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Callen Thompson : Giving Back

As a part of our collaboration, Callen is generously donating her proceeds to benefit two worth causes, the United Farm Workers, and Sundance Harvest.  Scroll down to learn more from Callen about these righteous causes and their special place in her heart.

united farm workers

The theme of my two donations is the earth.

During quarantine, I've found the natural world has healed me best: moments in the mountains outside LA, times spent with my hands in the dirt gardening in my yard. This planet is intricate. It's gorgeous. It's sacred. And it's way more magnificent and unpredictable, as well as quietly present, than anything manmade. So, my donations go to people who are connected to the earth and our food systems, the United Farm Workers, and Sundance Harvest.

united farm workers

Why the United Farm Workers?

Driving from San Francisco to visit my friend Roni in Joshua Tree (@verokolt originally from Austin) I saw a sign on the side of the road for Cesar Chavez National Monument. My wife and I needed a rest stop, the dogs needed water, and my social justice heart always needs more chances to support labor rights. 

So we got off the highway and drove down a narrow dusty two lane road into a mountainy corner of the desert landscape. Down a driveway and we were there. The homestead and small museum grounds pulsed and glowed with kindness, respect, and reverence for workers' rights.

20% of my sales from this show go to the United Farm Workers, the labor union Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded in 1962. I'm inspired by the ideals that Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta espoused, giving their time, energy and efforts for the good of others. Cesar Chavez was instrumental in leading the Delano Grape Strike, which included him marching 300 miles from Delano in the Central Valley of CA to Sacramento. He also fasted for 25 days, losing 35 pounds and endangering his life, to press table and wine grape growers for the living wage and benefits they owed farm workers. That's baller. That's the fervor we all could be using to effect change. Because of Chavez and Huerta's efforts, the Delano grape boycott spread, expanding across the US and Canada, uniting field and farm workers of diverse backgrounds, until families across North America started boycotting table grapes, teaching their children this powerful social justice lesson about ethical payment for worker. Finally, five years after it started, the boycott met success in 1970. The growers relented and signed union contracts giving workers better pay, benefits, and protections. 

 

Sundance harvest

 

Another 20% of my sales in this show will fund Sundance Harvest's "Growing in the Margins" mentorship for BIPOC, low income, and or disabled-idenfitied youth to learn how to start their own urban farms. Sundance Harvest is a youth and femme-led food justice focused urban farm in Toronto, Canada. I recommend checking out their joyous Instagram: @sundanceharvest They represent the future world I hope for everyone to get to live in- strong connection to the earth and its bounty, joy, and community building.
 
Here's to all of us taking action to reconstruct this pulverized world into a rich art piece of equality and rational societal structures that elevate people and restore balance to the land.
 

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