The title of this post was going to be “Why I Am Not Going To Be Boycotting On February 28th” but then decided that wasn’t entirely true so let’s see if this title is more apt.
I have been reading the book, Southern Food and Civil Rights: Feeding The Revolution by Frederick Douglas Opie for a few years now. I say that because I probably bought it around the time it was published (2017) and have slowly been enjoying the text, photos and recipes without actually having read it cover to cover.
From home cooks and professional chefs to local eateries and bakeries, food has helped activists continue marching for change for generations. Paschal’s restaurant in Atlanta provided safety and comfort food for civil rights leaders. Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam operated their own farms, dairies and bakeries in the 1960s. “The Sandwich Brigade” organized efforts to feed the thousands at the March on Washington. Author Fred Opie details the ways southern food nourished the fight for freedom, along with cherished recipes associated with the era.
Frederick Douglass Opie is a professor of history and foodways at Babson College and the author of Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America; Black Labor Migration in Caribbean Guatemala, 1882-1923; Upsetting the Apple Cart: Black and Latino Coalitions in New York From Protest to Public Office; and Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food: Recipes, Remedies and Simple Pleasures. Opie is a regular contributor on the radio show The Splendid Table.
In the last few weeks there have been announcements for boycotts of companies in an effort to have our voices heard in a capitalistic country where dollar signs are king. There is a large one coming up on February 28th, a “No Buy” day with smaller ones following targeting individual companies.
All of these are good in themselves, I don’t want to to disparage these efforts. However, throughout the history of boycotts it has taken weeks if not months to have an impact on businesses enough for them to change their practices.
The Montgomery Bus Boycotts took some 13 months before change was made. Communities came up with entire transportation systems to get those boycotting to their jobs and homes via personal cars and if not, they walked. Bake sales and catering helped fund their efforts.
Many other boycotts and strikes in the 1930s (Great Depression) and 1950s to 1960s (civil rights) over equal hiring practices, fair employee treatment and desegregation of restaurants and stores (mostly by Black Americans) were targeted protests over a span of time, not just one day of inconvenience. And it is important to remember that their early efforts are why we even have the precedent in the courts for protesting today.
I do plan to honor the boycott that day but not because it will be any kind of statement but rather those are the habits I have already been working on. Like many people, I have been trying to slowly divest myself of many of these corporations led by billionaires that do not have our country’s best interest in mind. I remember the history lessons in school around monopolies!
For example, I gave up Amazon Prime last summer. Not that I had had it more than a few years and the amount I spent would not even register on Amazon’s radar, but it meant something to me. Turns out I can still find everything I was buying there locally or directly from the business online. Does it sometimes cost more? Sure, but I am also not paying Amazon over $100 a year so I consider it a wash.
I also intentionally took every Amazon link off this website and chose links that go directly to the business or another source I feel good about supporting. If you find one I missed let me know.
I shop thrift stores and my local co-op grocery, participate in my neighborhood’s Buy Nothing group, have a garden, knit and sew, and simply try to buy less overall. The more of us with these options who can do so, the more impact we will have than a one day boycott. Today I walked down to the farmer’s market we have here and bought a few things, farmer’s markets are resistance!
I shop local first. I search for diverse small businesses, the website The Intentionalist is great for this. They has turned me on to some really great businesses and restaurants, especially when visiting downtown Seattle. It is based here in the Pacific Northwest but you may find something similar where you are. Even the US Chamber of Commerce is jumping on the “shop small business” bandwagon.
I also added the Goods Unite Us app to my phone and use it when I need to shop by patronizing businesses that support causes I believe in. You would be surprised to know how much money businesses are contributing to politicians and parties. Hello, with money we give them! I have learned the app is a jumping off point and you do have to dig a little deeper into the information they share. Sometimes their assessment is based on specific employees and not the company as a whole.
So, if you are of a mind to spend like it matters (or not spend because it matters), contemplate how you might turn one day into a life long habit of putting your money where your intentions are. If not for you directly, than for those who could use your support.
If you are already doing some of these things, let me know what is working for you. I am always looking for ways to up my game!
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