Tag Archives: social_responsibility

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Already Forgotten?

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note: originally posted in January 2005 in the student newspaper at Wheaton College…

Already Forgotten

It’s Friday now, five days after the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, and like many of us, besides rejoicing that it’s only a four day week, you have not given his legacy a second thought. If upon reflecting on King and his legacy, you only naively rejoiced that his “dream” has been accomplished, but did not weep at the complacency of, We, the Church in carrying out the work that Dr. King, in Christ, called us to; to bring Justice for the poor and oppressed, you are deceived.
The more I have learned about Dr. King the more I am shocked and disappointed at the lack of attention we give to this great hero of the Christian faith. Wheaton College, a school founded by abolitionists should know well the importance of standing up against injustice and for freedom. Dr. King stood bold as a Christian against the injustice of his day and we need to be challenged by this modern prophet of Christ to do the same.
It’s a wonderful thing to see that every year hundreds of students at Wheaton participate in ministries through CSC and their churches. Many of the ministries involve working with youth anywhere from near by Carol Stream to the city of Chicago. These sorts of ministries are tangible ways many students find to share the love of Christ with others. But this alone is inefficient and insufficient. We must not forget King’s example and stand against the systems that are persisting
You might have heard this story before. There was a community that built a school on the edge of a cliff. Upon discovering that a number of students where injured seriously from falling off the cliff, the community decided to build a emergency room at the bottom of the cliff. Though this did help care for the situation, it was reactive toward the outcome of the problem and did not deal with the root. Why did they not build a fence?!

Dr. King stood against the injustice of the Jim Crow laws and the segregated education system because he was compelled by the love of Christ. We too must stand against those structural sins in our society. I challenge every student involved in ministries to youth to become aware of the structural evils that we are a part of in our society. When a child receives an unequal education simply due to their location in an impoverished neighborhood, this is a structural evil. When your attempt to explain to that child the victories of Brown vs. Board in desegregation are in vain because every child in his classroom is of similar complexion, this is a structural evil. King once said, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” Please deepen your understanding and act.
We are called to love our neighbor as ourself. This command requires far more then the few hours or minutes we tend to give it each day, indeed, in the words of King, “The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”

podcast

Fair Trade Interview with Eric Odier-Fink of The Justice Clothing Company

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I had the wonderful opportunity this morning of interviewing Eric Odier-Fink of The Justice Clothing Company. Eric graciously gave me a bit of his time to answer some questions about Justice Clothing, Sweatshops, Unions and Fair Trade.

or Download the Podcast Here.

Show Notes:

00:24 Why did you start The Justice Clothing Company?

  • “It really started out of Frustration.”

    • The idea for the Justice Clothing Company was born around 1996 when we met and, among other things, began shopping together. (from the website)

  • “The US is predominately sweatshop in it’s apperal production.”
  • 1998- Received Catalogs from Union companies (King Louie clothing, Nemisis and Windjammers)
  • “Is there Anywhere in the United States for me to buy your gear?”
  • “These where companies that where absolutely clean.”

03:15 Working with Union Companies

  • “We only work with Union Companies”
  • Tried to work with Non-Union (ended well before they began selling their gear).
  • Ben and Jerry’s as a Non-Union example
  • Non-Union companies weren’t willing to meet their conditions

06:30 Talking about American Apparel

  • Discussed working with American-Apparel (It didn’t work out, and it was clearly for the best)
  • American-Apperal’s Ugly Union busting Article
  • AA’s Sexist ads and Sexual Harrasment
  • American Apparel makes clothes, Justice Clothing sells clothes (that union companies make).

11:00 The importance of Unions

  • “Unions are the only thing responsible for prosperity in the United States.”
  • “Unions bring together workers who, individually, don’t really have any power.”
  • “The only power a worker has, is to stop the work that they do.”
  • Eric tells the story of his grandfather being almost “worked to death.”
  • Why Unions improve companies and the quality of products.

14:45 Justice Clothing becoming a Cooperative

  • No longer “Employer, employees.”
  • Expanding to others outside the business
  • A few “not really for the radio” details about the Co-op.

18:15 Dealing with your overwhelming closet full of sweatshop clothing

22:45 What’s your take on Thrift Stores

  • Usually fronts for organizations that feed and cloth people
  • It’s Recycling!
  • It’s not contributing to the sweatshop industry
  • The Balance is that people need to work and somethings will need to be bought new, That’s where Justice Clothing comes in.

26:00 Why pay more Money for fair trade clothing?

  • Sustainable economies
  • Why Not to Contribute to Walmart (articles 1, 2)

29:45 An appeal to people of Faith

  • “Buying sweatshop stuff is against my religion”
  • “You know your buying stuff that is moral”

* Want to Read some more about this? Eric Suggests:

one I will point out is a magazine-size booklet published by the Progressive Jewish Alliance called “No Schvitz”– it’s a great primer on the history and current situation with sweatshops, with a focus on Jewish involvement (on all sides).

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Is “Socially Responsible” catching on?

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When you see the term on a McDonalds brochure you know something is up. I don’t frequent the golden arches much, but I was in there a couple weeks ago and I saw this brochure.
“We Share One Community: Socially Responsible Neighbors”
Brochure from McDonalds- We Share One Community

I’m not posting to bash on McD’s (that’s what you’d expect from me though isn’t it?). I think it’s great to see a company like this and others (Walmart, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, etc) put out Press Release and make statements in the direction of Social Responsibility. I applaud those efforts, but I want to caution us as well. I think we’ve seen countless times (look into statements from companies about stopping sweatshops) that just because they make a statement or give their word does not mean a change has happened. There are times when all we can do is take their word for it, but let’s also be all the more aware when the news reveals that they have not been keeping their commitments.
When Social Responsibility becomes the buzz word everyone will jump on board, at least in word, not necessarily in deed. You see being Social Responsibility cost your company money. Paying garment workers more cost more. Treating animals humanely cost more. All these things our money lost from the company and any good economist knows that money is the bottom line. Let’s just be aware.

On that note here is an exciting company, Maggie’s Organic that looks like they are doing things right. Watch the Video.