Jewelry for Change and the Elephant in the Room

True story: There was a time when the plight of elephants in captivity on the streets of India was so sickening and saddening to me that I couldn’t sleep at night I shed many tears at the idea of these sentient creatures who mourn their dead, can feel and express empathy, and have deep, close-knit family bonds being forced to beg for food from tourists, subsisting on actual garbage, and living a solo existence while shackled in chains Or forced to carry multiple humans on their backs along the hot fiery hot cobblestones of Amber Fort at the hands of an abusive mahout I used to donate regularly to an organization called Wildlife SOS, which rescues, rehabilitates, and finds sanctuary for these exploited elephants But I haven’t thought about elephants since January 2017.

A gazillion other injustices have plagued me instead (including, but not limited to, President Trump’s lifting of the ban . More