poem “Ethical Thing to Do”, a poem written on the anniversary of the day of the 1781 Zong massacre, where a British slave ship crew murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance, about ethics school now mandatory in college business curriculum - not because of gender or racial issues but because of Enron and big companies lying to their investors, then reflecting of how since slaves were property there is not need to feel that dumping cargo overboard is a massacre, and in light of these injustices 10 blacks jumped overboard the Zong chip in protest, not unlike the people who jumped out of the World Trade Center Towers - possibly for ethical reasons, and how ethics ties into not only our businesses but also our personal lives, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Unwind and Revere Yourself” (written on the 4th Saturday in November, on and for International Aura Day), “Evolving with Mutant Genes” (written 11/24, on and for the 1859 publication date of the Charles Darwin book “The Origin of Species”), “Yes, For Our Future Too” (written on and for Thanksgiving), and “Ethical Thing to Do”(written 11/28, on and for the day of the 1781 Zong massacre, where a British slave ship crew murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance), read from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live during the 11/21/20 “Open Mic Showcase” (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Ethical Thing to Do” (written 11/28, on and for the day of the 1781 Zong massacre, where a British slave ship crew murders 133 Africans by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance) from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live 11/21/20 during the Open Mic Showcase Zoom meeting (video filmed and streamed with a Samsung S9 camera).

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Keep Your Chin Up”, “Opened the Door for All”, “Just so Others can Feel”, “Over Hazardous Land”, and “Ethical Thing to Do” from the cc&d November 2021 v315 issue/paperback book “Down and Inside” 11/3/21 at the performance art pavilion at the French Market in New Orleans, LA on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Keep Your Chin Up”, “Opened the Door for All”, “Just so Others can Feel”, “Over Hazardous Land”, and “Ethical Thing to Do” from the cc&d November 2021 v315 issue/paperback book “Down and Inside” 11/3/21 at the performance art pavilion at the French Market in New Orleans, LA on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Ethical Thing to Do” from the Scars Publi cations Scars Publi cations 9-12/21 cc&d issue collection book anthology “The World Outside” 3/2/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed fro a Samsung S9 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoem #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Keep Your Chin Up”, “Opened the Door for All”, “Just so Others can Feel”, “Over Hazardous Lands”, and “Ethical Thing to Do” from the Scars Publi cations 9-12/21 cc&d issue collection book anthology “The World Outside” 3/2/22 on the 1st Wednesday of the month from 1:00-3:00 PM CST during the usual time for the “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Escaping the Atmosphere Any Way we Can”, “Keeps Repeating”, and “Ethical Thing to Do” Scars Publi cations 2022 collection book “Regarding Utopia” as the ending poems for the “Poetic License global open mic 3/6/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Enjoy this Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Escaping the Atmosphere Any Way we Can”, “Keeps Repeating”, and “Ethical Thing to Do” from the Scars Publi cations 2022 collection book “Regarding Utopia” as the ending poems for the “Poetic License global open mic 3/6/22” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed & streamed from a Samsung S9 camera with a color tear filter; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoeticlicense

Ethical Thing to Do
Janet Kuypers
11/28/19, the day of the 1781 Zong massacre,
where a British slave ship crew murders 133 Africans
by dumping them into the sea to claim insurance
Today I was asked
if I knew the date
when ethics courses
became mandatory
for a business college
degree.
                I had no idea.
I then said, “It had
to be recent—”... they
nodded in agreement,
and I then thought
it probably coincided
with the Civil Rights
movement, so I guessed
at the 1950s or 60s.
                They answered,
wrong millennium,
which confused me
greatly.
                Because
the Enron scandals
of a business knowingly
lying to their investors
to give the company
an inflated worth,
that is why it was
only 2004 where
Susan Philips
led task forces
to push schools
to increase education
of ethics into business.
People losing money,
that’s what caused
this push. Not, say,
racial, or gender
reasons, ethically.
I then thought
of the day when
the crew of the
British slave ship Zong
murdered 133 Africans
by dumping them
into the sea,
to claim insurance.
It sounds horrific, I know,
but know that back then
people would fill their ships
with more slaves than
their boat could handle
to increase profits
with every trip
across the ocean.
But by the 29^th of November
in 1781, some slaves
were already sick
and dying, when
the Zong got caught
in — get this —
“the Doldrums.”
Now, seriously, this area
in the ocean is known
to have no wind at all,
so often if a ship
got stuck in
“the Doldrums,”
they would be stuck,
and run out of food
or water, and die.
Well, the Zong
got caught there,
and with dying slaves,
and having to keep
enough water for
the rest of the crew,
they thought
it made sense
if they “unloaded”
their excess “cargo”
so their crewmates
would live. Besides,
large ships like this
paid insurance
for their “cargo”
like slaves, so they
could get their money
for their “losses.”
Once the Zong
arrived in Jamaica,
they filed their claim
for their loss, for
they did not have
enough water
to save all.
                The insurance
underwriter protested,
citing that the ship
still has 420 gallons
aboard upon arrival.
Abolitionists claimed
this with the first-time
use of the word
“massacre”, but the
British Solicitor General
said slaves are
goods and property,
and it was “madness”
to accuse these
“honourable” men
of murder, because throwing
“property” overboard
“is the same as if wood
had been thrown overboard.”
Those are his words,
and those are the thoughts
of the times.
                During this trip,
10 slaves threw themselves
overboard, as an act
of protest.
                If they knew
they were going to die,
it makes me think
of the people
I remember seeing
jump out of the
World Trade Center Towers
after those terrorist
attacks in 2001.
                Did they jump
because it was the
lesser or two evils.
Or did they do it
because it was
the ethical thing to do.
                For we forget
that there’s no disconnect
when it comes to ethics,
not only in business
but also our personal lives.
It’s all on this continuum,
because our ethical choices
tie everything together.
                Some people wonder
why we’d need to teach ethics
in a business curriculum.
Then again, others wonder
why it wasn’t taught before,
after realizing how in
business ethics can be
thrown out the window —
where people forget
how desperately ethics
needs to be woven
everywhere into our lives.

my hand to an anim of jkchair