Ethical Business Pioneer Roddick
I don't usually do obituaries or tributes, but since a precedent was set (Lord Deedes) while the reins for this blog were handed over during my recent Venetian break, I thought I would reproduce a Church Times interview of relevance to this blog's themes with Body Shop founder and Fair Trade supporter, Dame Anita Roddick, who died yesterday aged 64 after a major brain haemorrhage. I particularly commend the final two paragraphs to you:
Speaking to the Church Times, ahead of coming to the Festival in 2004 for the second year running, Dame Anita said: “What’s wonderful about being my age is having to face your prejudices."Source: Greenbelt Festivals
And she continued: "I had no idea how big Greenbelt was. I had no idea how organised it was; how free it was; how joyful it was. And I had no idea that there was such a strong activist, trade justice plank in its platform."
“It’s really hard, when you have had your antennae up for most of these movements, to have completely ignored it. I have fallen for the zeitgeist that says anybody who has a religious inclination has no sense of rationale or intellectual understanding and therefore should be dismissed."
“I am cheering the Greenbelt festival from the top of every bloody mountain…for me, it’s like a heartbeat. And it’s youth. I’m ashamed of my bloody prejudices, but I’m delighted to be a convert. I find it wonderful.”
1 comments:
I discovered the untimely passing of Anita Roddick when logging onto my e-mail this morning. As someone who is an empowered survivor of domestic violence, an activist within the US domestic violence awareness and prevention community, and a staunch believer in non-compromised economic empowerment for women, Dame Roddick, through example, inspired me to develop a nature and fine art photography business (Hummingbird Studios), in addition to creating an emerging non-profit organization (Esperanza! A Woman's Hope) whose mission is to economically empower survivors of domestic violence. Although I never met her personally, her passion and convictions have existed as a perpetual source of support and inspiration to me.
You will be missed, Anita!
Peace and Joy to your Celestial Spirit, for you are surely soaring with the Angels!
Phyllis Walker
Owner: Hummingbird Studios Photography
Founder: Esperanza! A Woman’s Hope, Inc.
PO Box 384
Lovejoy, GA 30250
USA
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