| Your Impact is Global | The empowerment of artisans is one of our core tenets - whether cutting out middlemen, providing access to 0% interest microcredit, or giving artisans a global platform to sell their goods and tell their stories.
As the national and international conversation has shifted to racial equality, many of our artisans around the world have had first-hand experiences dealing with racial injustice.
This week we’re sharing stories. One of the most profound we’ve received is the fable below from highly-regarded jewelry maker, poet, and storyteller Ralph Ashong in Ghana. It made us pause and think.
Together, we are capable of great change. | |  | | The master storyteller gathered the crowd and said... | This is the story of Atta, a young black man with ancestral origins from Ghana in West Africa. He lives in a neighborhood across the world. He is a pet lover although he does not own a pet. It is his daily ritual to feed the stray dogs and cats as well as birds and squirrels in his neighborhood.
A few days into the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, Atta was picked up by the police while he was feeding his "pet family" of dogs, cats, birds and squirrels. In a natural reflex of surprise, anger and indignation, all the animals followed the car to the police station.
The dogs were howling while the birds chirped at an ear-breaking pitch. "What's happening here?" the police officers and others asked.
Atongo, the parrot replied, "We are here to protest the arrest of our black benefactor on whom our lives depend." A large crowd of people had gathered at the police station to satisfy their curiosity. Animals on a solidarity march? Incredible!
Then two dogs spread out a rolled sheet of paper that read: "Black Lives Matter." Atongo, the parrot continued to address the bewildered audience,
"Folks, the truth is that our lives as stray pets and wildlife have depended on this black man, Atta. Indeed, if you humans refuse to admit it, we say unequivocally that BLACK LIVES MATTER.”
Speechless indeed was the mood as these animals preached this all-important truism... Black Lives Matter.
My hope is that we can all live peacefully and in UNITY, PEACE and HARMONY by respecting, accepting, and supporting each other regardless of race, color or creed.
Thank you for reading my story.
In the spirit of “Different colors, One people” the song of late South African reggae star Lucky Dube, I send to you my deepest wish of harmony and unity for all peoples of the world. | | | | This week, 25% of sales from Ralph’s collection will be donated to Black Girls Code, an organization dedicated to giving young and pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills in technology and computer programming. | | | | | |
