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UnchainedTV: Black Vegan Leaders Celebrate Black History Month · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

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Now, here's your host, Jane Velez Mitchell.
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Oh, welcome.
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Unchained TV, your free non-profit vegan streaming
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television network has been celebrating Black History Month
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with a category devoted to videos about the
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many Black movers and shakers in the vegan
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movement.
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Frankly, there are too many to mention, but
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suffice it to say that according to numerous
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reports and surveys, African Americans are going vegan
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at a higher rate than any other demographic
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group in the United States of America.
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And so today we are speaking with four
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leading Black voices in the vegan movement.
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So much exciting stuff happening.
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We're going to bring it to you and
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tell you what has been achieved and where
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this movement is going next.
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The intersection of Black Lives Matter and the
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skyrocketing vegan and yes, animal rights movement.
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There you got Pinky Cole, one of the
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leading stars, but we've got a lot of
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stars here today as well.
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And I am so honoured and thrilled to
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have them.
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We're talking eat plants.
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All right.
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Let's just start with maybe the person geographically
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closest to me, Gwena Hunter.
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You are such a mover and shaker.
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Vegans for Black Lives Matter.
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And then the Vegans of Los Angeles Food
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Bank, the first vegan food bank in LA.
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How does that intersect with Black Lives Matter
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and Black History Month?
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Well, as far as Black History Month is
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concerned, so the food bank is the first
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brick and mortar vegan food bank ever in
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Los Angeles.
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And I also believe we've been doing a
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lot of research.
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I haven't found the evidence that this is
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not true, but we believe that I'm the
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first Black woman to lead a brick and
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mortar vegan food bank in the country.
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I know that there's other outreach programmes, but
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as far as an actual certified vegan food
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bank, it appears that I may be the
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first one, hopefully definitely not the last.
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So that's how it intersects with Black history.
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As far as everything else is concerned, I
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will say that I started this out really
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doing a lot of the work with Black
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Lives Matter, Black Women Farmers of LA, a
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lot of Black different organisations.
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And the work has just expanded.
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And for me, it's about food being an
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entitlement, nutritious food as a birthright for all
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human beings.
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So it's part of Black history, but it's
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also part of planetary history as well.
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And so just trying to change the narrative
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about free food and our entitlement to it
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as well.
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Well, I want to show people who don't
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know exactly what goes into it.
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It is super hard work.
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Check this out.
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When I first started the food bank and
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people were coming to volunteer, I was very
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meticulous in telling people, come with a heart
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ready to serve.
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You're spreading love.
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And that's exactly what this is about.
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And we need to start taking care of
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one another.
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Hi, my name is Gwenna Hunter.
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We are here at Hope On Union, also
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part-time vegans of LA food bank.
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And this location used to be a butcher
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shop.
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Every third Thursday, we serve approximately 300 people.
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And of those 300 people, the average amount
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of people in their family is between 4
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.5 and 5 people.
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So we do this based on first respect
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and also love and compassion.
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We give them the choice of what it
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is that they want and how much that
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they want.
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Some food outreach programmes or food banks just
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give people, everyone has to take whatever is
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there.
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But we let people have their dignity and
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make the choice.
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The impact that I hope that the food
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bank has in the community is that people
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are influenced to eat more plant-based.
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So that people will experiment with the different
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food options that we give them, the vegan
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shrimp, the vegan meats, and create some delicious
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meals and decrease their intake of animals, if
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not eliminate.
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Congratulations, Boyd.
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Just amazing work.
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And the woman clapping there, Najah Wright-Brown,
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is pretty much approaching the same issue, but
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from a different perspective.
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So Najah Wright-Brown, will you tell us
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please about Land of Kush?
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We've got a little video of it.
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Why you describe?
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Land of Kush is celebrating 13 years.
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We are a multi-award winning vegan soul
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bistro, a fast casual establishment.
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It's owned by myself and my husband, Gregory
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Brown.
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We hire from within the community.
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They learn how to run a business at
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the same time.
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We are, I believe, we're the second Black
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vegan restaurant to open in Baltimore in 2011.
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So we managed to survive COVID while we've
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watched a lot of friends, unfortunately, have to
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shut down.
