It’s been a tumultuous few weeks in the world, to say the least. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, there has been social unrest, injustices among many marginalized groups, and cries for change across the nation. There is a movement happening like I’ve never seen before in my life. Although we’re all still working towards understanding what reform looks like, there has been an immense wave of action and support from my friends, our community, and the world at large. This is what inspired me to try to make an impact myself.
I started by sharing Instagram stories, as my peers did, but eventually lost steam. That medium didn’t work well for me, so I started looking for other methods to show my support. I’ve learned that there are many ways to be an ally. Some make art and donate their proceeds. Others create petitions and raise awareness. At the end of the day, we all have the same goal, but find our own meaningful ways to contribute. This is important because the value is in continued support, not just to participate in a short-term trend. If you have an avenue in which you find value in as well, you are more likely to continue your activism. For me, that avenue was baking. A friend tagged me in a call to action to participate in the nationwide Bakers Against Racism bake sale and I jumped on board.
Initially, I was going to sell my baked goods alone, just advertising to my friends in San Francisco. In a matter of a few weeks and coordination with fellow Bay Area bakers on Instagram, it turned into a formal stand at the Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. For those not familiar with SF, this is THE farmer’s market to visit, and thus, the best market to sell at. I had a stint at this farmer’s market back in high school, working at a raw, vegan, gluten-free food stand so I was familiar with the audience that this market attracted. I was stoked by the opportunity to be back working at this market, AND that I would be selling my own baked goods (a home baker’s dream)!
The market was a huge success and we sold out of 90% of our baked goods by 12:30pm / 1pm. After tallying up the profits, we raised a total of $3492.36, including donations. With company matching of $2:1 from a friend, this resulted in an impact of $10,000+ towards organizations supporting Black Lives Matter! The profits were split up based on personal preference to these organizations: Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, The Bail Project, We the Protestors, and NAACP.
I’m still blown away by the enormous impact we had. Maybe to some reading this, it seems like a measly sum. But as I had planned to just sell a few hundred dollars worth of baked goods on my own, $10,000 as a collective effort is a big leap forward. And putting the money aside for a minute, this bake sale also brought the community together. I met a few new baker friends in the Bay Area, reconnected with many high school friends who dropped by, and encountered many locals who were thrilled to support the cause.
A big catalyst for me to take a more proactive stance came from an article or Instagram post I read. It went along the lines of:
2020 will be in the history books without a doubt. When you grow older and your children and grandchildren ask what you did during this time, how you helped shape history, what will you say?
That got me thinking of matching my actions to my words and values. Up until that point, I had only shared a few Instagram stories and signed a few petitions. These seemed embarrassingly insignificant for me to be proud of in the future. I hope this doesn’t come across as performative activism because truthfully, only I would be let down by my apathy. Instead, this was a means for me to question my integrity. If I really cared and wanted to show support, I had to take action. If I’m not proud of what I’ve done so far, I haven’t done enough.
I pose this question now to you. In five, ten years, when you look back on this period in your life, what will you have to say for it? Did you do enough?
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