Fair Trade Part I - New Shoes

(the following information on fair trade is severely limited to what i know. i am no expert on the subject. i am simply trying to provide a resource for people who are interested in fair trade, but don't know where to turn for information.)

"Fair Trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalised producers and workers... Fair Trade organisations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade." -from FINE (Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, International Fair Trade Association, Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association).

As I gradually developed in high school from a state of naivete and apathy to an active engagement with the world, I became increasingly concerned with the impact my money was making. I became a vegetarian in an effort to remove my money from the cruel and environmentally unsustainable meat and seafood industries. Eating organic always made me feel good, even though I couldn't reasonably accomplish that on a regular basis. Clothes, however, became my most urgent concern. There was no way of knowing whether or not my threads were manufactured in sweatshops, but I desperately needed reassurance that my money wasn't contributing to the oppression of poor people halfway across the globe.

A friend of mine had seemingly found a remedy by strictly buying American made clothing. In theory I had found a solution! It became apparent, though, that buying American made apparel is much more difficult than it sounds. I quickly discovered that almost every item of clothing I needed was made somewhere else! Though overseas factories aren't necessarily sweatshops, using this rationale to buy overseas clothing is shaky at best. I might be buying union made, socially responsible clothing, but it is just as likely I'm not. I'm not comfortable with the chances. I've been reduced to buying used clothing for two years now.

Though the used clothing option isn't really that bad (here in Boise there are plenty of great thrift stores and even a trendy boutique of used clothes called The Lux) it does present a few problems. Namely, shoes. Two years ago a friend gave me his shoes. They'’ve brought me everywhere, but it has been raining lately, and my feet never stay dry. Finding good shoes at a thrift store is near impossible. Until just recently, I didn'’t know where to turn.

Just a few weeks ago, a solution fell into my lap. At the weekly Idaho Progressive Student Alliance meeting at BSU, fair trade information was distributed and discussed. I learned more about what fair trade is, where to find fair trade coffee, and about fair trade organizations such as the clothing company No Sweat Apparel. Most importantly, I discovered how to walk in new shoes without, as No Sweat states, "“stepping on the worker who made... [my] shoes."”

My shoes are union-made in Jakarta, Indonesia. A card detailing the wages and benefits of the workers was included with them. Compared to regional labor standards, the people who manufactured my shoes are treated very fairly. With their wages and benefits, there is no doubt they are able to achieve a healthy, comfortable life. (click here to see the wages and benefits of the workers who made my shoes) Not to mention my shoes are comfortable, vegan-friendly, and even trendy!

Check out these websites to learn more about fair trade, or to buy fair trade products:

No Sweat Apparel
FairTrade Labelling Organizations International
Responsible Shopper

In the next installment of this series on fair trade, I'll report on my experience with Ten Thousand Villages, an organization that "provides vital, fair income to Third World people by marketing their handicrafts and telling their stories in North America." In Boise's Hyde Park there is a Ten Thousand Villages store that relies on volunteers as staff. I'll write about my experience volunteering there as well as generally about the organization. To visit their website, click here.

Local Happenings

I spent most of today at BSU for the POV Conference on human rights. Turnout was painfully low, and the Amnesty International table I was at received a miniscule amount of attention. It wasn't really discouraging, though, because it was obvious that the organization of the event was sub-par. However, I did learn of some upcoming events:

• Seoul Train. On Tuesday, November 15th, as part of the Diverse Perspectives film series, the ITVS Community Cinema will show the film Seoul Train in the Barnwell Ballroom of the SUB at 5:30 pm. The film documents a humanitarian crisis as North Koreans attempt to escape their country. Parking is free in the SUB visitor lot. (The film also shows on Nov. 16th at Boise State West in Nampa at the same time in the 2nd Floor Lounge.)
• "War, Peace, and Transformation." The Idaho Peace Coalition is sponsoring this presentation from Iraq War Veteran and Conscientious Objector Aidan Delgado on Veteran's Day. Come to the Bishop Barnwell Room of the SUB on November 11th at 7:00 pm.

