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Expanding the Story of our Growing Alliance
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WE ARE THE STORY TELLERS OF OUR FUTURE
The Bee Bold Alliance (BBA) tells a vibrant tale of World renewal. Like the exploratory mycelium, the BBA reaches out and connects diverse aspects of our community to link into the same wisdom stream. This wisdom tells the tale of a path of green. As we grow with up to 40 members, so too our tools expand.
Henry Thomas - Director of Bee RYL Productions 2022
The newest facet of the BBA is our Regenerative Youth Leaders Productions, for short Bee RYL Productions. The team is led by Henry Thomas, alumni of the Tech department at the Mendocino High School. The Bee RYL youth will produce multimedia based on resilience with nature, and the importance of our biodiversity for the survival of our local ecosystems.
The project is underway with the support of the Mendocino Film Festival, Hope 4 Natives, and the Mendocino High School. The first pilot is about two Forest Grandmothers, Pricilla Hunter and Polly Girvin, who have actively been working to protect the Redwood Forests for 40 years.
WATCH THE FILM - FOREST GRANDMOTHER - Produced by the Bee RYL Productions
This all came about synchronistically at a recent rally to protect the Jackson State Demonstrations Forest. Inspired by Tribal Chairman Micheal Hunter's talk, I approached him about collaborting with the BBA. The ensuing dialogue was full of possible pathways where we both sought mutual benefit for the tribes and the lands of Mendocino. The direct result led to the creation of The Bee RYL Productions. In alignment with the primary goal of Hope 4 Natives, which is to establish an active online cultural library, the BBA will help train Pomo youth with multimedia tech skills to support this goal.
The Regenerative Youth Leaders Productions generates a path to valuable job skills through the creation of valuable media to tell stories of resilience and sustainability.
No sooner had the nucleus of the project been formed when I had the pleasure of meeting the new Executive Director of the Mendocino Film Festival (MFF), Angela Matano. There was an immediate outpouring of inspiration to build a partnership and create a wonderful base for the youth project to grow. With the support of MFF’s Technical Director, Marshall Brown, and in alignment with MFF’s vision, Bee RYL Productions will help to offer opportunities for filmmakers and locals to celebrate the power of film, art, and story in the beautiful, natural setting of Mendocino.
The subsequent Bee RYL projects will include:
- Interviews of prominent elders in the community
- Round table discussion on best practices for sustainability
- Support material for the REGENERATIVE YOUTH LEADERS to take action
- Multimedia for all platforms
It has been said that when you truly focus on something you can find the entire universe hitched to it, and that is certainly the case here.
The BBA is a central ring that emanates from Mendocino, sending a signal to each heart to help the seeds of thought sprout and grow a future full of diversity, and food for all. We are working together to tell our story well, and that story is about choosing the path of green.
Thank you to our co-sponsors for the Bee RYL pilot: Coyote Valley Tribe, Fortunate Farms, Sweetwater Inn and Ecospa, Cafe Beaujolais, Corners of the Mouth, Princess Seafood, Mendocino Trail Stewards, and all the support of the volunteers who make this happen.
Give 20% to the Bee Bold Alliance when you buy a Bee Bold Cause Coffee in Dark and Medium, or Decaf. We have raised over $21,000 to support biodiversity and local food security to date.
Read about THE NATIVE CINEMA inspired by this project.
Recommended Reading
Back to the Blog-
![Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg 2024]()
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg
The Noyo Food Forest is having their annual Earth Day celebration this Saturday at the Learning Garden. This four hour event is a fundraiser for the Farm-to-School and Youth Intern programs that the Noyo Food Forest operates year-round. We partner with the Noyo Food Forest throughout the year, and we especially love being a part of this annual event in Fort Bragg.
15th Annual Earth Day Event
Saturday, April 20, 12 - 4 PM
At the Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School on Dana Street.This Earth Day event is free and geared toward everyone in the family. There will be live music, and you can participate by putting down a bid for the silent auction, paying entry to bouncy houses, and tasting goodies from local chefs. This is one of the most fun events that happens in the city of Fort Bragg every year. Local organizations and nonprofits are a big part of this event, and you’ll see booths and representatives from the Noyo Marine Science Center, the Mendocino Land Trust, our Mendocino County state parks and many more important parts of the coastal community.
Thanksgiving Coffee will be serving up samples of our Bee Bold Blend, our new Nitro Coffee, and the Noyo Food Forest will be selling 12oz bags, as well. All the proceeds benefit the Noyo Food Forest and their important work here in our community. We are very happy to be a part of this awesome event. For more information, visit the Noyo Food Forest Earth Day page on their website, and RSVP on Facebook to share with your friends. Join us on April 20 – see you at the Learning Garden.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Partnership with the Noyo Food ForestLearn more about how we support our Mother Earth
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg 2024
read more -
![Namanyonyi Co-op United A Community]()
Namanyonyi Co-op united a community
The wheels were set in motion many years ago when Thanksgiving Coffee began our work with the Ugandan Coffee Cooperative “Delicious Peace” to bring their Interfaith coffee to market. For those of you who have been following us on this unique journey, we want to share another perspective. It is an article written by an organization that understands cooperatives are run by people, and people have many ups and downs.
