Epic announcement!!!, I just received a grant from Mercy For Animals to help me start my own animal rights organization!!! We will produce animal rights and intersectionality content and create campaigns and actions to fight for animal liberation and ending oppression for all beings. I will share more details about our campaigns and initiatives very soon. Thanks to Mercy For Animals for supporting my vision and everyone that has supported my activism. To see the other Black advocates that received their grants visit Mercy For Animals.
Guest Speaker on the Mikey Pod Podcast
Hey everyone, I had the opportunity to be on the Mikey Pod podcast and this was such an interesting interview. Michael asked a lot about the music I made/make and even played some of my songs. I don't talk much about my music these days but low key i'm a really good rapper. We also discussed how my upbringing impacted my activism. I hope you all get a moment to check out this interview and it’s available on all platforms here.
Guest Appearance on the MeatBusters Podcast
I was honored to have a really informative conversation as a guest on the MeatBusters Podcast hosted by Alisha V. This podcast is dedicated to debunking common misconceptions about being vegan. Click the thumbnail below to hear the episode in full.
National Animal Rights Day 2020 Panel Discussion
This year I was invited to participate in the animal rights panel as part of the National Animal Rights Day. The panel began with a foreword from PETA president Ingrid Newkirk and was hosted by Jane Valez-Mitchell of Jane Unchained News. It was truly an honor to speak alongside so many great activists. The full discussion is now available to watch here. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2674309616168607
Animal Activism in the time of Covid and Black Lives Matter
I was invited to the In Tune To Nature Podcast hosted by Carrie Packwood Freeman alongside Melody Paris, president of Georgia Animal Rights & Protection (GARP). We had a great conversation about how the vegan community can support the Black Lives Matter Movement in a genuine manner. Check out the conversation when you have a minute, it's a great listen.
Reflecting on the Need for Black Lives Matter Protests
So many people are beginning to wake up to the harsh reality that America has catered to a certain segment of its society and that privilege has come at the expense of Black Americans. Sadly, systemic killings of Black people, discriminatory drug laws and the hyper criminalization of Black people has become a common part of the Black American experience. Seeing George Floyd defenseless and begging for his life has burned a hole in so many of our psyches but for many Black people in America George Floyd’s murder was another reminder of the long list of lives that’s been stolen from our legacy.
As our society is starting to feel a sliver of the frustration and outrage Black people in America have felt and I'm reminded of the first time I felt this pain. In 1999 I was a 17-year-old teenager when the murder of 23-year-old Guinian immigrant Amadou Diallo ripped away at my tender spirit. Amadou Diallo was living in New York and shortly after midnight in the stairway entrance of his residence he was confronted by four plain clothes police officers. As Amadou reached for his wallet the officers fired a total of 41 shots at him with 19 of the 41 bullets hitting Diallo’s defenseless body. His last breath painfully crossed his lips and his lifeless body collapsed in agony crashing to the ground.
Diallo was only a few years older than me at the time and I couldn’t accept how his life was taken so carelessly nonetheless by those meant to serve and protect our society. I was angry, hurt, frustrated, bitter and so much more all at once and for so long those emotions shaped how I viewed American society. Amadou’s murder gained some national attention and brought forth minor policy changes to the NYPD but within a year all four officers were acquitted of second-degree murder. This acquittal was just another exclamation mark on my psyche to the reality that the taking of Black life in America didn’t impact American society nearly as much as it impacted Black America.
In my lifetime Amadou became the first of far too many Black men and women that would die at the hands of racially motivated violence. Over the next couple of decades more Amadous emerged, i.e. Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor and the list is still growing as I write this. Sadly I know there will be many more George Floyd’s in my lifetime because racism like many forms of discrimination is a disease we have yet learned to defeat.
Recently I organized a silent protest against police brutality and was surprised at how therapeutic it was not only for me but for all who attended. We had some powerful interactions with the public but one of the most gripping moments was when a father took a picture of his 6-year-old daughter standing with us and this moment brought many of us to tears. Before they walked away he told his daughter that one day when she graduates from college she will thank him for taking this picture. I hope that when that young Black girl becomes an adult our society has evolved away from it’s hateful habits. I hope one day she can show her own 6-year-old daughter that same picture and can tell her it’s from a time long ago when racism and discrimination used to be common place in society.
Would You Work In A Slaughterhouse
Recently I attended a vigil not only for animals but also for slaughterhouse workers. What workers go through will never compare to the violence and suffering animals go through but nonetheless systemic oppression does exist in animal agriculture. Industries that abuse animals also take advantage of marginalized groups and typically these are people of color, immigrants and people in low income communities. In the animal rights community oftentimes many are quick to blindly vilify slaughterhouse workers and ignore the nuance of how these industries prey on disadvantaged people.
When attending these types of vigils I've noticed that the kill line workers are almost exclusively Black or Latino and sadly that isn't an accident. Systemic racism is embedded in American and world culture but in America this has led to Black men being placed in prison at far higher rates than any other race. Animal ag and slaughterhouses often work with prisons to create work release programs for prisoners with limited job opportunities. Killing animals for products isn't just an exploitation that impacts animals it fuels other forms of exploitation because exploitation is the driving force of these industries.
I can never defend any form of animal abuse but I also know that animal violence is normalized in our society so virtually everyone has willingly contributed to the systemic violence towards animals on a regular basis, myself included. For 34 years of my life I wasn't vegan. Although I wasn't as informed as I am now I knew bacon came from killing pigs and I knew leather came from killing cows but I still chose to support these products. In my lifetime I've paid for thousands if not millions of animals to be killed and I feel it would be hypocritical for me to forgive myself for the cruelty I willingly paid for but vilify slaughterhouse workers.
This isn't a pass to excuse animal abuse but if we're going to blindly vilify slaughterhouse workers then we have to also vilify our loved ones who still purchase these products and we also have to vilify ourselves just as much for all the animal suffering we knowingly paid for and contributed to.
video by @treymorrow
Black Perspectives on Vegan Activism | National Afro-Vegan Conference
This is the panel discussion I participated in for the National Afro Vegan Society Virtual Conference. It was such a pleasure to share the room with these great beings, I hope you all enjoy.
