To: "Timothy Kubal" <tkubal@csufresno.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 3:51:22 PM
Subject: Movement Tactics
Here are my 5 Movement Tactics. As i looked at my grades and on April 21st you wrote stating that i did not follow the directions for paper, but that paper was for my Democracy Now/Weekly Discussion. My summary for the documentary is below this message.
March Forth
This was one of the greatest events we were as students. Everything that we were studying and learning about movements was demonstrated alive. The ideas we had of how we would create a protest or movements were probably wrong or not well thought, because many of us had the idea that in order to make a movement we probably would need to create a little violence and noise. At the March Forth event we realized that we need to have a plan, people, resources, and most important order. Because with no order the protest would not be able to be completed, and the whole purpose of the protest would be lost. Every one of us created signs supporting our own causes, food was provided to whoever came and we brought resources for people to get a better understanding of our intentions and goals as people trying to make a difference in people's lives. We also had the Ragging Grannies signing group signing about the women's rights. They were amazing, they use their signing talents to speak out for what they believe, just like one of the grannies summarized it; "just because we have grown old, that does not mean we need to become conservatives." They emphasized the importance to stay true to our feelings and our rights as Americans because we should not let the government make decisions for our own body. Among the other things we did, each individual in our own group stood before everyone and recited a line and other things from the things that we based our cause. We also tried to collect as many as possible people to sign a petition that Fresno State would become a sweatshop free campus because at Fresno State we learn and found causes and we believe that if we learn there, then it is best if the place takes a stand for what we believe.
Meetings/Goals/flyer
We met several times to discuss the grounds of our cause and why did we come up with the sweatshops cause and what we could do to make a change in people's lives. We came up with the sweatshops because we realized that there are many children around the world working hard for what we spend hundreds of money every year on, not only on clothes but on technology items that we use every day. At meetings we discussed our goals and of what we promote and we came with this.
'Sweatshops exist on a worldwide scale. Under privileged nations accept this as their only means of finance. The exploitation across seas and borders is only a result of the demand for them. Supporting stores that sell clothes made at sweatshops furthers this exploitation. Our mission is to promote awareness of this issue at home and abroad. We as students must recognize change starts with us and must ask for sweatshop free clothing in our local Fresno State apparel suppliers.'
We agreed to focus our awareness to local areas such as Fresno and Fresno State as well, believing that we have to start at home before we go on to the world. We understand that we might not have protested or have done more to gain the attention from department stores or from the public, but we firmly believe that we have made a difference in our own shopping habits. We have started to think twice before we shop and where we shop. In addition, in our meetings we discussed greatly the well-being of the children and the government that condones sweatshops and do a little to nothing to change their suffering.
Push Polling
100% of the participants confirmed that they knew what a sweatshop was and they were aware of the labor situations that people go through for days, weeks, months and even years. It also further confirmed that they knew that almost every name brand clothing came from sweatshops, and that it is cheap to make but expensive to purchase. 50% of the participants were aware that 85% of the sweatshop is all done by women and children. One of the clearest responses to our survey had to be the overwhelming consensus of people confirming that Fresno State should be a sweatshop free school, with 94% of the people showing support for that movement. The push polling tactic was hugely successful in gathering all kinds of important information for our cause and pushing our message out to the community.
Documentary
China BLue
The documentary we showed was called China Blue, and it was about the life of the people who work in sweatshops in the mainland of China. The protagonist, Jasmine, is a sweet teenager that had intentions of making a life of her own and to support her family. The dreams are suddenly shattered when she acknowledges the brutal work environment, long working hours, and the pain of living away from her family. Through the documentary one can see the rigors of the labor that these young girls endure daily, with the lack of nutriments, vegetables, water, 10- 15 minute breaks, or any fellowship at work. China Blue showed the work conditions that they endure every day just to meet deadlines. Workers would make cents out of every pair of jeans that they make every day, and oftentimes the workers would not get paid for Over Time shifts, which at times it exceeds over 8 hours, more than just a regular day shift. With the very little money they make and with the many fines they get for getting sick at work, talking at work, showing up seconds later, and for many other simple reasons. Many of them do not make enough to save or to buy things that they need. Not many get to go home for the New Year's Eve because they cannot afford it with $2 a day. Many young teenagers come to work at the factories knowing that it would be difficult, but as they experience a day work, they realize that they are better off working as farmers or fishermen because it is a horror to work in sweatshops away from home. Workers like Jasmine sleep an average of 4-6 hours a night sometimes less because there is always a deadline and also because they starve for socialization. The only time they are happy or smiling is when they are talking with the friends at night when they are off duty. The documentary was very heart-wrenching and eye opening for a lot of people who just love to shop not knowing the origins of the clothes they buy.
My group agreed to focus on the sweatshops as our research of injustice. Knowing that today the most popular and effective way to communicate is through the social media so we agreed to create an account to communicate and to reach other groups that support our cause or other similar causes. On the day of our documentary night, a lot of people came because they checked out our Twitter account. I was informed that not many have followed us on twitter, but they have in fact checked it regularly because our account can connect to various people who are deeply involved in causes and many other things as well. Every time that we have events we promote them through our account and with hopes that they would read the messages. Through twitter we have been able to connect with USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops) among others, but this one has been crucial to our research because it has provided us with many information and stats that has opened our eyes to realize that the sweatshop is more than just a problem. Sweatshops are growing and they probably will never stop because in many third-word-countries many people can be easily lured to work for long periods of pay for a great part of one's life. Our twitter account not only has connected us but also has gone out to reach people from the media such as ABC30 Fresno. ABC30 Fresno might not do anything about the sweatshops but they do know that there are crimes happening and many stores that we tend to shop at are part of the injustice that is currently ongoing in the world. We also used twitter to promote for the March Forth on March 4th, it was an epic success with all of the grannies singing and all the students signing up to support the causes we have come to disclose to the public.
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