By Susie
Davidson
CORRESPONDENT
In the summer of 2000, a group of visionaries brainstormed on the concept of a coffee hangout which would mirror the high quality, but not the overriding business philosophies, of the status quo. It took until August of 2001 to realize the dream, and along the way, to implement and refine each high-minded component.
What was in the complex brew? Turns out, they wanted to create a café that reached far beyond its four walls; in fact, their idea was not only to connect with the surrounding Cambridge community but to establish one of their own, which could ultimately bond, on a global scale, with similarly-motivated organizations.
Original
owners Pedro Morales, Jason Berube, Juan Carlos Kaiten and Patrick Ohiomoba,
who are now joined by Jeff Barnum and Constance Kotna, shared a common belief
in responsible business practices, and sought to maintain relationships with
like enterprises. Furthermore, they believed in the powers of technology as
well as in community forums which would aid in the dissemination of knowledge
to a subsequently informed patronage.
The result: Mama Gaia’s Café on 401 Mass. Ave., at the corner of Main St. and Columbia Ave. in Central Square. Gaia, the Greek earth goddess, was the inspiration and, with organic and healthy foods, Fair Trade foods and coffees, and unpretentious, honest atmosphere, remains the model.
Morales, a
native of Mexico who attended Harvard, was exposed to the fair trade movement
while researching charities for the rock star Jewel’s Higher Ground for
Humanity foundation. Kaiten holds a B.A. in Business Administration from La
Salle University in Mexico City, Mexico. Berube earned a B.A. in Native
American Spirituality from U. Mass., Amherst and an M.A. in Cultural Mythology
and World Symbolism from Prescott College, Prescott, AZ. Ohiomoba, a Nigerian
native who also worked in Jewel’s foundation with Morales, holds a B.A.
in Applied Math with a specialization in Chemistry from Harvard University.
Jeff Barnum, a Houston native, has a B.A. in Art and Art History from Rice
University, Houston; he is currently earning an M.F.A. at the Maine College of
Art in Portland, ME. Kowtna, a South Korean native, attended Emerson College.
The café maintains 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily hours, in response, they said, to patrons’ wishes. Their mission? “To provide delicious food…while adhering to responsible business practices…by promoting community development, conducting business with like-minded providers, using the highest quality Fair Trade foods and coffees, and treating our employees with respect. Our employees have opportunities for unlimited growth within the company; they may choose to get involved with the administrative or community development aspects of Mama Gaia's Café in whatever capacity matches their interests….we aim to provide the neighborhood with a friendly, affordable coffeehouse. On the other hand, it is our goal to generate a mindful community and connect it to other such communities around the world.”
In this
vein, the café plans to provide high-speed access free of charge, as it
awaits the establishment of a 20,000 square-foot park, with a new bus stop,
adjacent to their storefront, where they will be able to provide fresco seating.
Their roof supports the city’s only electronic billboard; they offer a
performance stage and audio/video netcast capabilities.
The
newest addition to the performance series in the Café’s next-door
spot is local poet, artist, lyricist, publisher and producer C.C.
Arshagra’s HumanRoom, which runs on varied Monday nights from 7:30-11
p.m. (August dates are 5, 19 and 26.) “I am intending to embrace the
lessons and teachings of all our blessed failures,” he said, with no
evident sarcasm. Integral to the HumanRoom concept is the Open Voice.
“It’s an open-mike-hybrid concept, not meant to be another open
mike for poets or folksingers to stage their voices on alone. The OV is for the
artists of life, for community project producers to share on, for organizations
i.e. non-profit, heath, human services, peace activist, journalist,
environmentalist, civil rights, human rights, oxygen rights, soil rights,
indigenous rights, genetic rights, and on and on, ‘Mini-teach-ins’
if you will. The world of voices which is often disregarded, undervalued,
misrepresented, and belittled by the economics of who deserves a public
voice.”
Summoning
attendees to leave their competitive egos at home, and with the mantra of
everyone being in it together, C.C. encourages and hopes the OV will attract
people from the theatre community, novelists, playwrights, screenwriters and
stage actors, to come by and deliver presentations, talks, excerpts, and
original (low-and-no-prop) stage sketches. “The aim is a welcoming forum
for the many and diverse art disciplines to express their art forms’
collaboration with humanity, their art forms’ contribution to life, their
criticisms and hopes for their medium(s).” For info, call 617-441-2845.
“To
attend,” Arshagra maintained, “will be to merge, willingly listen,
and participate in hearing the open voices of those who do, work, and live for
social awareness and responsible human changes, side by side with artists and
the offerings of their creative will, side by side with both the small and
enormous might of the media attending to contribute, listen, and respond as
inclusive participants in the missing link of ‘What is free
speech?’, ‘What is the free press?’, ‘What could and
should they stand for...?’, and ‘Who and what gets the
medi-eye’s attention?’”
“Let
entertainment be the result, not the guiding principle.”