Here are two videos from our work on the Tibetan Freedom Concerts that we pulled out the vaults. (And yes, that IS Deyden making a cameo appearance in the first!)

This is not the first time we've talked about movement building + making through film, but I did want to draw attention to the work of Sandi Dubowski and his film about Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, Trembling before G-d. This movie worked the normal circuit of festivals and theatrical releases, but also turned those theaters into town hall meetings. In conference and nonprofit settings, it used the culturally sophisticated medium of film to spur conversations that many in Jewish institutions had resisted.

Amazingly, Sandi estimates that 8 million people have viewed it. This kind of scale is incredible for documentary films, but even more interesting to measure would be the depth of the experience measurements (more on this later) that movie goers have had. It is obvious that many are deeply changed by their experience with the film. Indeed, after years of intense discussion and debate, the Conservative Movement made a bold and historic policy change: legalizing the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis and the ability to perform same-sex unions.

Find out more about Trembling before G-d here.

A recent New York Times article, "Love It? Check the Label" (by Alex Williams on September 6, 2007) caught my eye. Finally people are paying some attention to what we have been talking about.

Checking the label of every item before purchase has been a way of life. It wasn't a patriotic thing but a human rights thing. Being Tibetan and active in the human rights movement we were well aware of how China met cheap labor demands with prison labor (many of them political prisoners) and grossly under payed workers. But back then one had more options to products made elsewhere.

Not so anymore -- it seems like everything is made in China now. Since our Tibetan Freedom Concert days (starting in 1996) to present we have watched some of our favorite fashion designers, ones that were active in the Tibet movement and our Check Your Tags coalition: Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, Todd Oldham and many more, move their production to China. Of course they were not the only ones. Everyone went. Now the tides seem to be turning and as more recalls are made on Chinese made products I have to say...it is about time.

Alex Williams notes how those who are choosing to produce their products fairly do so at a premium:

American high-fashion designers who do make clothes domestically tend to be too small, or in the case of Oscar de la Renta and Nicole Miller, willing to pay a premium in labor costs in order to maintain strict quality control.

But these brands have yet to exploit the cachet of “Made in the U.S.A.” in their marketing, in the way that some non-runway labels have seized upon. The designer Steven Alan, for one, while avoiding the Bryant Park tents, makes his distinctive rumpled dress shirts, which sell for $168, in factories in the United States, many in New York City. His “Made in the U.S.A.” labels include an embroidered American flag, which he said helps send a subtle message to his target consumer — downtown, hip, discerning — that his clothes are not just another mass-market knock-off from Asia.

Again, it all comes at a price. As a consumer I love a bargain just as much as my fellow shopper but I also am open to paying what it costs to make things right. These days we try to buy from labels that are in line with our values. When Erin and I started our on-line store and product brand we knew we wanted to carry designers and produce products that respected all those involved in the process. We want to see what it takes to produce things right and try to pass that value and story on to our customers.