"We love this story of multiple faiths helping each other, moving beyond personal beliefs"
Child from the "Delicious Peace" Coffee Cooperative in Uganda.
The author is Rebecca Harvey, the executive editor of Co-operative News. She was very intrigued about the journey this cooperative has been on and contacted Thanksgiving to learn about our involvement. We had the opportunity to speak with her and share our story. We also learned that Co-op News has been around for over 150 years to support the communication between all the many cooperatives in England, and now the World.
Sorting green coffee at Namanyonyi Co-op.
The Article For You To Read:
How A Coffee Co-op United A Community – And Was Reborn After A Leadership Crisis
More of our history with the Delicious Peace Cooperative:
2009: Delicious Peace Moves Forward
2014: A Trip To Africa
2020: Delicious Peace Coffee: A New Story
2023: Evolution of Change
Where it all began - the Delicious Peace Coffee
Lavender Grace is the Sustainability Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
Namanyonyi Co-op United A Community
read more -
![Goodbye - End The Embargo]()
End The Embargo Coffee
Entering the 25th year of End The Embargo Coffee, we find the embargo on Cuba by our government still in place. However, it is now easy to obtain a Visa to travel to Cuba on your own or via the many Social Justice Non profits and Churches that lead mission driven or curated special interest trips to the island.
Back in 1998 we teamed up with Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nonprofit which was then, a leading proponent in favor of ending the US Cuba hostilities. Jonah Katzeff, now CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to Cuba with Global Exchange in the late 90’s. I had complex motives for creating End the Embargo Coffee 25 years ago. My motives were not purely about Social Justice. I was a cigar judge at the time for Cigar Aficionado magazine, and I understood that the quality of Cuban cigars was based on its soil and climate as much as on the human skills that transformed fresh picked tobacco leaf and aged it, blended it, and rolled it into cigars for export. Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco that were made into their fantastic cigars. I wanted that coffee! However, it was no secret that Thanksgiving Coffee was a supporter of the Nicaraguan revolution, and that I was a Sandinista at heart. I made many visits to Nicaragua in 1985, and in 1986 negotiated a contract to purchase 75,000 pounds of coffee for delivery to the SF/Oakland Bay Area).
America was at war with Nicaragua using unhappy Nicaraguans as it's Mercenaries. Although it was a peoples revolution, almost immediately after the Nicaraguan newspapers reported my contract, President Reagan declared an Embargo on Nicaraguan imports which included my 75,000 pounds. I was caught in the middle of US Foreign Policy. What I did is another story which solidified me as the Premier Craft Coffee Radical in America. Spoiler alert, I challenged the Reagan embargo and broke the embargo. I learned allot from that experience and fifteen years later, it informed my decision to create End The Embargo Coffee.
Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco...
I was inspired by my experiences in Nicaragua. I wanted to do my part for the coffee farmers, and agricultural workers in Cuba. I wanted to put my stake in the ground to be the first to bring Cuban coffee to the United States. When we created the packaging for in the embargo coffee the Pope had just visited Cuba. Daniel Ortega, President and one of the nine commandants of the Nicaraguan revolutionary army (FSLN) that defeated the Samosa Dictatorship in 1979, came to meet the Pope at the airport. The Pope was not a happy Pope in the moment, and pointed and accusatory finger at the President of Nicaragua as he reached to kiss the popes ring. A photo of that moment became a poster, which became an International memorial to the Revolution. I saw one in Rwanda in the home of a coffee farmer twenty years later. I couldn’t help myself. I used it for the dark roast graphic. Che was chosen for the light roast.
It should be noted that the artist who created that likeness of Che was interviewed for an article in Business Week Magazine. He commented on the use of the image, disapproving of Seagram’s use of the image to sell vodka, but approved Thanksgiving Coffee’s use as the image representing coffee for End the Embargo. The week that publication hit the newsstands we sold 5,000 12 oz. packages.
For many years afterwards, I received quite a number of nasty letters and phone threats from Cuban immigrants living in Miami, who had, in their words, escaped Cuba to find freedom in America. They weren’t poor Cubans, but the wealthy, who had prospered as part of the pre revolution economy. I carried on an interesting dialogue with the detractors of our of our anti-embargo activism. As the Cuban political situation mellowed over time, the threats and nasty accusations slowed to a trickle.
