Women in Unity

photo by shane lavacher

It has been one week since we woke up to the knowledge that Donald Trump will be our next president. For me, it has been a time of soul-searching, contemplation and protest. I have struggled with the frivolity of jewelry in the context of our nation’s pain, our environmental risk, and our tenuous civil rights.  It has been hard to want to hustle my wares when I know so many other causes need advocates.
Marteau is a small business that sells luxury goods and is simply trying to remind everybody of the beauty that this wide, wonderful world has produced. I think that there is power in jewelry to make the world a more intimate place by connecting women across space and time with each other. But in the wake of this new (or at least newly cemented) political landscape, I hope Marteau can be a little more.  While I don’t think this is the end of the world as we know it, I do think this is a time to live closely to our ethics. My business is my surrogate in the world and so it and I stand in protest. It is a small effort to make our world the best it can possibly be under our watch.
It seems naive to believe that money is not one of the most powerful ways to effect change, so I am putting my money where my mouth is. From now until Trump’s inauguration, Marteau will be donating 20% of all of our sales to causes that have been directly compromised by the agenda of our president-elect.  Center for Reproductive Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center, Peace over Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety & The Natural Resources Defense Council.
As privileged Americans we have become accustomed to the luxury of not having to fight for justice, not having to affirm our human rights, not having to long for clean water. But today we live not in luxury but in knowledge that we join the majority of the world in the uncertainty of our rights. Let us not forget in the coming weeks and months what it feels like to be on the other side of privilege. Let us be grateful that we live in a place where our voices and our dollars do have power. Let us use them. We must band together right now to defend the laws, the institutions, and the ideals on which our country is based.
Please know how grateful I am to have you as my community and to have been supported by your love. I don’t aim to be divisive, but I can not stand silent. I am encouraged by the many strong, vibrant, brilliant activist women in my life. I know we can draw strength from each other so to kick-off this campaign we gathered to hold our heads high and let this administration know we will be vigilant in defending our rights.
I don’t know if you realize but Marteau is the French word for hammer. I chose this name, not just for it’s clear connotations to the creation of jewelry, but in nascent days of my company, I was I envisioning my customer; a woman who is striking, elegant, powerful and ready to deal blows- exactly like a hammer.
Please reach out to me to discuss, to contradict or to encourage. If these causes aren’t yours, I hope you’ll find your own way to make your voice heard. Dialog across the aisle, across party lines and outside the echo chamber of social media algorithms is where real change happens.
 
Be kind but fight with fire,

3 comments

Thank you for this initiative, Ariana. Thank you for standing by the beliefs that ground us and weave us together. It’s conversations like this that allow us to rise up, move forward and create realities and communities for ourselves where they don’t exist. Kudos to you for your commitment to purposeful living.

Sending Love & Support,
Lala

Lala Lopez November 16, 2016

You are inspiring-
I love your jewelry- and your message rings SO true to me.

Jennifer Ballard November 16, 2016

I found it encouraging to read your mission statement …it echoed my emotions from this election…I will follow your site with renewed hope for our future….Amen Sister!!!

Anne November 16, 2016

Leave a comment

All comments are moderated before being published