Good news...the kids have agreed to cover a more appropriate song from a conservative icon and patriot.
I went out on a boat trip with a group of friends and friends of friends last summer. They kept playing this song over and over. I was ready to chuck the speaker overboard or jump myself at one point.
A film about a Black first grader who integrated an all-White elementary school in the South is under review in a Florida school district after a parent objected to the movieâs use of slurs and argued it could teach students that âWhite people hate Black people,â
Shouldn't teach students that many white people hated black people back then and that you shouldn't be like them. sigh.
They should have definitely done Lee Greenwood's God Bless the USA because that's the only song kids should sing ever.
I'm listening to "Devil in the White City" - which is fascinating, although the author does take some Albert Goldman-like liberties with his narrative. But, my point is that in this book that intertwines the true stories of the development of the Chicago World's Fair with a serial killer and how they intersect...he points out a lot of little things that I wasn't aware of. One being how, to paint the buildings, they invented spray painting.
The other was how this was the period that as a part of a promotion of the Fair and wanting to engage children in every classroom around the nation, they reworked a previous pledge into the Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't know this. Kinda one of those things you have a sense was around forever.
The Tallahassee school is a public charter institution that focuses on classical learning, a teaching philosophy centered on a traditional Western liberal arts education that aims to impart critical thinking skills children can use throughout their lives. Classical learning is also popular within the Christian homeschooling movement.
An aside: we went to Italy and were walking through this museum. The Rick Steves audio tour took us to the hallway where the David was and, yards away, we both stood there staring - awestruck. It was so much different, seeing it in person. Something truly amazing. Like being next to the Grand Canyon instead of seeing pictures.
An aside: we went to Italy and were walking through this museum. The Rick Steves audio tour took us to the hallway where the David was and, yards away, we both stood there staring - awestruck. It was so much different, seeing it in person. Something truly amazing. Like being next to the Grand Canyon instead of seeing pictures.
This is the type of ESG language and corp priorities that make some righties nuts. I mean, do you blame them? Look at this from Nordstrom annual report, crazy stuff right?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & BelongingOur commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is key to our mission of helping our customers feel good and look their best. We believe in equity throughout the retail industry and aim to use our resources, influence and platform to foster greater representation of diversity from all our communities. Over the past several years, weâve amplified our efforts in this area and set specific ambitions to achieve by the end of 2025, which include:
â¢Delivering $500 million in retail sales from brands owned by, operated by or designed by Black and/or Latinx individuals
â¢Aiming to increase representation of Black and Latinx individuals in people-manager roles by at least 50% on average
â¢Leveraging our internship program and other initiatives to help us reach qualified candidates early in their careers, with an ambition on average of at least 50% of participants in these programs coming from underrepresented populations
To lead and drive this work, we have operationalized diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging through consistent review with executive managemnt.
As part of these ongoing efforts, we have several internal initiatives underway to facilitate a sense of belonging and connection among our teams. One way we do this is through our employee-led, Company-sponsored Employee Resource Groups, which represent a variety of seen and unseen identities. In 2022, eight groups served and were led by our employees, providing company-wide programming to advance understanding and celebrate voices from across our organization.
In 2022, we expanded and strengthened our talent pipelines in collaboration with the OneTen Coalition and in partnership with Morehouse College, where we supported the launch of a new product management track. Starting in the spring 2023 semester, Nordstrom leaders and technologists will teach and mentor students enrolled in the program.
We believe we have a responsibility to support the communities where we operate. Our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy set in 2020 includes five-year goals focused on environmental sustainability, human rights and corporate philanthropy. In 2022, we made meaningful progress in these areas. Specific highlights include:
â¢Environmental Sustainability: We expanded our BEAUTYCYCLE program to Nordstrom Rack stores. This program allows us to accept beauty packaging waste materials that typically canât be placed in curbside recycling bins. Through BEAUTYCYCLE, we took back more than 25 tons of beauty packaging in 2022, compared with five tons in 2021. We also began replacing our plastic Nordstrom Rack shopping bags with paper bags in support of our goal to reduce single-use plastic in our value chain by 50%.
â¢Human Rights: We are committed to creating safe and fair workplaces for the people who make our products. Our human rights due diligence program is based on international standards, and the foundation of our human rights program is designed around third-party impact assessments and supported by our Partner Code of Conduct and relevant policies and programs, all of which were strengthened during the year and are assessed and improved cyclically. As a part of our human rights due diligence, we audit factories that make Nordstrom Made products for compliance with our Partner Code of Conduct and implement corrective action plans where necessary.
