My jeans were made in Guatemala
With hands that used to pick our coffee beans and bananas
There is no hope for the local farmer there
But there is, and always have been, plenty grown for our masses
My jacket was made in Thailand
And I wonder if anyone here knows
What it’s like to have to choose between
Selling your body or sewing clothes
My nightgown was made in Vietnam
Sewn by girls who should be in school
Who cares about their future?
We need cheap clothes! Not living wages and labor rules!
My inexpensive t-shirts were sewn by young hands
In Jamaica, Haiti, Honduras, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nicaragua, and Jordan
American closets filled with the skeletons of shame
It’s only because of sweatshops that we can afford them
My chocolate candy, ice cream, and cookies
Comes from cocoa grown very far away
Across the Atlantic West African children work for free
Did you know that slavery exists today?
My sugar comes from poor workers
In the Dominican Republic and Brazil
Haitian hands and landless peasants
Nameless bodies: do you know how many have been killed?
My television was assembled in Tijuana
By women and girls who live in cardboard shacks
Five dollars a day is all they make
Big screens and high definition, all from broken Mexican backs
My sheets and towels were made in India
The land where Gandhi worked for Peace
Women and children earn $1.00 a day
Victims of capitalism—the world’s most racist disease
My son’s soccer ball came from China
A luxury for children in the developing world
In this game of trade we always do the kicking
Right in the stomachs of the starving, of the sweating, of the invisible people
Their voices never heard
This poem was inspired by the actual labels on my clothes and various items in my home.
You can learn more about the human beings and countries that provide the “necessities” in our lives, and how you can make a difference in the world by visiting the following web sites:
www.freetheslaves.net
www.coalitionforjustice.net
www.equalexchange.org
www.cleanclothes.org
www.wsws.org
www.sweatshopwatch.org
www.solidarity-us.org
www.bananalink.org.uk
www.corpwatch.org