However, the site is open to contributions from around the world, fully intended as a “global project”. With its founder based in Florida, Black Vegans Rock has an undeniably American slant. Bringing Black vegans to the foreground offers the possibility of reform that goes deeper than PETA periodically including a brown face in their promotional images. Establishing platforms built around the Black gaze has significantly altered representation within the digital sphere. The potential of this site is refreshing when Black experience is regularly placed on a par with animals as a provocation. Although the site doesn’t officially launch until next month, the Facebook page has already gained well over a thousand likes, indicating a strong demand for pro-Black vegan space.
I think Black creativity, imagination, and collective activism has Afrofuturistic sensibilities in the sense that we’re constantly inventing and re-inventing ourselves and our social worlds.”īlack Vegans Rock puts vanilla veganism firmly to one side. We are such a diverse group of people and highlighting that diversity sparks new imaginations. Coming together in a system that seeks to fragment us and make us de-value all things Black, makes our unity that much stronger. “Collective organization is key to improving Black visibility. With Black Vegans Rock, Aph Koh has the objective of challenging the misconceptions surrounding Blackness and veganism alike: This project provides valuable networking opportunities to Black members of the vegan community whilst showcasing their skills and accomplishments. The site is called Black Vegans Rock and, as the name suggests, aims to generate positive representation for Black vegans by drawing attention to their success. This marginalisation results in the perception that veganism is a movement by and for white people, which certainly isn’t the case.Īctivist Aph Koh recently compiled a list of 100 Black Vegans ranging from Leona Lewis to Angela Davis, and has followed up with a new project designed to highlight the achievements of Black vegans. As is often the case in predominantly white spaces where racism goes unchecked, there is little room for people of colour. By using slavery as a tool to promote vegan values, vegan activists make clear that vegan spaces are frequently racist spaces. Material designed to provoke a white audience is also liable to alienate a Black audience. A white vegan activist took #AllLivesMatter to an entirely new level.īlack lives matter… more than Chickens or Cows lives… apparently. Vegan activists take to Twitter, questioning whether Black lives – Black, human lives – are as significant as the lives of cows and chickens. On Pinterest, perky white girl after perky white girl brandishes a poster conflating veganism with anti-racist politics. A quick search of ‘vegan’ images reveals rows of white people gagged, chained, and shackled in order to make a statement. In reality, the only message these campaign materials send to Black people is this: veganism isn’t for you. This racism, so casually delivered, is designed to add shock value – to trigger a dietary epiphany. The routine comparisons of animal abuse to the enslavement of Black people shows exactly how little value white members of the vegan community, generally considered a liberal breed, place on Black life.
Type ‘vegan’ into Google and you won’t need to scroll through many pages to see what I mean.
Heuchan Follow has a serious race problem.