SLAVERY
IN Supply Chains a Clarion Call to Procurement By Ronald Hedley
In 1833, a sixteen-year-old slave from Maryland was sent to work for a poor farmer and self-proclaimed slave-breaker named Edward Covey. True to his reputation, Covey beat the boy regularly. The sixteen-year-old slave was nearly broken. But on one memorable occasion, as Covey began to beat him, the young slave fought back. The struggle lasted more than two hours until Covey, bloodied and humiliated, gave up the fight. Covey never tried to beat the young slave again. In his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, author, orator, statesman and abolitionist Frederick Douglass shared the significance of standing up to his cruel overseer: “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood. It recalled the departed self-confidence, and inspired me again with a determination to be free.
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“ Are we helpless? Can anything
be done to reduce slavery in factories, fishing boats, and sweatshops? Can we stop the exploitation of children? Dillon is certainly trying.” – Hedley
The gratification afforded by the triumph was a full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death itself.” Justin Dillon is an entrepreneur, musician, director, producer, and like Douglass, Dillon is an author, orator, and (modern-day) abolitionist. His book, A Selfish Plan to Change the World, is a must read for all procurement professionals. In Selfish Plan, Dillon writes about how he learned of twenty-first century slavery (forced labor, human trafficking, the abuses of child labor) and what he has done about it since. He writes about how his lifelong mission, his “soul dream,” was realized, and he writes about how you, dear reader, can also change the world.
