Harry Potter Alliance!

I was very interested by our discussion of the Harry Potter Alliance today in class, so I decided to check it out for myself. I found the site very informative and interactive. There were over four campaigns a person could be actively involved in ASIDE from joining the email list and becoming a member of the Alliance. I did not feel inclined to actually become a member, but I wanted to see if there was something I could do right-then-and-there with the four campaigns. This is what I found: the Starvation Wages Horcrux. 

The Starvation Wages Horcrux is a petition that addresses a letter the Alliance wrote to Warner Brothers in November 2010 that demanded chocolate Harry Potter merchandise be solely fair trade. Warner Brothers refused. When this request was turned down, the Alliance decided to utilize the voices of their online community. As a result, any passing member can choose to put their information into a couple of boxes that will be sent to Warner Brothers, demanding that chocolate Harry Potter merchandise be strictly fair trade. 

As the President of International Justice Mission on campus, we are preparing a Valentine’s Day chocolate campaign where we will sell fair-trade chocolate Valentines on campus. While preparing for this event, I have discovered the atrocious truths behind slave-labor in the chocolate industry. It is ludicrous. So, when I came across this campaign on the Harry Potter Alliance, I was very excited and immediately filled out the information (after reading the petition statement, of course). If you feel comfortable, I encourage all of you to think about signing the petition as well. 

The only way change occurs in our consumer society is if the consumers demand change. Dream big: imagine a Valentine’s Day when all the chocolate we buy for our loved ones is free trade. For, as it stands now, the chocolate we eat probably came from the blood, sweat and tears of a slave laborer. A heavy price for our delicious candies.