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So it is a grind every day, but
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Black history is every day.
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So every day we're open, we're making history.
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Why do you think you survived?
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Because there is a lot of focus now
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on vegan restaurants closing.
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I think we're in a consolidation.
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And personally, I think one of the reasons
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is that so many non-vegan restaurants are
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offering a lot of vegan options, but what
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was your magic key to surviving the pandemic?
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You have to stay relevant.
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We're constantly marketing.
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We're also involved with events.
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So we co-created Vegan Soul Fest along
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with Brenda Sanders.
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That's an event.
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We co-created Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month.
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That's an event.
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I'm constantly talking about all the things that
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I do along with Black Veg Society.
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That's why we have Naja Speaks.
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I'm helping people to find their vegan soul
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through food, people, events, and culture.
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So I believe just staying relevant, staying in
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the face of people, organisations, schools, businesses, everyone,
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and just meeting them where they are and
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letting them know that they have access to
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a place to get good vegan soul food.
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I think you're absolutely right.
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Some of the most successful vegan restaurants I
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see are constantly having events.
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They're constantly marketing themselves in this world where
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we went from, you know, 28 years ago
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when I went vegan, there was like two
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restaurants and they were always empty.
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And now it's like hundreds and hundreds of
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them.
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So it is more competitive even within the
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vegan space.
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So I just want to go to our
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next fabulous person.
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They're also fabulous that I'm honoured to have
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them with us.
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Brenda Sanders, you are the founder and co
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-executive director of Afro Vegan Society.
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You do so many exciting things.
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Let's just take a look at one of
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the many, many videos that you have.
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And you're really involved in educating people in
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a very sort of meticulous, detailed way.
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Afro Vegan Society is helping disempowered communities take
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back control of their health and environments through
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vegan living.
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Hello, everybody.
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Thank you so much for tuning in to
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the Dump Dairy Workshops.
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Today, I am so, so happy to have
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Dr. Ruby Lathan.
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If you feel like you are just don't
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know how you would ever give up cheese
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or how you would ever just live without
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dairy in your diet, there is hope.
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I felt the exact same way.
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Now you couldn't pay me to eat dairy.
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Big reason that we want to keep dairy
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off the plate is because most of us
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are lactose intolerant, period.
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Most people of colour are lactose intolerant.
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So at least 75% of the population
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in the world is lactose intolerant and probably
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higher than that.
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That is such an important fact, Brenda Sanders.
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Why is it that we have to fight
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so hard to get that essential fact out?
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Industry.
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The dairy industry has so much money and
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so much power.
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And I've been really happy to see that
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some of that power is starting to slip
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away because of education.
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And that's why it's so important for me
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and for my organisation, Afro Vegan Society, to
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constantly be educating people about these facts, about
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these truths, because in many different neighbourhoods and
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communities, this information just isn't available.
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And that's why Afro Vegan Society exists.
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You're all working on the same issue from
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different angles.
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Jasmine Leyva, you've done an extraordinary film, The
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Invisible Vegan, which we're proud to say is
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streaming on Unchained TV.
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And you're approaching it from a cinematic perspective
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and also telling your personal story.
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Let's listen to just a small clip.
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I urge all of you to watch the
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actual film as it streams on Unchained TV.
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But let's watch a short clip and then
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get your sense of where we are.
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I grew up in D.C. eating the
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standard American diet, meat, dairy, fruit, veggies, bread.
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And I remember my grandma would make me
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these big breakfasts with like sausage, eggs, and
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fluffy butter biscuits.
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You know, I lived for them.
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And at the time, I never questioned what
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I ate.
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If it tasted good, I ate it and
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got seconds.
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So what are you making?
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I'm making some turkey legs and turkey wings,
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spaghetti, and a salad.
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My entire family eats meat.
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So that's what I knew, and that's all
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I knew.
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By the time I became a teenager, I
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had heard of vegetarianism, but I had no
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idea what a vegan was.
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Then when I was 20, I moved to
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Los Angeles, and that's where I learned what
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a vegan was.
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I was like, you know, that's that white
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people stuff.
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But then I worked on a lifestyle series
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where we were interviewing Bobbette Davis, the owner
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of this vegan restaurant called Stuff I Eat.
