David Reese and Ron Anderson from Ten Thousand Things and their heart pendant being sold to benefit Black Lives Matter. Photo courtesy
Jewelry News
Have A Heart by Ten Thousand Things For BLM
And a look back at our week featuring black jewelry design talent
When I saw the social media challenge posted last week to #amplifymelanatedvoices exclusively until June 7, 2020, I thought that is something I can do by featuring black jewelry designers on social and backing up the posts with full feature stories on The Adventurine.
I am so grateful to the designers who helped me make this happen and shared their stories, not to mention worked on a very tight deadline. I was inspired by how all of them said they wanted to be role models for aspiring black jewelry designers. I was heartbroken to hear narratives about systemic racism.
All of it was a far more powerful and emotional experience than I could have ever imagined when I started. Now that the deadline of the #amplifymelanatedvoices challenge has come, I know it will be difficult to move on to other subjects especially with the backdrop of the ongoing peaceful protests that happen day and night just blocks from my home in Greenwich Village.
Going forward, I vow the coverage of black jewelry designers, that existed before this moment on The Adventurine, will be planned with far more intention and purpose as a regular part of our lineup of stories.
As a punctuation point on the end of the #amplifymelanatedvoices challenge, it is my pleasure and honor to present the Split Labradorite Carved Heart Charm by Ten Thousand Things (in the photo above). It is being sold to benefit the Black Lives Matter organization on the Muse x Muse website.
Ron Anderson, who co-founded Ten Thousand Things over 25-years ago with David Reese, explained he was inspired to take-action with the charitable jewel because of the historic protests and the current movement that have all been an effort to resolve essentially the same issues and stop violence against the black community in America. “My grandparents did this 80 years ago, my parents did this 50 years ago, and I don’t want to imagine a future in which my nieces and nephews have to endure this same situation 50 years from now.”
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