Hey there all you crazy social activists, dreamers and HP fans! My name is Lisa Valdez and I’d like to tell you a bit about a project I’m going to be starting with the HPA. I’m a 21 (22 on Thursday, woohoo!) year old girl from Rhode Island, long time HP fan and, more recently, social activist. I currently live in Boston and I’m a worker-owner of a Fair Trade coffee, tea, and cocoa cooperative just south of the city called Equal Exchange. In my work I get to see first hand how the products we purchase in the US affect the lives of producers all over the world. You may have heard people saying that “the world has gotten smaller” and I’m here to tell you that it is absolutely true. Walk down the aisle of a grocery store and pick up any product you like. The ingredients listed will come from all over the world, from palm oil in Africa to sugar from the Dominican Republic. I get to see how our conventional system of trade marginalizes producers and benefits a very wealthy few in the global West, but also how Fair Trade can hugely benefit producers all over the world. I’ve learned that everything in this world is connected, and I’m here to talk trade and Harry Potter, two of my favorite topics that might not seem too closely related at first glance.

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The Harry Potter novels talk about the importance of everyone’s freedom. One of the most tragic issues in our world is that slavery still exists in the form of human trafficking. Nick Kristoff talks about how we can fight that.