CLOSE THE GAP

CLOSE THE GAP

by Keith Giles


On Dec.16th, 2007, hundreds of young people will gather at Gap Stores around the country to give back their GAP, Inc. clothing in order to protest the retail chain's slave labor practices.

"December 16th is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party," said J.R., organizer of the planned protest. "We want to make a similar statement, as young people who have helped Gap build their clothing empire with our clothing purchases, that we no longer want to buy our clothes from an organization that supports or employs child slaves to produce their products."

The planned event will involve hundreds of young protesters who are encouraged to bring all of their Gap, Inc. clothes items (which include Bannanna Republic and Old Navy) to the nearest Gap store and drop them on the front doorstep with a note to the owners that they will no longer support the retail chain or purchase their clothes.

"We want to give back our Gap, Inc. clothes because we are so repulsed at their use of children as slaves, who are forced to create their clothing under penalty of torture and abuse. This is our generation's Boston Tea Party. This is a statement against the exploitation of children. We will not participate in this atrocity," said J.R.

The Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher, who is one of America's wealthiest businessmen. Last year the firm embarked on a huge poster and TV campaign for Product Red, a charitable trust to help fight AIDS and treat other diseases in Africa.


The Product Red Campaign was launched by U2 singer Bono and backed by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, film director Steven Spielberg and actress Penelope Cruz.

The irony is that Gap, Inc. participated in the Red Campaign by selling branded products to raise awareness about the needs of the World's poorest and oppressed, even though their own products were created by poor, oppressed children who had no voice and often work for no pay.

For more info on the "Send Gap Clothes Back" Protest on Dec.16th go here:
http://www.sendgapclothesback.com/



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More on the topic of Gap's use of child slavery -


"GAP SLAVE KIDS?"
by Dan McDougall

EXPOSED: 10-year-old, unpaid workers who help clothing giants make billions.
Children as young as ten years old are being sold into slavery by poverty-stricken parents to churn out cheap, embroidered clothes for fashion chain Gap.


A News of the World investigation uncovered the scandal of sweatshop kids who work for abosolutely nothing in India's capital, New Delhi.


After talking to frightened youngsters as they laboured to produce goods in time for the lucrative Christmas season, we can reveal they are:

*Forced to work without pay for up to 19 hours a day in the stifling heat.
*Beaten with a rubber pipe if they cry or protest.
*Kept in stinking, poorly-lit sweatshops running with raw sewage and
*Branded with tattoos which bond them to their greedy bosses.


When we confronted horrified Gap chiefs with our findings, they immediately vowed to withdraw tens of thousands of their embroidered children's smock tops produced by sweatshop labour before they even reach the stores.


But the news will bring little comfort to ten-year-old Amitosh who was sold for around 1,000 rupees—just £10. Ironically, his name means Happiness in Hindi.

(more in lnk)
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/2810_gap_slave_kids.shtml

I will be joining the protest here in Costa Mesa, California at the Gap Store in Triangle Square.

Those who wish to join me or want to learn more can contact me via e-mail at
elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com


Let's start a Boston Tea Party of our own and make a statement against child slavery and the companies who make a profit on the backs of innocent kids.


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