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In 2018, folks are still getting on board around intersectionality. If you're not the bandwagon, scholar Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term Intersectionality when asked to described the intersection of various identities in one person. To be afro, vegan and feminist is a testament to the idea that black and female vegan are not flat, singular identities. We cross the intersections of many identities and that uniqueness is what creates the beauty in our movement.
To identify as Afro is to find camaraderie and alignment with people of African or African-American descent. We are all over the world representing our roots and many of us identify with being beautiful melanated beings with a culture that reaches back to the continent.
To identify as vegan is to omit the use of all animal products in ones food, clothing, cosmetics and politics. To be a vegan means to stand vehemently against the use and abuse of animals. Vegans choose this lifestyle for many reasons which can include health, environment, and social justice.
To identify as a feminist means to fight and advocate for the equal rights and treatment of women in society. There have been several waves of feminism. From the right to vote to reproductive rights, feminists all over the country and world identify with women having equal rights and living lives that are empowering and fulfilling.
How do all of these three concepts weave together? To be Afro and to fight for the rights of Afro-diasporic people is to acknowledge injustice has prevented many brown and black people from living healthy, safe, and fulfilled lives. This overlaps with the injustice that happens to animals and to our bodies. Unhealthy fast food and other undesirable environmental factors have contributed to the obesity and diseases that plague black communities. Much of the food we deem traditional to our culture is often unhealthy and causes negative health impacts. To omit animal products is to move into the direction of health and wellness. To reduce harm done to ourselves and to the animals who are unjustly held in captivity and used as sources of income; just like black folks were in the days of enslavement.
To add feminism into this mix, we must also acknowledge that women have been treated as second class citizens for centuries as well. Notice, the same systems that dominate black people, animals and women operate in similar ways. They act to separate these groups from their loved ones, create systems where they cannot seek upward mobility or freedom, and are utilized the group for the purpose of financial gain. When we study history, we find that the same systems are replicated to ensure that some groups never achieve freedom, live healthy autonomous lives or find fulfillment.
This website is dedicated to empowering and supporting the camaraderie, compassion and allyship for each of these groups. When we can achieve compassion for Afro people, animals and women, we will have reached a new level in our culture and society. One that pushes the needle towards justice. The hope and intention of this website to create a space where folks of color and women can come find resources, support, and information to maintain a vegan lifestyle that benefits their health, the environment and acts as a catalyst for justice in the world. It all starts with our choices and one vegan meal can get us that much closer to the change we seek in the world.