Upcoming meetings:

• Amnesty International. Thursday, November 10th in the Gipson Room (downstairs in the SUB) at 5:00 pm. Thursday, November 17th in the Foote Room (upstairs in the SUB) at 5:00 pm.
• Idaho Progressive Student Alliance. Sundays at 5:00 pm. There should be a sign on the door of the Boyington Room (upstairs in the SUB) that tells you where to go.
  

Don't Just Vote!

Well. I didn't vote. Turns out I live a little less than a mile from the city limits. Even though I work in the city, go to school in the city, spend most of my free time in the city, and will move to the city fairly soon, the law says I cannot vote for city council members. I'm disappointed, because I wanted to vote, but I'm not angry. It makes sense. Instead of voting today, I will urge all of you who did vote to do more. Voting is just the beginning of active involvement with the world. There are a wealth of actions you can take after your vote that are capable of changing the world.

I've never been able to vote. But I possess a burning desire to change the world, so I've had to rely on other methods of effecting change. Though I can't wait until I can finally cast my vote, I doubt it will provide me with the same satisfaction that, for example, volunteering does. Here are some actions that you can take to make a difference outside of the ballot box:

• Volunteer. There are countless opportunities everywhere. Here in Boise, I've volunteered extensively with Idaho Fish and Game. The work has included re-vegetating the riparian zones of Idaho's streams and rivers that have been decimated by cattle grazing, which is immensely important work.
  
• Write a congressman, or even the president. Just pick an issue that stirs your soul and write. You can also utilize the resources of organizations such as Amnesty International if human rights concern you or Moveon.org if progressive politics concern you. Just search the web. You can find online actions everywhere!
• Engage in grassroots activism. If there is some issue that deeply affects you, hit the streets. Some of the most profound change has happened due to people sitting where they are prohibited to sit or from thousands, if not millions, of people flooding the streets to demand change.
  
• Discuss. Engage the people around you in real discussion about the problems that face our world. There is nothing wrong with open-minded discussions and arguments- they help us understand our world.
  
• Be creative! I fasted last summer to raise awareness about the plight of refugees in Africa. Though I didn't actually change anything on a large scale, I did open a few eyes wider, including my own.

Bright Eyes in SLC

Last night I saw Bright Eyes live at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City. It was an incredible show! In the quiet between songs someone shouted, "Conor Oberst is Jesus!" Though I'm not quite that fanatical, Bright Eyes is just that epic. Oberst was bursting with passion as he played his songs. The band backed him up with a fabric of surreal music coming from an interesting mix of instruments, from a harp to a steel guitar to a trumpet. Oberst's poetry filled fans' minds with rich stories and profound observations that spilled out onto my pillow that night. There is an unquestionable otherworldy greatness to Bright Eyes that is undeniably evident live.

Bright Eyes, however, doesn't fit very well into the context of this blog. To make this post more relevant, I'll suggest that you check out the following video: Conor Oberst plays "When the President Talks to God" on Jay Leno (click the 'Watch Now!' link)

Local Happenings - POV Conference

The POV (Point of View) Conference at Boise State University will take place on November 8th and 9th next week. The theme this year is human rights. I actually don't know too much about this event. I am connected to it through Amnesty International. We will be tabling for the event on Wednesday, November 9th in Hatch AB of the SUB. I do know, however, that there will be some interesting workshops and film showings. Workshop topics include the death penalty, immigration and the dream act, the hague war crimes tribunal, and community arts and human rights. The films The Corporation and Hotel Rwanda will also be shown. I'm expecting an interesting event, and I recommend checking it out. Find out more at the POV website, or check out the full event schedule.

City Council Elections

Next Tuesday's elections will be the first time in my life that I vote. Last year I turned eighteen one week after the elections. While there is less at stake this time around, I'm plenty excited to cast my vote.