Today, after quarter century of Che, and the Pope, being on grocery shelves, and in our online web store, we begin the process of ending our relationship with this revolutionary product line. Although the issue is still important, we just don’t have the staff to promote this product the way it needs to be promoted to achieve its educational aims. We have not changed our politics of inclusion and social justice, nor have we changed our opinion about whether or not the embargo should stand or fall. We believe that the Cuban embargo is an inappropriate way to achieve peace between nations. This embargo, as all embargoes do, impacts the poorest of the Cuban citizens. It does not impact wealthy Cubans in Cuba. Che and the Pope now, just sit patiently on store shelves looking out quietly as people pass by and choose other coffees that have a more current pressing social, environmental, and economic justice issues.
After a quarter century the time to retire these iconic images is for us, now. If you wish to continue to support the Cuban Cuban people and wish to see the embargo on Cuban products ended, here is the original organization that we supported which you can also support by contributing your energy and and/or financial support. They do the work that we can no longer do.
Global Exchange - Normalize Relations with Cuba
Let’s say goodbye to End the Embargo Coffee until such time when Thanksgiving Coffee Company has the employee power to give this product is due. Cuban coffee never got to the United States but Thanksgiving’s Embargo Coffee package recently got to Cuba. Photographs below show Susan Savage of the Mendocino Coast Community Healthcare District delivering Che to one of her friends in Cuba in late January 2023
End of Story
Paul Katzeff, is the Co-Founder, Roast Master Emeritis and former CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
You will find all the same great flavor and taste of End the Embargo in our Noyo Harbor French
Follow Along With Our Evolution
Goodbye - End The Embargo
read more
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg
The Noyo Food Forest is having their annual Earth Day celebration this Saturday at the Learning Garden. This four hour event is a fundraiser for the Farm-to-School and Youth Intern programs that the Noyo Food Forest operates year-round. We partner with the Noyo Food Forest throughout the year, and we especially love being a part of this annual event in Fort Bragg.
15th Annual Earth Day Event
Saturday, April 20, 12 - 4 PM
At the Learning Garden at Fort Bragg High School on Dana Street.
This Earth Day event is free and geared toward everyone in the family. There will be live music, and you can participate by putting down a bid for the silent auction, paying entry to bouncy houses, and tasting goodies from local chefs. This is one of the most fun events that happens in the city of Fort Bragg every year. Local organizations and nonprofits are a big part of this event, and you’ll see booths and representatives from the Noyo Marine Science Center, the Mendocino Land Trust, our Mendocino County state parks and many more important parts of the coastal community.
Thanksgiving Coffee will be serving up samples of our Bee Bold Blend, our new Nitro Coffee, and the Noyo Food Forest will be selling 12oz bags, as well. All the proceeds benefit the Noyo Food Forest and their important work here in our community. We are very happy to be a part of this awesome event. For more information, visit the Noyo Food Forest Earth Day page on their website, and RSVP on Facebook to share with your friends. Join us on April 20 – see you at the Learning Garden.
Thanksgiving Coffee Company
Partnership with the Noyo Food Forest
Learn more about how we support our Mother Earth
Earth Day Event in Fort Bragg 2024
read more
Namanyonyi Co-op united a community
The wheels were set in motion many years ago when Thanksgiving Coffee began our work with the Ugandan Coffee Cooperative “Delicious Peace” to bring their Interfaith coffee to market. For those of you who have been following us on this unique journey, we want to share another perspective. It is an article written by an organization that understands cooperatives are run by people, and people have many ups and downs.
"We love this story of multiple faiths helping each other, moving beyond personal beliefs"
Child from the "Delicious Peace" Coffee Cooperative in Uganda.
The author is Rebecca Harvey, the executive editor of Co-operative News. She was very intrigued about the journey this cooperative has been on and contacted Thanksgiving to learn about our involvement. We had the opportunity to speak with her and share our story. We also learned that Co-op News has been around for over 150 years to support the communication between all the many cooperatives in England, and now the World.
Sorting green coffee at Namanyonyi Co-op.
The Article For You To Read:
How A Coffee Co-op United A Community – And Was Reborn After A Leadership Crisis
More of our history with the Delicious Peace Cooperative:
2009: Delicious Peace Moves Forward
2014: A Trip To Africa
2020: Delicious Peace Coffee: A New Story
2023: Evolution of Change
Where it all began - the Delicious Peace Coffee
Lavender Grace is the Sustainability Consultant for Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
Namanyonyi Co-op United A Community
read more
End The Embargo Coffee
Entering the 25th year of End The Embargo Coffee, we find the embargo on Cuba by our government still in place. However, it is now easy to obtain a Visa to travel to Cuba on your own or via the many Social Justice Non profits and Churches that lead mission driven or curated special interest trips to the island.
