Online Beat: Wondering what this is all about?
"Not Marc RICH enough"
The official line in the entertainment industry is that American
television viewers hate it when celebrities use appearances
on music and film award programs to tout their political
views. Of course, this is a line of bull. Even the most vapid
statement of conscience is a thousand times more engaging than
the
pathetic renderings of scripted introductions and acceptance
speeches
that turn the Grammy and Academy Award shows into pastiches
of
awkward silence, inarticulate mumbles and giggling.
Still, prominent actors and singers -- many of them veteran activists
--
face immense pressure to keep quiet about anything more controversial
than the cut of Toni Braxton's dress. Performers who break the
code
of silence, such as Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon, can recount
that
battering that befalls those who dare leven award-show fluff
with a few
grams of moral outrage.
Against the pressure to shut-up-and-look-pretty, it is the rare
artist
who actually stirs the pot. That's why Robbie Robertson's primetime
appearance at last week's Grammy Awards ceremony was such a
refreshing break with boring convention.
Robertson, the dynamic force behind The Band, guitarist for Bob
Dylan, and brilliant solo artist, was not accepting an award.
Rather, he
was a presenter in a category dear to his heart. The son of
a Jewish
father and Mohawk mother, Robertson has long advocated for a
Grammy category honoring Native American music; and he was asked
Wednesday night to present the first such award to Tom Bee and
Douglas Spotted Eagle for their production of the drum-group
complilation, "Gathering of Nations Pow Wow."
After greeting "all First Nations," Robertson explained the long
struggle
to win official recognition for the music of indigenous peoples.
Noting
that many other barriers to Native peoples remain, he then offered
the
night's most biting political statement.
Robertson reminded the Grammy crowd and the television audience
beyond that President Clinton had failed to respond to the international
movement seeking a pardon for jailed American Indian Movement
activist Leonard Peltier -- who contributed vocals to a track
on
Robertson's groundbreaking CD, "Contact From the Underworld
of
Redboy." "We haven't got freedom for Leonard Peltier," Robertson
said. "Maybe he's not Marc RICH enough."
The evening's only reference to Clinton constroversial pardon
of
fugitive financier Marc Rich drew no notice in the lavish press
coverage
of the Grammy Awards. But tens of millions of people in the
U.S. and
around the world were alerted to the ongoing campaign to free
Peltier.
Other performers saw the Grammy Awards ceremony as an
opportunity to sell records. Robbie Robertson recognized it
as
something more: A unique forum in which to advance the cause
of
justice. Displaying the foresight and the courage that has for
more than
35 year marked him as a uniquely vital artist, Robertson threw
away
the script and seized the opportunity.
The George Orwell Corporate Speech Award: Nike Division
February 22, 2001
The Nike tennis shoe congomerate -- seeking to forge ,ore
intimate relations with its customers -- now allows buyers of
their expensive footwear to "personalize" new shoes by
submitting a word or phrase that can be stitched onto the
sneakers, right beneath the corporate swoosh.
MIT graduate student Jonah Peretti attempted to take the company
up
on its "offer." He filled out the form and sent Nike $50 to
stitch the
word "sweatshop" onto his shoes.
Peretti's email "dialogue" with the company -- a remarkable document
of corporate communication -- follows:
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Your NIKE iD order was cancelled for one or more of the following
reasons:
1) Your Personal iD contains another party's trademark or
other
intellectual property
2) Your Personal iD contains the name of an athlete or team
we do not
have the legal right to use
3) Your Personal iD was left blank. Did you not want any
personalization?
4) Your Personal iD contains profanity or inappropriate slang,
and
besides, your mother would slap us.
If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product with a new
personalization please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti"
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Greetings, My order was canceled but my personal NIKE iD does
not
violate any of the criteria outlined in your message. The
Personal iD on
my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes was the word
"sweatshop." Sweatshop is not:
1) another's party's trademark,
2) the name of an athlete,
3) blank, or
4) profanity.
I choose the iD because I wanted to remember the toil and
labor of the
children that made my shoes. Could you please ship them to
me
immediately. Thanks and Happy New Year, Jonah Peretti
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD Customer, Your NIKE iD order was cancelled
because the iD you have chosen contains, as stated in the
previous
e-mail correspondence, "inappropriate slang". If you wish
to reorder
your NIKE iD product with a new personalization please visit
us again
at nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti"
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD, Thank you for your quick response to my inquiry
about my custom ZOOM XC USA running shoes. Although I
commend you for your prompt customer service, I disagree
with the
claim that my personal iD was inappropriate slang. After
consulting
Webster's Dictionary, I discovered that "sweatshop" is in
fact part of
standard English, and not slang. The word means: "a shop
or factory in
which workers are employed for long hours at low wages and
under
unhealthy conditions" and its origin dates from 1892. So
my personal
iD does meet the criteria detailed in your first email. Your
web site
advertises that the NIKE iD program is "about freedom to
choose and
freedom to express who you are." I share Nike's love of freedom
and
personal expression. The site also says that "If you want
it done
right...build it yourself." I was thrilled to be able to
build my own shoes,
and my personal iD was offered as a small token of appreciation
for
the sweatshop workers poised to help me realize my vision.
I hope that
you will value my freedom of expression and reconsider your
decision
to reject my order.
Thank you, Jonah Peretti
From: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
To: "'Jonah H. Peretti'"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD Customer, Regarding the rules for personalization
it
also states on the NIKE iD web site that "Nike reserves the
right to
cancel any personal iD up to 24 hours after it has been submitted".
In
addition, it further explains: "While we honor most personal
iDs, we
cannot honor every one. Some may be (or contain) other's
trademarks,
or the names of certain professional sports teams, athletes
or celebrities
that Nike does not have the right to use. Others may contain
material
that we consider inappropriate or simply do not want to place
on our
products. Unfortunately, at times this obliges us to decline
personal iDs
that may otherwise seem unobjectionable. In any event, we
will let you
know if we decline your personal iD, and we will offer you
the chance
to submit another." With these rules in mind, we cannot accept
your
order as submitted. If you wish to reorder your NIKE iD product
with
a new personalization please visit us again at www.nike.com
Thank you, NIKE iD
From: "Jonah H. Peretti"
To: "Personalize, NIKE iD"
Subject: RE: Your NIKE iD order o16468000
Dear NIKE iD, Thank you for the time and energy you have spent
on
my request. I have decided to order the shoes with a different
iD, but I
would like to make one small request. Could you please send
me a
color snapshot of the ten-year-old Vietnamese girl who makes
my
shoes?
Thanks,
Jonah Peretti
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