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She was 65 at the time, and her
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body trumped mine.
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She was the first Black female vegan that
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I ever met.
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She unknowingly inspired me to lead up on
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plant-based diets, and the more I read,
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the more I became inspired to go vegan.
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Wow, Jasmine, what a great story.
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And she also inspires me.
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Chef Bobbette is unbelievably fit.
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So we've gotten all these different perspectives.
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Where are we in terms of the African
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-American community and veganism?
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Oh, so I think now we're in a
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place where we're getting the visibility that we
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should have gotten a long time ago, because
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for a long time, you know, no one
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wanted to bring culture and race and heritage
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into the conversation.
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So now we're finally able to bring it
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in the conversation, and we're finally able to
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pay respect and reverence for the people who
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actually poured into these movements.
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And I'm talking even the green movements.
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When we say, oh, this is green and
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sustainability and health, I want to cut in
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like, oh, when you say green and sustainability,
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do you mean indigenous knowledge?
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Is that what you mean?
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And so now for Black History Month, I'm
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just thankful that we get to claim the
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knowledge that we brought to the table.
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Well, this is a hot subject.
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We've got callers lined up.
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I wanted to set up all of our
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guests before we go to the callers, but
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let's hear from Lindsay and Tarzana, your question
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or thought for our panel on Black History
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Month and veganism.
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Yes, I just wanted to comment that I
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am blown away by these women and the
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accomplishments that they all have made and continue
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to make.
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And I think it's so important, the message
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that they're putting out there for everyone.
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And I'm so proud to have the opportunity
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to know them and to also learn from
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them.
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There's so much to learn.
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I can't wait to watch the movie you
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were just talking about that sounds so great,
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The Invisible Vegan.
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And I have one quick question for Nadja.
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How did you come up with the name
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Land of Kush?
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Please explain.
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Thank you.
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Absolutely.
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The Land of Kush is a birth, is
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the brainchild of my husband, Gregory Brown, who
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studies the African diaspora.
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I myself, I'm Afro-Latina, but he studies
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the African diaspora and he wanted to come
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up with a name that kind of started
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conversation.
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Kush is an ancient African civilisation in Africa
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along the Nile River.
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When people think of Kush, you know what
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they think of, but it opens a dialogue
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to teach people that Blacks weren't always slaves.
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We were powerful rulers and we still are
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powerful rulers.
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So you could do your research by finding
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out the Land of Kush in Ethiopia.
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Wow.
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Okay.
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We've got another caller, Lauren in Indiana.
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Your question or thought for our team of
13:53
African-American vegan leaders, Black vegan leaders.
13:59
Oh, louder.
14:00
Next for, is this all right?
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Yep.
14:06
What's next for your work around food insecurity,
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particularly around people of colour?
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And that was addressed to who?
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Gwena.
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Got it.
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Gwena, go for it.
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So what's next?
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Actually, what I'm actually doing now is we're
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now implementing more educational opportunities.
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We're working with USC, University of Southern California,
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where we're going to be doing live cooking
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classes.
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There's going to be some other free food
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programmes.
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We're going to have panels and speakers at
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libraries and at churches and different events like
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that.
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So that's what's happening for the rest of
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the year.
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And I like to say what I'm, the
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work I'm doing is, I know we use
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the word food insecurity, but I like to
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say I'm liking to make people food secure.
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So working on making everyone food secure, and
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then just, again, changing the narrative and the
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stigma around free food, food entitlement and food
15:07
banks in general.
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I like that.
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It's a positive description of it as opposed
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to insecurity.
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We're just talking about food security, which let's
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face it, like air and water, there's three
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things we can't live without air, water, and
15:21
food.
15:22
All right.
15:23
Nilofar in Dallas, Texas, your question or thought.
15:28
Hi, what's an inspiring panel of movers and
15:31
shakers?
15:32
Question is for Jasmine Leyva.
15:36
The Invisible Regan is an excellent documentary addressing
15:40
both health and justice, health and social justice
15:44
issues.
15:46
Is there room to expand on the message
15:48
to explicitly use language, acknowledging the tyranny of
15:53
the human animal versus non-human animal, and
15:58
thus inspiring advocacy based on ethics?
