Free as Birds

by Judy Campbell

This was not how Raychel and Tony had planned to spend their day, but here they were at the mall with Raychel’s mother, in a carpet store! The two cousins had planned to be free as birds, like the other kids at the mall, having ice cream, just hanging out.

Instead, they were looking at rugs—hundreds of them! And Raychel’s mom was looking at the backs before she looked at the fronts.

“What are you looking for?” Raychel asked.

“I’m looking for a ‘RUGMARK’” she said. “It tells me that the rug was not made by bonded children.”

“Bonded?” asked Tony.

“Bonded children are forced to work in carpet factories because their family owes money. They are really slaves to the factory owners,” said Raychel’s mother.

Tony could hardly believe his ears. He was part African-American; his great-great-grandfather had been a slave. He had seen pictures of black people in chains. The thought that people could still be slaves made him feel sick.

“I thought slavery ended a long time ago. I can’t believe it’s still going on,” Tony said angrily.

Raychel’s mother turned to the two cousins. “There are people trying to stop it,” she said. “Like this organization called RUGMARK. They inspect factories and only put their symbol on rugs and carpets that haven’t been made by bonded children. That’s the only kind I’ll buy.”

“How did you find out about this RUGMARK thing?” Raychel asked.

“At our church. UU churches are trying to help anti-slavery organizations around the world.”

“Is our church doing anything?” asked Tony.

“We don’t have a plan yet, but a group of us are working on it,” replied Raychel’s mom. “Remember when we made holiday cards for people to send to their family and friends?” asked Tony. “Instead of giving that person a gift, people gave money to a favorite charity and the gift card told them that a donation had been given to that charity in their name. Do you think we could do something like that?” “That’s an excellent idea, Tony,” said Raychel’s mother. “And I’m sure the committee would love to have an artist like you on the project.”

“Great! Now can we be free to stop looking at rugs?” asked Raychel jokingly, still hoping to walk around the mall with Tony.

“You and Tony are always free,” Raychel’s mother replied.

“But are we free right now—this very minute?” persisted Raychel.

“Go on,” said her mother, finally laughing, “and bring me back an ice cream!”