Back in 1998 we teamed up with Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based nonprofit which was then, a leading proponent in favor of ending the US Cuba hostilities. Jonah Katzeff, now CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee, traveled to Cuba with Global Exchange in the late 90’s. I had complex motives for creating End the Embargo Coffee 25 years ago. My motives were not purely about Social Justice. I was a cigar judge at the time for Cigar Aficionado magazine, and I understood that the quality of Cuban cigars was based on its soil and climate as much as on the human skills that transformed fresh picked tobacco leaf and aged it, blended it, and rolled it into cigars for export. Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco that were made into their fantastic cigars. I wanted that coffee! However, it was no secret that Thanksgiving Coffee was a supporter of the Nicaraguan revolution, and that I was a Sandinista at heart. I made many visits to Nicaragua in 1985, and in 1986 negotiated a contract to purchase 75,000 pounds of coffee for delivery to the SF/Oakland Bay Area).
America was at war with Nicaragua using unhappy Nicaraguans as it's Mercenaries. Although it was a peoples revolution, almost immediately after the Nicaraguan newspapers reported my contract, President Reagan declared an Embargo on Nicaraguan imports which included my 75,000 pounds. I was caught in the middle of US Foreign Policy. What I did is another story which solidified me as the Premier Craft Coffee Radical in America. Spoiler alert, I challenged the Reagan embargo and broke the embargo. I learned allot from that experience and fifteen years later, it informed my decision to create End The Embargo Coffee.
Coffee grown in Cuba I believed, would be as magnificent as their tobacco...
I was inspired by my experiences in Nicaragua. I wanted to do my part for the coffee farmers, and agricultural workers in Cuba. I wanted to put my stake in the ground to be the first to bring Cuban coffee to the United States. When we created the packaging for in the embargo coffee the Pope had just visited Cuba. Daniel Ortega, President and one of the nine commandants of the Nicaraguan revolutionary army (FSLN) that defeated the Samosa Dictatorship in 1979, came to meet the Pope at the airport. The Pope was not a happy Pope in the moment, and pointed and accusatory finger at the President of Nicaragua as he reached to kiss the popes ring. A photo of that moment became a poster, which became an International memorial to the Revolution. I saw one in Rwanda in the home of a coffee farmer twenty years later. I couldn’t help myself. I used it for the dark roast graphic. Che was chosen for the light roast.
It should be noted that the artist who created that likeness of Che was interviewed for an article in Business Week Magazine. He commented on the use of the image, disapproving of Seagram’s use of the image to sell vodka, but approved Thanksgiving Coffee’s use as the image representing coffee for End the Embargo. The week that publication hit the newsstands we sold 5,000 12 oz. packages.
For many years afterwards, I received quite a number of nasty letters and phone threats from Cuban immigrants living in Miami, who had, in their words, escaped Cuba to find freedom in America. They weren’t poor Cubans, but the wealthy, who had prospered as part of the pre revolution economy. I carried on an interesting dialogue with the detractors of our of our anti-embargo activism. As the Cuban political situation mellowed over time, the threats and nasty accusations slowed to a trickle.
Today, after quarter century of Che, and the Pope, being on grocery shelves, and in our online web store, we begin the process of ending our relationship with this revolutionary product line. Although the issue is still important, we just don’t have the staff to promote this product the way it needs to be promoted to achieve its educational aims. We have not changed our politics of inclusion and social justice, nor have we changed our opinion about whether or not the embargo should stand or fall. We believe that the Cuban embargo is an inappropriate way to achieve peace between nations. This embargo, as all embargoes do, impacts the poorest of the Cuban citizens. It does not impact wealthy Cubans in Cuba. Che and the Pope now, just sit patiently on store shelves looking out quietly as people pass by and choose other coffees that have a more current pressing social, environmental, and economic justice issues.
After a quarter century the time to retire these iconic images is for us, now. If you wish to continue to support the Cuban Cuban people and wish to see the embargo on Cuban products ended, here is the original organization that we supported which you can also support by contributing your energy and and/or financial support. They do the work that we can no longer do.
Global Exchange - Normalize Relations with Cuba
Let’s say goodbye to End the Embargo Coffee until such time when Thanksgiving Coffee Company has the employee power to give this product is due. Cuban coffee never got to the United States but Thanksgiving’s Embargo Coffee package recently got to Cuba. Photographs below show Susan Savage of the Mendocino Coast Community Healthcare District delivering Che to one of her friends in Cuba in late January 2023
End of Story
Paul Katzeff, is the Co-Founder, Roast Master Emeritis and former CEO of Thanksgiving Coffee Company.
You will find all the same great flavor and taste of End the Embargo in our Noyo Harbor French
Follow Along With Our Evolution