Everyday (Global) Justice, Served up with Tantalizing Travel – and Motorcycles

How do we work for global justice every day, from our lives at home – where we deal with bills and friends and life's daily distractions? I’ve pulled together a few resources here that help with global giving, connect us international armchair travelers with engaging inspiration, and remind me that my favorite forms of transportation have two wheels.

Justice from Home:

We have clear evidence that we can make a huge difference from home. And fortunately there are numerous resources available for those who insist – as so many of us do – that each human life, everywhere around the world, is equally valuable.

Here are just a few among many important resources. First, there’s Peter Singer’s The Life You Can Save book, website, and pledge.  It’s pretty simple: people are dying unnecessarily early, suffering through preventable diseases, and frequently deprived of educational tools and opportunities. We know how to change this. We know what has worked. We have records of success. We do not have enough funding.

Small, regular donations from those of us (regular people) who have disposable income will continue to change lives and ensure human freedoms. It’s astonishing. The value, each month, of two beers, two Starbucks coffees, or one big burrito from a fast food joint – can literally save not just a life, but lives. (For a longer discussion of how things work on the ground in developing countries, see my post on Millennium Development Goals from Tanzania). Here’s the short film from Singer. It's totally worth the three minutes. 

Second, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote one of the most important books I’ve ever read, Half the Sky. It chronicles women’s experiences, challenges, and successes around the world. The individual narratives are powerful – and the data point that 100 million women are missing around the world (due to explicitly violent and more subtle discrimination against girls) is painfully valid and overwhelming (this data comes from world-renowned economist Amartya Sen). Everyone should read their book – and then take actions that follow from it. Kristof and WuDunn assembled numerous links to important, effective organizations advancing women’s rights around the world. Women and girls rights, without doubt, constitute one of the most important issues of our time. Give to any one of those organizations and know that you are making an important difference. Here's the book in one minute and eleven seconds. It's a beautiful clip.
    

Third, John Prendergast and company are taking “never again” as seriously as possible with their effort to completely stop genocide and crimes against humanity through the Enough Project. What’s amazing about The Enough Project is they always tie their campaigns to actions we can take. What’s more, they have clearly demonstrated how raising our voices and making deliberate ethical purchases have helped stop murderous regimes in the past. Take three minutes to watch this video, then follow their suggestions for letting companies know that we want conflict-free electronics.   

Fourth, and related to the Enough Project’s efforts, we can practice systematic conscious consumption. Corporations give us many nice things: as consumers, as employees, and as beneficiaries of positive unintended effects of product developments. But some corporations behave better than others. And all corporations respond to significant consumer pressure (It happened with slave-grown sugar and prohibition; it happened with bus boycotts during the civil rights movement; and it happened with diamond boycotts as part of ending apartheid in South Africa). Resources for advancing conscious consumption include:

• The British organization Ethical Consumer, which catalogues the impacts of your purchases across a wide variety of products. 
• Tree Hugger is also a great site, particularly in respect to the environment. 
• And the movie and movement Call and Response has developed a systematic accounting of each of our (it hurts to write it) "slavery footprints," which is an estimate of the extent to which slave labor is involved in the production of your products. Their estimate is based on data from the US Department of State, Freedom House, Transparency International, and other reliable organizations. The Call and Response trailer provides some quick data on and context for the current, real global problem of slave labor (that exists in the US in large numbers too):  

Fifth, we can be part of or support ethical international connections. This is a favorite of mine, and I think it’s actualized best through an organization where I sit on the Board of Directors, Amizade Global Service-Learning. Amizade connects community-driven development projects with volunteers from around the world. There are a few things that make Amizade stand out:

1. It is deeply committed to community-driven principles, and has been since its inception in Brazil in 1994. 
2. In a field increasingly distorted by private sector travel groups interested in making a quick buck off of something they call service-learning, Amizade is a nonprofit organization with clear ethical commitments, and 
3. Amizade has given substantial time and effort to developing programming that encourages all of its volunteers, students, participants, and community members to think about and act on what it means to be a global citizen long past the end of a brief volunteer experience. 

You can support Amizade by volunteering with them, organizing a group volunteer experience, or by giving this week, when every gift is matched at a 100% match rate (until Nov. 7, 2011)! Also, if you commit to giving $10 or more per month, there's an additional, one-time match of $50! Please consider giving to simultaneously advance community-driven development (this means water systems in Tanzania, classrooms in Bolivia, and much more) AND develop peace by pieces, by connecting people across cultures.

Here are two inspirational minutes on Amizade below (great clip!). But don't let that distract you. You've read this far. Take action. Give to one (at least one) of these important initiatives today. You get the most bang for your buck with Amizade this week (because of the match through the link above), but - more importantly - give somewhere. We're building a better world.

Where, you may ask, is the inspirational international arm chair travel and mention of motorcycles? It turns out this will be  a series. Those posts will come soon.

Please share your additional resources by responding below or sending them my way otherwise. And if you agree that supporting these efforts is important, please re-post, re-tweet, or otherwise share! Thanks for reading!