Before I vote, I'll add my two cents to the discussion. The prospect of Brandi Swindell being a city council member is ridiculous for too many reasons. She has no college education nor any experience related to the job she is applying for. While I am not crazy about Maryanne Jordan, she possesses extensive experience related to her job- a college education, co-owning a small business, and serving on the Boise City Planning and Zoning Commission, as President of the West Valley Neighborhood Association, and as Facilitator of the Boise Neighborhood Alliance. She has been involved with organizations relevant to a city council position, whereas Swindell's experience with organizations such as Generation Life, a religious right-wing organization, is completely irrelevant to a city council position. Regardless of Swindell's radical views or either candidate's out-of-state campaign donations, it just makes more sense to elect Jordan. This job should be approached in a pragmatic fashion, not an ideological one. Swindell certainly possesses an ideological fervor, but Jordan is very clearly the practical choice.

That said, I encourage everyone to vote on November 8th! Even though the ballots are small this year, voting is important. Of course, voting is only part of active involvement with the world. Vote, but don't just vote! (I'll write more about doing more than just voting next week...)

Profiles of the Candidates
Precinct Map (scroll down to 'Precinct Locator')
Boise guardian Story About Campaign Funds
Dan Popkey Article
Brandi Swindell's Website
Maryanne Jordan's Website

Local Happenings - Tunnel of Oppressio

I've been quiet for a few days, partly because I've been busy but mostly due to a tough break-up. I'm not going to waste your time writing about the break-up, not because it hasn't affected me deeply- because it has- but because this blog isn't a forum for that type of writing. That said, I experienced exactly what I needed yesterday. The Tunnel of Oppression happened very successfully on November 1st in and around the Hatch Ballroom (for a description of what the Tunnel is, refer to my earlier posting on the subject). From 9:00 am to 7:30 pm I was there as a Tunnel guide and with Amnesty International at the coinciding Social Justice Fair. Those long hours kept me busy- talking and walking- and therefore forced my mind to wander from the sorrow, loneliness, and self-pity that had taken up residence in me. The emptiness in my heart was eased by a community of engaged and caring individuals who are committed to changing the world, slowly but surely.

The Tunnel began with a scene depicting soft racism in the wake of Katrina. Three white middle-class folk sipped martinis and discussed their frustration at seeing poor black people receiving sympathy and government aid after the hurricane. Their language was no doubt incensing, but a bit unbelievable. However, the scene remained effective and provided an emotionally simple way of beginning the tour and easing into the next scene.

Four or five actors dressed in casual military attire and sporting pipes, knives, and cameras viciously attacked another actor dressed in a black robe and hood in the second and most effective scene. There was no question that the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib were unfolding here, and even though this was acting, it was severely disturbing. Audience members were encouraged to take part in the abuse but could only muster blank stares and sometimes tears. The actors recreated the photographs from Abu Ghraib with an eerie accuracy. After the scene, the audience shuffled their feet quietly away, taking with them an intimate understanding for the scope of atrocities committed in the War on Terror.

In the next scene a small group of immigrants struggled to cross the border amongst graves marked ‘unidentified’. Their struggle was amplified by an insensitive television journalist and armed militia men who beat back the immigrants. The depiction of the immigration struggle brought to life an issue that everyone knows of but no one really understands. The tour then meandered into a makeshift bathroom that provided the stage for different sorts of gender related oppression: two girls taunted a “dyke”, one of those girls then threw up in a stall in an effort to lose weight, a boy tried hard to be a man by using steroids, a young couple worried about an unwanted pregnancy, and a rape was attempted. We don’t know whether or not the rape was committed- we just heard her scream from behind a bathroom stall door. With the screams echoing the tour rushed through a brutal episode of Native American assimilation. As the audience exited the Tunnel, they became the victims of fierce anti-gay fury. Demonstrators shook hateful signs in faces and shouted dangerously at each and every member of the audience. Their hateful frenzy, albeit acting, caused one to know the pain of being hated for being homosexual, even if one is not.

