1670 New American Chocolate House: Difference between revisions

<blockquote>''To the people bringing (yet another) racist, colonial restaurant concept to Portland:<br/> (Shortened for insta/ plz repost widely)'' ''Very many people who walk by your display (2nd pic) will immediately understand that a ship of that silhouette, transporting cacao in the year 1670, would be closely connected to the trans-atlantic slave trade and likely to also transport human beings in horrific conditions. So what is the story that you are trying to tell us by using this as your branding?'' ''There are no excuses in this day and age for such complete erasure of historical context. The year 1670, my collaborators and I learned through minor research, was the year a public house was opened to sell chocolate in the (“New American”) colonies of what is now the United States. That may have seemed like a cute reference for your business; less cute is that the same exact year marks the ignition of a stark rise in the enslavement of Africans for cacao production to meet the rising demand of this new market. Slavery has in fact remained ingrained in the cacao industry all the way to the African child laborers of the 20th and 21st centuries.<br/> Let’s not forget that the cacao plantations and chocolate houses that inspire this brand were on land stolen from indigenous peoples in a period of ongoing and systematic genocide up and down the American continents. &nbsp;And that the land we are on today is also stolen; and that Native people today are still violently and systematically oppressed.'' ''As artists and community members we felt compelled to resist the erasure of all this context; we could not passively support the giddy perpetuation of wealth built on violence that your window display flaunts. So, we adjusted the display to create an opportunity for truth and learning; a potential site for collective dialogue.'' ''If the full truth of the time and industry your brand celebrates does not suit you, I eagerly hope you find a name and concept that have a different story to tell about why your business belongs in our community.'' ''Sincerely,<br/> Molly Alloy'' ''#decolonize<br/> #decolonizethisplace<br/> #colonialchocolate<br/> #knowyourhistory<br/> #doyourreasearch<br/> #portlandstreetart<br/> #endchocolateslavery @ The Rodney''</blockquote> ▼