There hasn't been a tea this revolutionary since 1773!
This past Independence Day had us thinking about what it means to be an American. And we've been thinking about what it meant to be an American in Kenya in 2008 when we started Ajiri. In 2008, to be an American was to be generous. Following Kenya’s 2007-08 election violence, the U.S. provided millions in emergency relief. In 2008, the U.S. was still a beacon for democracy and free speech. It was right around this time that It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower was published. This true story followed John Githongo, a Kenyan whistleblower who exposed the deep corruption of the Kenyan president. He had to flee to Britain following death threats. You couldn’t buy the book in Kenya, but you could buy it in the U.S. And it was right around this time that there was such hope. “Yes we can!” was chanted on the streets in Kenya. People couldn’t believe that Obama, a black man, let alone a man of Kenyan descent, could rise to the Oval Office.
It is in this spirit of generosity, freedom, and opportunity that we operate Ajiri Tea. To be an American, to us, is to share our incredible opportunity with others. What is patriotism? Eleanor Roosevelt summed up our attitude at Ajiri when she said, “True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth.”
And so, this July, deep in grief for the devolving of U.S. democracy, we are also deep in conviction to support communities in rural Kenya. We will continue to share our good fortunes with others. We will continue to run Ajiri Tea throughout this tariff madness. We will continue to run Ajiri until we can’t. Running Ajiri is a type of protest in this constricting capitalist world. If to grieve means to have loved, then to protest means to hope.
Thank you for fighting the good fight alongside us. Every box of tea is a vote for a more equal and more hopeful world for all.
With persistence,
Kate and Sara
Check out our revolutionary tea shirts! It only took us 15 years to make some merch!
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And with each of these rituals, in each of these small moments over the next few weeks, our heart aches. We want our Ajiri scholars to feel these small moments of love as they go to school. We want there to be someone to drop them off at school and embarrass them with a hug. We want there to be someone waiting at home to talk to them. We want them to feel frustrated when their parents try to help with their physics homework.
Angela, Wesley, and Damacline were now hopelessly off course. They had managed to scale that final fence and were walking down toward a forest. I wanted to run to them, set them on the right course, explain scale and direction and how they should put the compass on the map. But instead I watched them from the top of the hill. They were now making pretend owl calls to each other, quite literally hooting from one group to another and then bursting into laughter.
See, there is this tip-toeing around issues in business. No company should align itself too "political" for fear of alienating customers. But to have opinions and emotions—well, that's just human. As a society, we've become too corporatized—too sanitized to believe that companies shouldn't have a voice. Of course politics affect our business. Tariffs on tea! The war in Iran means higher costs of shipping our tea. The elimination of USAID and its direct impact on our community in Kenya. But more so than something directly affecting us and our business, we still care about policies that affect our neighbors and people across the world.
Kate Holby
Author