â¢Womenâs Rights: We hit a milestone: almost 50% of Nordstrom Made products were produced in factories that offer womenâs empowerment training, bringing us closer to our goal of producing 90% of Nordstrom Made products in factories that invest in womenâs empowerment by 2025.
â¢Charitable Giving: We donated over $12 million to over 270 organizations located in the communities where we do business. Our employees gave to over 2,900 nonprofits, which we supported with 100% matching. Together with our customers and our employees, we used our platform to drive about $16 million in nonprofit donations based in the U.S. and Canada.
Please show the LAWS they have introduced to marginalize the rights of righties.
ESG policies may be irritating, but they are far more benign than passing laws banning discussion of periods, book banning, don't say gay, restrictions on internal organs of one gender, what a teacher may say in a classroom, drag story time, and AGAINST companies that promote ESG policies. Here in Texas, if you don't like guns and oil, you don't do business here. Teacher retirement and State worker retirement pensions will suffer.
Agreed, the ESG policies can and do go overboard, yet remaining as company culture does NOT affect everyone else. Making LAW based on bias and control is quite another. This is where the critique is unequal.
This is the type of ESG language and corp priorities that make some righties nuts. I mean, do you blame them? Look at this from Nordstrom annual report, crazy stuff right?
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & BelongingOur commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is key to our mission of helping our customers feel good and look their best. We believe in equity throughout the retail industry and aim to use our resources, influence and platform to foster greater representation of diversity from all our communities. Over the past several years, weâve amplified our efforts in this area and set specific ambitions to achieve by the end of 2025, which include:
â¢Delivering $500 million in retail sales from brands owned by, operated by or designed by Black and/or Latinx individuals
â¢Aiming to increase representation of Black and Latinx individuals in people-manager roles by at least 50% on average
â¢Leveraging our internship program and other initiatives to help us reach qualified candidates early in their careers, with an ambition on average of at least 50% of participants in these programs coming from underrepresented populations
To lead and drive this work, we have operationalized diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging through consistent review with executive managemnt.
As part of these ongoing efforts, we have several internal initiatives underway to facilitate a sense of belonging and connection among our teams. One way we do this is through our employee-led, Company-sponsored Employee Resource Groups, which represent a variety of seen and unseen identities. In 2022, eight groups served and were led by our employees, providing company-wide programming to advance understanding and celebrate voices from across our organization.
In 2022, we expanded and strengthened our talent pipelines in collaboration with the OneTen Coalition and in partnership with Morehouse College, where we supported the launch of a new product management track. Starting in the spring 2023 semester, Nordstrom leaders and technologists will teach and mentor students enrolled in the program.
We believe we have a responsibility to support the communities where we operate. Our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy set in 2020 includes five-year goals focused on environmental sustainability, human rights and corporate philanthropy. In 2022, we made meaningful progress in these areas. Specific highlights include:
â¢Environmental Sustainability: We expanded our BEAUTYCYCLE program to Nordstrom Rack stores. This program allows us to accept beauty packaging waste materials that typically canât be placed in curbside recycling bins. Through BEAUTYCYCLE, we took back more than 25 tons of beauty packaging in 2022, compared with five tons in 2021. We also began replacing our plastic Nordstrom Rack shopping bags with paper bags in support of our goal to reduce single-use plastic in our value chain by 50%.
â¢Human Rights: We are committed to creating safe and fair workplaces for the people who make our products. Our human rights due diligence program is based on international standards, and the foundation of our human rights program is designed around third-party impact assessments and supported by our Partner Code of Conduct and relevant policies and programs, all of which were strengthened during the year and are assessed and improved cyclically. As a part of our human rights due diligence, we audit factories that make Nordstrom Made products for compliance with our Partner Code of Conduct and implement corrective action plans where necessary.
â¢Womenâs Rights: We hit a milestone: almost 50% of Nordstrom Made products were produced in factories that offer womenâs empowerment training, bringing us closer to our goal of producing 90% of Nordstrom Made products in factories that invest in womenâs empowerment by 2025.
â¢Charitable Giving: We donated over $12 million to over 270 organizations located in the communities where we do business. Our employees gave to over 2,900 nonprofits, which we supported with 100% matching. Together with our customers and our employees, we used our platform to drive about $16 million in nonprofit donations based in the U.S. and Canada.
