For Happy’s birthday, we asked partygoers to forego gifts. In our desire to celebrate Abram’s culture and his family of origin, we decided to contribute to Ethiopia Reads, a non-profit whose mission is to create a reading culture in Ethiopia (among their many programs is a Donkey Mobile Library. How cool is that) and so we let our partygoers know that if they really couldn’t bear to not give something, we would love for them to also contribute to Ethiopia Reads. Our partygoers were amazing, together giving more than $250 to Ethiopia Reads. We sent every family home with Fire on the Mountain, a children’s book based in Ethiopia, written by Jane Kurtz.
When I compiled checks to send to Ethiopia Reads, I went digging in my stationary box for something to write an accompanying note on it. All my stationary was gone (oops, time to refill the coffers, except for a card, written, designed, and sold by the Syracuse Cultural Workers, that I bought more than ten years ago. And the card and it’s message couldn’t have been more appropriate. I loved reading it again ten years later and wanted to share the message with you, too, since all of you are such intentional global citizens. A little food for thought on Inspired Tuesday.
HOW TO BUILD GLOBAL COMMUNIY
Think of no one as “them”
Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety
Talk to strangers
Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels
Listen to music you don’t understand*Dance to it
Act Locally
Notice the workings of power & privilege in your culture
Question consumption
Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up
and smell the exploitation
Look for fair trade and union labels
Help build economies from the bottom up
Acquire few needs
Learn a second(or third) language
Visit people,places, and cultures – not tourist attractions
Learn people’s history*Re-define progress
Know physical and political geography
Play games from other cultures*Watch films with subtitles
Know your heritage
Honor everyone’s holidays
Look at the moon and imagine someone else,
Somewhere else, looking at it too
Read the UNs Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Understand the global economy in terms of
people, land, and water
Know where your bank banks
Never believe you have the right to anyone else’s resources
Refuse to wear corporate logos: defy corporate domination
Question military/corporate connections
Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money
Have a pen/email pal*Honor indigenous cultures
Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs
Be skeptical about what you read
Eat adventurously*Enjoy vegetables,
Beans and grains in your diet
Choose curiosity over certainty
Know where your water comes from
and where your wastes go
Pledge allegiance to the earth; question nationalism
Think South, Central, and North-
There are many Americans
Assume that many others share your dreams
Know that no one is silent though many are not heard
Work to change this
