THE WAY OF TEA
AND JUSTICE
Interview with
Becca Stevens, Author
Becca Stevens is one of the premiere speakers in the United States proclaiming love as the most powerful force for social change. She is an author, Episcopal priest and founder of Thistle Farms-Magdalene, a community of women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction. She founded the residential community in 1997, and the social enterprise in 2001. Thistle Farms employs residents and graduates of Magdalene, and houses a natural body care line, a paper and sewing studio, Thistle Stop Cafe, and its new global initiative, Shared Trade.
She demonstrates that love is good business and raises millions of dollars annually. In the anti-human trafficking movement Stevens believes in a housing first model with economic independence for survivors. Most recently she has been featured in the PBS documentary, A Path Appears. She is a prolific writer and has been featured in the New York Times, on ABC World News, NPR, PBS, CNN, and Huffington Post and named by the White House as one of 15 Champions
of Change for violence against women in 2011. She was named 2014 Humanitarian of the Year by the Small Business Council of America, has been inducted into the Tennessee Women s Hall of Fame, and was conferred an honorary doctorate by Sewanee: The University of the South.
Her newest book is, The Way of Tea & Justice: Rescuing the World's Favorite Beverage from its Violent History. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Grammy-winning songwriter Marcus Hummon, and their three sons.
by Svetlana Kim
Perreault Magazine - 70 -
(c) Daniel Dubois