BY: QUENTIN STUCKEY
How many of us stroll through a store, tossing various items in our cart or nestling them in our arms, without questioning the origins of these products that we so greatly cherish: frankly we’re all guilty of this. It’s a part of human nature to take what we have for granted, to blindly assume that what we buy and consume is always going to be there and it always has been. We don’t stop and question, or let alone appreciate, the abundance of innovative products and ideas that we use everyday.
Amidst the backdrop of Donald Trump’s insistence that letting in refugees to the United States would be the worst possible decision, a recent video posted on YouTube reminds us all of something we don’t often consider when it comes to the controversial issue. People who came to North America as refugees have contributed to society through innovative products, ideas, machines and art.
In the video, posted by YouTube user Kien Quan, unknown individuals go to various locations including record shops, libraries and grocery stores and label physical items with a paper tag titled: MADE BY REFUGEE. By labelling these items, it forces us as consumers to acknowledge that people coming from a different world shouldn’t be labelled as threats. They are all full of potential to change the world, if given the opportunity. Beloved singer and entertainer Freddie Mercury, one of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein, the courageous writer Anne Frank and David Tran, the inventor of Sirracha sauce, are all among the refugees who ended up benefitting society through their ideas. Check out the full video below, it may change your perspective:
