Radical Grandma Collective / Samanatha Ryals
Tribal affiliation: Loa, Thailand
How to purchase:
Website: http://www.radicalgrandmacollective.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radicalgrandmacollective/
Phone number: 5414041852
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieoutside/
Email: contact@radicalgrandmacollective.com
Bio:
The Radical Grandma Collective is a group of about 20 women weaver/activists in NE Thailand and six women from the US. In 2004 construction began on a gold mine less than 1 kilometer from their village, Na Nong Bong. The tailings pond that held the mine's toxic waste spilled several times, resulting in environmental degradation, serious health issues for the villagers, violence, and conflict. The community has been protesting and fighting legal battles against the mine for over since construction began in order to protect its way of life for future generations. Their community is highly organized and located in a rural area, so it can be difficult for them to access funding for their activism and to bring international attention to the issue. In response to these issues, the elder women of the village organized a weaving cooperative, the sales from which benefit the village mining resistance fund. The weaving cooperative also serves as a space for the women to organize, build community, and play a role in the resistance effort. These "radical grandmas" weave beautiful scarves with a technique that has been passed down to them. Wanting to focus on weaving and organizing their community, the cooperative asked the four (which has grown to six) from the US to run the operations for their products.
The grandmas then decide where to best invest those dollars, whether that's in college degrees for their grandkids, fighting the mining company that poisoned villagers' land, or buying new equipment and weaving supplies. These investments consequently further the social and environmental goals of the Na Nong Bong community. Our accompanying objective is to keep the business and our international operations up and running, which means we earn just enough profit to keep the website maintained, the scarf shipments coming, and some money in the bank for growth.
