📜 Manifesto
Related: my privilege statement here!
The Tea Stand bikes around Brooklyn / Lenapehoking serving free tea for all: from strangers in public parks to our neighbors at food distributions.
We seek to create accessible spaces for folks to connect with themselves, their neighbors, and the natural world. But what ideas & concepts underpin our work & keep us grounded?
Let's break down our motto – free tea for all – and share more about our values (and NOT in the gross corporate way... you will not see the word "excelsior" anywhere on this webpage).
"FREE"
Why is the tea free? Because when you take money out of the interaction, you replace it with trust. By refusing to quantify the value of the tea (or anything, for that matter), we turn it from a commodity into a gift. And when you receive a gift from a stranger, it usually prompts any or all of the following thoughts: this is so nice! i feel loved! // do i need this? who might need it more? // what gifts do i have that i can offer the people around me? // what else is free? These are some really great questions that we (modern humans, Americans, white folks, etc.) ought to spend more time thinking about & acting upon.
"TEA"
Why tea? Just like football (soccer) is the sport of the people, tea is the drink of the people! Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world (after water) and has been used across cultures & throughout history as a way to remedy illness, mediate conflict, and welcome visitors. It carries with it a sense of hospitality, mindfulness, and wellness – all very much in alignment with what we're trying to do with The Tea Stand!!!
"FOR ALL"
Why for all? That's a pretty weird question to be asking bro... you should do some soul-searching... capitalism got your ass...
(Some Of) Our Values
- Trust: humans are good! To work together, to truly connect with one another, we must first trust each other. And the trust we could & should feel toward our fellow humans has been eroded by centuries of violence & propaganda. The fear we feel when a stranger in the park offers us a cup of tea may be second nature for many of us, but it is not natural. The very idea of "stranger danger" – perhaps the most salient phrase of our collective upbringings – is a self-fulfilling prophecy which keeps us divided as people. We must learn to place our faith in the collective goodness of humankind if we wish to resist & flourish!
"Contact engenders more trust, more solidarity and more kindness... it's contagious: when you see a neighbor getting along with others, it makes you rethink your own biases."
- Rutger Bregman
- Attention: I mean... look around... this is not normal. Modern technology + late-stage capitalism = BAD THINGS for our attentional capacities & human potential. With The Tea Stand, we seek to cultivate spaces which can get people outside & engaging with the world around them (touching grass, talking to neighbors, sipping delicious tea, etc.) in a way that reminds us how good it feels to put our screens away & reclaim our attention. (If it wasn't obvious enough by our writing style, we're greatly inspired by the work of the Friends of Attention.)
“Spending two hours on one cup of tea is an act of resistance."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
- Sustainability: we are seriously f**king up our planet and all the life forms who call it home, which hopefully comes as news to no one. It's only possible for us to destroy our own home in the first place because we've grown so disconnected from it. We must relate to nature with respect & reciprocity, as our ancestors did for thousands of years (and many continue to do), if we wish for the continued existence & future wellbeing of humans & nonhumans alike. A more tangible tidbit: The Tea Stand produces almost no waste by virtue of operating as a circular economy, transporting everything via bicycle, and using recyclable & compostable goods whenever possible.
"We must also recognize that climate change is only one symptom of a larger problem. Human beings have fallen out of alignment with life."
- Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Learn more about The Tea Stand here.