The entire experience was tremendously effective. Though I wasn’t present in the post-Tunnel debriefing sessions, I gathered that public response to the tour was positive. Eyes and hearts opened to better understand modern forms of oppression that are often overlooked. It is difficult to deny these oppressions while they are staring you down. Oppression is evident when we hear the facts about its many forms today, but when our heart is involved oppression is not only undeniable, but is an affront to everything human within us. The Tunnel of Oppression very much involves the heart.

(If you wish to learn more about the Tunnel of Oppression, I recommend conducting a simple google search for it. I did so, but could not find a central website for it. It appears that the Tunnel is simply an idea that is interpreted differently by different universities around the nation.)

CD Review: Emmanuel Jal and Abdel Gadir Salim - Ceasefire

(CD review originally written for the Boise Weekly)

Ceasefire is stunning. This collaboration between Emmanuel Jal, a Christian from southern Sudan, and Abdel Gadir Salim, a Moslem from northern Sudan, sends a powerful message throughout the country in the shadow of war. For more than twenty years the Moslem north had battled the non-Moslem south until a peace agreement earlier this year. Sudan’s future, however, remains uncertain. Ceasefire is a powerful and symbolic cry for lasting peace that is urgently needed at this crucial moment in Sudan’s history.

The music lives up to the historical backdrop. Jal is a rap sensation whose popularity has exploded from Nairobi to all of Africa and beyond. Salim is a respected and popular composer, singer, and oud player whose songs reflect the musical traditions of Sudan. He is absent from about half of the songs, which are written and performed by Jal. The remaining songs are written and performed by Salim and his band but feature occasional bursts of rap by Jal. The result of this unlikely and eclectic collaboration is a vibrant and diverse fabric of sound that incessantly stirs up the soul.

Emmanuel Jal’s rap is soft but solid, and his talent is unquestionable. His warmly mellow voice flows over lively, energetic beats. Like his message, his rap stands in sharp contrast to the harsh American variety, and Jal’s style is much more listenable, despite the language barrier. He alternates with grace between each of the five languages (there are translations) on this CD, sometimes multiple times in a single verse. In between verses, joyous and hopeful choruses explode over the music, adding an exotic dimension that accents Jal’s laid-back rapping.

Though most of the songs concern peace for Sudan, one stood out for its address of another urgent issue in Africa. ‘Nyambol’ tells the story of a young girl who suffers abuse and then escapes a forced marriage to ultimately achieve an education and become “an important person” and “important leader” in her village. The song showcases both Jal’s rapping ability and his understanding that peace in Sudan, though extremely important, is just one of the many issues in Africa deserving the world’s attention. He shows definite promise for being both a musical messiah and force for social change in the future.

The ultimate lure of the album is Abdel Gadir Salim’s music. Jal’s tunes heavily emphasize a pop sensibility that is no doubt great, but Salim generates a deeper, more mature sound that is quite unlike any popular music in the States. His rich, textured voice gives off a wisdom that is only developing in Jal. When Jal jumps into Salim’s songs, however, Salim and his band help Jal achieve a clarity that isn’t as evident on his own songs.

If the historical backdrop, eclectic music, and important message of Ceasefire don’t cause your jaw to drop, then the personal histories of the musicians surely will. At the age of seven Emmanuel Jal lost his mother and was taken to a camp in Ethiopia where he was trained to be a soldier. In 1991, along with scores of other child soldiers, Jal was forced to walk hundreds of miles to join a rebel group. Abdel Gadir Salim once survived a brutal stabbing while attempting to hold a concert in Khartoum. Both musicians endured this unimaginable adversity to become important figures, not only in Sudan’s future, but in Africa’s future. I can image that Ceasefire is only the beginning.

(visit Emmanuel Jal's website)