16:02
What this does is it would bring ethics
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to the forefront of the intersectionality of social
16:08
justice issues, and the importance of addressing the
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mind-numbing violence against animals.
16:15
Thanks.
16:16
Wow.
16:17
Okay, that's a hot potato.
16:19
Are you ready for that one, Jasmine?
16:21
Hot potato caught.
16:23
When I made my film, I was very
16:27
strategic about how I wanted to present my
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vegan messaging.
16:32
I did make my message toward the Black
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community, just because I felt like at the
16:38
time that community was left out of the
16:40
vegan conversation.
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One of the nuances is, unfortunately, at the
16:47
time, the animal rights movement came off as
16:53
somewhat of an entitled movement, and Black people
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had a lot of conflict with that.
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When I organised my film, it's broken down
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into chapters.
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I think animal rights was around chapter seven,
17:07
chapter eight, because I had to gear it
17:09
towards what my audience cared about, and I
17:12
had to be very careful not to trigger
17:15
my audience, because a lot of Black people
17:18
felt like we are treated...
17:21
All of the things that we talk about
17:22
that these animals are going through, we're going
17:25
through this.
17:26
We're being beaten.
17:27
We're being mistreated.
17:30
We're being killed.
17:31
As long as that is happening to my
17:33
body, it's going to be a hard thing
17:35
to ask them to prioritise what's going on
17:39
with a chicken or cow, even though some
17:41
might argue it's equally horrific.
17:45
But I did have to be very strategic
17:47
about how I put that information in my
17:50
film, but it is in there.
17:52
You're raising a very important point in terms
17:56
of comparing any animal suffering to any human
17:59
group, whether it's, for example, women.
18:02
A lot of people feel insulted.
18:05
We've so demonised animals that to compare a
18:08
human in any way, shape, or form to
18:10
an animal is perceived as an insult.
18:12
Why should it be?
18:14
These are innocent creatures who are totally innocent.
18:17
Why is any comparison somehow insulting?
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I've come up against that too.
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It's a tricky one, but we have to
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meet people where they are.
18:32
What I've always said is, if there's an
18:35
explanation that offends people, find another way to
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explain it.
18:38
That's how I've dealt with it.
18:40
All right.
18:40
We've got still other callers.
18:42
This is exciting.
18:43
An avalanche of callers.
18:45
Michelle in Los Angeles.
18:48
Hi.
18:49
Can you hear me?
18:50
Yep.
18:51
Oh, great.
18:52
Thank you so much.
18:53
All of you women are so amazing and
18:56
inspiring as well.
18:57
I'm so glad you're bringing awareness to the
19:01
whole point that veganism is not just a
19:05
white thing.
19:06
How do we influence or educate our family
19:11
members and friends without offending them, but also
19:15
enabling them to enjoy the goodness of being
19:19
vegan?
19:21
I want to throw that to Brenda Sanders.
19:24
I mean, I think this is such an
19:26
important point.
19:27
Indeed, you could make an argument that meat
19:30
-eating is commerce colonialism.
19:35
Cows and pigs are non-indigenous to the
19:37
United States.
19:38
The first cow came over on Columbus's voyage,
19:40
and the first pig came over in approximately
19:43
the mid-16th century on a boat of
19:48
a Spanish Conquistador.
19:49
Whereas what was indigenous was maize, grain, and
19:55
potatoes, and all sorts of veggies.
19:58
And yet it's often perceived that veganism is
20:01
a quote-unquote white thing.
20:02
I want you to explain where you're at
20:06
with all that and how do we grapple
20:07
with that?
20:08
Yeah, so a big part of the education
20:12
that we do is giving a history of
20:16
culture and tradition.
20:18
And that's a really, really important thing because
20:20
we have been so programmed to believe that
20:24
this is food, this should be accepted as
20:27
food, it's always been food.
20:29
When in fact, a lot of the foods
20:31
that we're eating, like you were saying, are
20:33
very recent additions to our diets.
20:36
And especially when you're working within particular communities,
20:40
if you're working within the indigenous American community,
20:44
then of course you would educate about colonialism
20:48
and how those animals became food.
20:53
Within the Black community, one of the things
20:55
that surprise people all the time is that
21:00
the milk of an animal is not natural
21:05
for us to consume, for various different reasons.
