NDN Girls Book Club is making some Motherchunkin’ Change! — Introducing our new Ben and Jerry’s Partnership!

NDN Girls Book Club is making some Motherchunkin’ Change! — Introducing our new Ben and Jerry’s Partnership!

 

Native people are not lactose tolerant.

They say that what makes us extraordinary is our resilience, and that extends to the way that Native people in their glorious lactose intolerance, choose to– nay, go out of their way to eat dairy anyways. Cheese (for your NDN Taco), milk (for your frybread), butter (for your corn, tortillas, and moose jerky), and most importantly— ICE CREAM!

         I love a good scoop. As I have grown older I have lost the taste for eating my ice cream in cones but no, that has not stopped me from decimating a pint here and there. Better yet, I have always been a fan of the good ol’ scoop of vanilla in a bowl with chocolate syrup and crystal (pink) sprinkles over the top. That’s why I love going to the grocery store and the gas station where you are able to find little pints of ice cream without having to buy the big birthday party size gallon of neapolitan.

         I remember when I first noticed Ben and Jerry’s ice cream on the shelves on my little Walmart on the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache (KCA) territory in southern Oklahoma. It was hard to miss with its pasture printed on the outside of the pint: white fluffy clouds go around the edges of the cup, a big cow up the side, a nice green landscape of grass. I must have been about 13 when I first noticed them, but I did not actually start eating Ben and Jerry’s until college. I love all things chocolate-y, brownie-ish, and cookie dough in substance. I remember being mind blown when I first tried their Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor (if you’ve ever seen Ratatouille where all the colors explode behind the rats when they eat new flavors…it was kind of like that).

         Around that same time I noticed Ben and Jerry’s in the stores, I was also starting to notice problems that were becoming impossible to remain unnoticed. Intergenerational trauma, lack of representation in our curriculum at school, in our TV shows and movies, a lack of opportunity for things that I was interested in: traveling, reading the latest books, getting to visit conventions and conferences like other schools were able to. As I grew older, it became clear that the issues in my home community were not singular, that so many other people from different Native communities were experiencing the same thing.

         This experience is what led Kinsale to create NDN Girls Book Club. This experience is what drew us together years ago and what has kept our work here at the book club so grounded. We believe that through our books, our writing, storytelling, and amplification of Native voices and tradition, we can do our part in alleviating the issues that face so many of our communities. We are so grateful to have had the chance to build a platform that elevates the values of community, service, alliance, and love.

         It makes the collaborations we have with others we find along this process that much more fulfilling, especially when they are mission driven.

         There is a tagline, large and proud, on the home page of Ben and Jerry’s website and it reads: We love making ice cream - but using our business to make the world a better place gives our work its meaning’ — so many might not know this but this company has been vocal about so many human rights and social justice issues, as well as issues afflicting our Indigenous communities. From barriers in Native American voting, to calling out the illegal seizure of Tunkasila Sakpe, and now— supporting NDN Girls Book Club!

We are pumppppped to announce that book club has been included in Ben and Jerry’s new Progress Comes in Many Flavors Campaign - Make Some Motherchunkin’ Change! This marks Ben & Jerry's first major brand focused campaign in almost a decade, the campaign taps into the ethos behind the company's decades long heritage in activism and advocacy. We are thrilled to be alongside community members and others who share a love of literacy and writing as well. Kayaktivists; the over one thousand people, including many in Coast Salish family cedar canoes, that took part in a massive on-water action to stop an oil fleet from making it to Alaska’s Chukchi Sea to drill for oil. Little Banned-Book Library; a family (the Noonans) that built a mini banned book library in order to provide access to some of the 3,362 books that were banned last school year — many of which are Native titles by Native authors, and so many more amazing community advocates and activists.

         It is the responsibility of businesses and companies to use their platform and profits to make the world they exist in a better place. So many don’t. We look forward to partnerships that allow us to place receptive pressure on those in corporate power to use their resources for good and are grateful to continue working on programming like this that helps to fund vital work in Indigenous communities.

         Join us as we explore this exciting new partnership. We are thankful for the contribution and support from B&J’s to continue doing this truly amazing work.

 

 

In intolerance (haha),

 

Lily Painter

NDN Girls Book Club Co-Director / Graphics Lead

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