Why Supporting Local Matters

We asked Alina Talyad (@ma_mockingbird) about her thoughts on supporting local communities and empowering indigenous communities. 

"We are all still threatened by industrialization on every level, which  systemically and directly fuels oppression of people and planet. Supporting indigenous and local artisans is a direct way to put the power back in people's communities, which are typically poorer than most due to centuries of abuse. 

Honoring their heritage through purchases also celebrates their cultures authentically- as opposed to appropriating them with factory-made look-alikes. 

Indigenous peoples face systemic inequity, yet are often the ones protecting and advocating for Nature’s rights, even in the threat of death. The simple act of supporting local and indigenous communities IS an act of decolonization, solidarity, joy and hope.

As a woman from a “working-poor” background, I’ve tried to see outside of the “programming” and imagine a different way of living, or be caught in a viscous cycle. Now the vision is a responsibility. I am devoted to creating pragmatic platforms of empowerment, through jobs, affordable home ownership and regenerative freedom farms. I continue to work for food justice, decolonization, and quality of life for people and Mamá Earth. My music reflects these same themes.

Alina Talyad, Fil-Am, lives in The Blue Ridge Mountains. Song Artist as Ma Mockingbird, researcher, environmental advocate and entrepreneur. 

Co-founder of a resiliency learning nonprofit (Soul and Soil Project) and creator of a developing pocket-village (Nawaya Villages). _"