21:09
It's for infants and it is species-specific.
21:13
And so once these kinds of things start
21:15
being talked about, people are like, wow, I
21:18
did not ever even think about that.
21:20
And it's because of the programming, it's because
21:22
of the advertisement, it's because these things are
21:24
literally and figuratively being shoved down our throats.
21:27
And so that's the biggest thing, just talking
21:30
about it and educating people.
21:32
When Dr. Silas Rao, who is an Indian
21:34
-born systems engineer and founder of Climate Healers
21:37
described the marketing of fast food as commerce
21:43
colonialism, I thought, wow, that is really, really
21:47
powerful, a powerful way to describe it.
21:52
And it could appeal to people in terms
21:55
of making it politically incorrect to consume it.
21:58
We've got one more caller and then we're
22:01
going to get deep into that issue.
22:04
Paige in Los Angeles, your question or thought
22:06
for our panel.
22:07
Yes, thank you very much.
22:09
I want to ask each one of them,
22:11
each one of you, how can we, the
22:14
listener, and we, the supporters, specifically support each
22:18
one of you?
22:19
Thank you.
22:20
Wow, great question.
22:22
All right, why don't we start?
22:24
We'll start with Gwena.
22:25
You're in Los Angeles, so is Paige.
22:27
And I know Paige supports you and many
22:29
other organisations.
22:30
Go ahead.
22:31
Yeah, we always could use money.
22:34
That is very, very important.
22:37
It cost me over almost $6,000 a
22:40
month to run the food bank.
22:43
It's not cheap.
22:44
So go to VegansLA.com, so if you
22:47
scroll, you'll see the donate button.
22:49
Please donate because, you know, it's not free
22:52
to be on this planet.
22:55
Also, if you want to, you know, volunteer,
22:58
we could always use volunteers on the Wednesday
23:00
that we are open, which is usually the
23:04
third, between the second and third week of
23:06
the month.
23:07
Just check in with me and I'll let
23:08
you know which week it is.
23:09
And we can always use people to come
23:10
in and help pack and help sort.
23:13
There's always other volunteer opportunities need people to
23:17
help with certain administrative things, send out letters,
23:20
emails.
23:21
So if you have any skills, you know,
23:23
please feel free to reach out.
23:25
All right, and let's hit the next one
23:27
because she asked this of everybody.
23:29
So Brenda, how can people help your organisation
23:32
Afro Vegan Society?
23:34
Yes, so we also have a donate button
23:37
on our website afrovegansociety.org.
23:42
And, you know, folks can go over there
23:44
and donate.
23:45
And we are always looking for to expand
23:49
community.
23:49
And so we have lots of folks who
23:51
are just on our email list on our
23:53
volunteer list, who may have certain skills that
23:56
could really, really help us out.
23:59
So if you head over to afrovegansociety.org,
24:02
hit that donate button and also join our
24:06
email list on with the newsletter, and that
24:08
would be so much help.
24:10
All right, Naja.
24:12
Yes, get money donate at blackvegsociety.org, blackvegsociety
24:18
.org.
24:18
If you are in the Baltimore area, please
24:20
come see us at Land of Kush.
24:23
You can go to landofkush.com for more
24:25
info there.
24:27
And if you can't do any of that,
24:29
follow me and Naja Speaks, go to najaspeaks
24:31
.com.
24:32
Tune in, I contribute for Unchained TV.
24:37
And yeah, let me help you find your
24:40
vegan soul or your friend's vegan soul through
24:42
food, people, events and culture.
24:45
Yes.
24:45
And Naja is an incredible contributor to Unchained
24:48
TV.
24:49
In fact, we're figuring out a way to
24:51
give her her own show on the streaming
24:53
network.
24:53
That's in progress.
24:54
So support her.
24:56
And you can see her on streaming on
24:59
Unchained TV on a regular basis.
25:01
Jasmine.
25:03
So one thing, if I'm being honest, like
25:05
right now, I'm in a place where I
25:07
kind of have everything I want.
25:09
I have everything I need.
25:10
So if you wanted to know how to
25:12
support me, just keep supporting the cause.
25:15
Do exactly what you're doing right now.
