Call for Photos: A Day Without Dignity Campaign

[Jennifer Lentfer]

A Day Without Dignity is a counter-campaign to TOMS Shoes A Day Without Shoes “awareness raising campaign” i.e. commercial. Today Saundra Schimmelpfennig at Good Intentions Are Not Enough is asking people from areas that receive shoe drops and other forms of charity, the diaspora, and aid workers to speak up in blogs, on Twitter, or at school. People are also encouraged to contribute photos or videos from around the world of people wearing shoes, shoes in the market place, shoes lined up in front of houses, or people talking about what their real needs and wants are. You can click here to view the contributions so far.

As part of the counter-campaign, she is also calling for specific photographs to help make a video that will imitate the TOMS video (see it here). But instead of including barefoot white folks holding signs, it would show shoed multi-ethnic folk holding the following signs, each held by a different person:

 

"A Day"

"With Handouts"

"Is a Day"

"Without Dignity"

"Dignity"

"Dignity"

"Dignity"

"Dignity"

"Dignity"

Then other signs might say:

 

"There are shoes for sale in every country, including [INSERT YOUR COUNTRY]."

 

"Handing out free goods undermines local markets."

 

"Used-clothing imports to Africa caused 50% of the decline in employment from 1981–2000."

 

“Between 1992 and 2006, 543,000 textile workers in Nigeria lost their jobs due to importing of donated clothing.”

 

"Handing out free shoes, endangers the livelihoods of these people..."

 

"We don’t want gifts. We want respectable jobs.”

If you’d like to share a photo of yourself with one of these phrases to be included in the Day Without Dignity video, email them to [e-mail] by 12 April.

From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength. ~Cesar Chavez

Shoes for sale in Malawi. Photo by Duncan McNicholl at http://untappedmarkets.ca/.

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