Hi!
I have put these resources together for those who are maybe like me – fairly new to their anti racism journey or that their veganism (plus those reducing their meat and dairy intake) has so far been limited to animal rights without considering the intersections of veganism and racism.
I began taking an active interest in anti racism in May this year with the resurgence of black lives matter following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Until this point I hadn’t taken my part in upholding racist structures seriously and I hadn’t looked into how my veganism was uninformed with regards to the oppression of often BIPOC communities and individuals. (I wrote a little on this here).
This list features some of the books and resources I have read or watched so far/am currently reading. I will add to this list as I go on and please feel free to send me any resources you would recommend I read and include too. This list is by no means exhaustive and I am very much at the start of my learning journey, one that will take me this lifetime and more. I hope they guide you towards BIPOC individuals who are driving human and animal liberation forwards for the benefit of all.
Books:
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad. (Can’t recommend this enough, coming from someone who didn’t believe there was any element of racism in me, through Layla Saad’s exercises I have unearthed feelings I could never have touched upon otherwise).
- Aphro-ism by Aph Ko and Syl Ko. (I am mid reading this at the minute, it discusses in great detail the intersections of racism, veganism, feminism and more. A must read if you are interested in any of those topics and how they influence one another).
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo . A beautiful fictional book about the intersecting lives of predominantly black women with differing sexualities and cultural backgrounds.
- I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou. (The first autobiography of Maya Angelou’s life growing up as a black woman in the American South, her early years up to when her son was born).
Podcasts:
- https://radiopublic.com/the-yikes-podcast-6nKDQq/s1!6c25e Black lives Matter is more than a trend, with Leah Thomas and Marie Beecham.
- https://thelishlife.com/blog/2020/7/5/episode-6-can-you-eat-the-rich-as-a-vegan Anti oppression activist Iye Loves Life on environmental racism, inclusive veganism and capitalism.
- https://www.doctoryami.com/podcast/110 A lesson in Collective liberation with Iye Loves life.
- https://www.crystalsclitsclimate.com/podcast Joycelyn Longdon on decolonising the climate movement.
- https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/art-and-ideas/back-to-earth-episode-1-how-do-we-get-there/ Suzanne Dhaliwal and others discuss decolonising the climate movement and how art can respond to the climate emergency.
Videos:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiB3spCSYp8&t=40s Christopher Sebastian discussing White Meat: How Did Animal Exploitation Become a Signifier for White National Identity and How Do We Fight It?
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTd1H3EU5W8 Veganism and capitalism with Iye Loves Life
Newsletters and patreons to financially support:
- https://climateincolour.substack.com/about Accessible and diverse climate science and environmental issues newsletter by Joycelyn Longdon. You can subscribe for free or pay for a subscription for even more information into your inbox.
- https://www.patreon.com/xeviemuir Join Evie Muirs patreon and sign up for veganism, anti racism or domestic abuse teachings.
- https://www.patreon.com/ChristopherSebastian Join Christopher Sebastians patreon on “dismantling the institutions that devalue both animal and human communities”.
Online reading:
- https://www.brightzine.co Intersectional Veganism by Evie Muir in Brightzine Magazine.
- https://restlessnetwork.com/call-me-by-my-name/ Call me by my name. Evie Muir asks which terminology should be used when describing racial identity.
- https://www.vogue.com/article/why-every-environmentalist-should-be-anti-racist Leah Thomas on why every environmentalist should be anti racist.
Instagram accounts to follow:
- Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
- Climate in colour
- Iye Loves Life
- Evie Muir
- Queer Brown Vegan
- Intersectional environmentalist
- Brown Feminist Vegan
- Josephine Becker
- Suzanne Dhaliwal
Organisations working towards policy change to stop meat and dairy subsidies and to support farmers into plant based farming that we can financially support:
- https://www.vegansociety.com/take-action/campaigns/grow-green (UK) – would love to know of any others here in the uk too…