus (IN) Library. The community selected Three Cups of Tea for their community reading program and since they apparently couldn’t get Greg Mortensen himself, they contacted me. I’m super pumped. I love the book and every time I read about Mortenson I’m amazed by his psycho-like dedication to his cause and all the positive change he is bringing into our world.