I have spent the last 3 days, one more to go, in a room with 30 other sustainability professionals receiving a training on a new methodology for assessing factory working conditions. The training is essential as we all shift our thinking and approach from measuring "compliance" to a code of conduct in a factory to actually understanding what the management functions are in a factory and the reasons behind the success or unsuccessful implementation of good working conditions.
After today's training I decided to take the long way back to my hotel past the Washington Monument and take a look at the new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. Now I have a hard time with our society's obsession to create heros - my problem is that no person is an island - but is influenced by their background, those who came before them and the community they are a part of. So it was interesting for me to walk through his memorial with this bias and be humbled.
The memorial is beautiful and evokes a passion and a vision that this man had, the confidence to share his thoughts in a divided time. A excitement for a better world infused me as I reflected on my day and read his quotes and thought of the work that the people I was training with were trying to do.
How do we give those who are not heard voice? How do we protect human and labor rights in a climate where people should "just be happy to have a job?" The desire and intention to have a better world is a theme that so many people share and try to strive for every day. Adopting a philosophy of peace and vision that "we the people" have the ability to make decisions everyday to be heros make a difference and Martin Luther King Jr is an example of this.
I have heard that 2012 is a year of change - as cynical as I can be, if I look back on how far we have come in corporate social responsibility it is true. There is a strong desire to see the world be better and have the fortune to work with so many people who share this dream.
The memorial is beautiful and evokes a passion and a vision that this man had, the confidence to share his thoughts in a divided time. A excitement for a better world infused me as I reflected on my day and read his quotes and thought of the work that the people I was training with were trying to do.
How do we give those who are not heard voice? How do we protect human and labor rights in a climate where people should "just be happy to have a job?" The desire and intention to have a better world is a theme that so many people share and try to strive for every day. Adopting a philosophy of peace and vision that "we the people" have the ability to make decisions everyday to be heros make a difference and Martin Luther King Jr is an example of this.
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