Monday, April 11, 2011 - By Anonymous - No comments
The Boston Tree Party
Starting in elementary school and ending in college, teachers repeatedly educated me about the events surrounding the American Revolution, the most common of which--you guessed it--was the Boston Tea Party.
Let's take a quick trip down history lane just to refresh your memory. After the British government refused to repeal the Tea Act of 1773, a group of colonists dumped tea in the Boston Harbor, reaffirming the belief of "no taxation without representation."
A seminal event in American history, the Boston Tea Party has now reemerged (symbolically, of course) in its hometown with the official launch of the 'Boston Tree Party' campaign. While their colonial counterparts dumped tea, the Tree Partiers hope to 'dump' trees by planting 100 pairs of heirloom apple trees in civic spaces across Greater Boston.
Like the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tree Party is a symbolic political act. The project takes a stand for universal access to fresh, healthy food; for greening out cities; cleaning our air and waterways; reducing our city's carbon footprint; creating habitat for urban wildlife; and for protecting the biodiversity and heritage of our food.
With its motto "Frux Civilis" (or Civic Fruit), the Boston Tree Party simultaneously serves as an urban agricultural project and conceptual art project. By planting trees, it will create gathering places, strengthen community relationships, and improve overall health. Paying homage to the Boston Tea Party, it also "playfully reimagines patriotic and political language, imagery, and forms of association."
At yesterday's launch, the campaign creator, Lisa Gross, emphasized the importance of communities working together to care for the trees:
They will require love, attention, and stewardship. That is why we are not just plopping them down willy-nilly through the city. We are starting with communities...who want to play and care for these trees.
Here at SeeClickFix, we love the idea of promoting civic engagement through fruit and look forward to seeing how this campaign blossoms!
If you want to learn more and/or join the Boston Tree Party, check out its website.
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