25:17
Educating yourself, spreading the information that you've learned.
25:20
And Paige is a fantastic human being.
25:23
You've had me on your show.
25:24
You've welcomed me.
25:26
You know, just keep being that light in
25:28
the world.
25:28
So it supports the world beyond me.
25:33
Fabulous.
25:34
Well, donate and support and stay active.
25:37
We've got one more caller, man.
25:39
They're coming in today.
25:40
Sarah in Los Angeles, your question or thought
25:42
for our Celebrate Black History Month with Vegan
25:46
Leaders show.
25:49
Hi, I was wondering if you guys have
25:51
any events coming up for Earth Day, if
25:53
you guys are going to be collaborating with
25:55
other organisations.
25:58
And I just wanted to see what your
25:59
future in your different groups in your organisations,
26:03
what your future projects are for this year.
26:06
Thank you.
26:07
Oh, good question.
26:08
Okay.
26:08
Well, why don't we start with Najah?
26:10
You have so many groups.
26:11
Honestly, I was like, well, how do I,
26:14
what's my lower third for Najah?
26:16
Because it would be the world's longest lower
26:18
third.
26:19
Land of Kush, it's what you tell us,
26:23
what are you doing?
26:24
Well, next month is Maryland Vegan Restaurant Month.
26:28
So if you're in Maryland, you definitely want
26:30
to check out mdveganeats.com.
26:32
We have a launch party happening next week
26:34
at Lord Baltimore Hotel.
26:35
So we're always evolving on that project.
26:38
We just announced coming soon is the first
26:41
ever Children's VegFest in Baltimore.
26:44
We're partnering with Baltimore Recreation and Parks.
26:47
So if you're again in the Maryland area
26:49
and the Baltimore area, please, this is for
26:51
everyone, just not Baltimore.
26:53
This is the first Children's VegFest.
26:55
We'd love people to come out, support, bring
26:57
your children.
26:58
So just think Vegan SoulFest, but for the
27:00
children.
27:01
And then again, if you see the announcement
27:03
for Vegan SoulFest, you can come and support
27:05
that as well.
27:06
Myself and Brenda put that on.
27:09
Definitely a great, great, great time.
27:11
So you want to definitely want to be
27:13
there at that event.
27:14
But again, if you follow me at Nadja
27:17
Speaks, you'll find out all about that.
27:19
I'll be talking about that tomorrow on my
27:21
show as well.
27:22
Nadja Speaks.com.
27:23
Subscribe, subscribe, like, share, all of that.
27:25
All right.
27:26
I want to get into the weeds here.
27:29
I think it's absolutely extraordinary that African Americans
27:33
are going vegan at a higher rate than
27:36
the rest of the population.
27:38
And I want to do a round robin
27:40
on why that is, because as far as
27:43
I can see, that's a great fact.
27:46
That's a great development.
27:48
My personal belief is that the meat, dairy,
27:51
and pharmaceutical industries, which I consider one and
27:53
the same, you know, the three heads of
27:56
one big problem, it's a house of cards.
28:00
And if you pulled out one key demographic,
28:03
like African Americans, that would be one key
28:07
demographic that you could pull out.
28:08
I think it would collapse.
28:11
So do you agree with me on that?
28:13
And let's do a round robin on why
28:15
this is happening and how we can actually
28:17
make it grow even further.
28:21
Who wants to kick it off?
28:22
Jasmine, you're smiling.
28:23
So take it away.
28:25
So, you know, one thing I have to
28:27
say, I feel like African Americans leading the
28:30
charge.
28:31
One, we come from a very creative people,
28:34
not to take anything from any other race,
28:36
they're all creative.
28:37
But, you know, we have our own vibe.
28:39
And I think when veganism was presented, it's
28:42
just like, this is just yet another opportunity
28:45
for us to unleash our culinary creativity and
28:50
create something that can sustain our families.
28:53
And I think that's especially important because a
28:56
lot of us, we've grown up, you know,
28:59
under the umbrella of soul food and foods
29:02
that weren't that healthy.
29:04
And seeing members of our family go into,
29:08
you know, have diabetes, high cholesterol, have all
29:10
of these things and need to take all
29:12
of these pills.
29:13
And that became, you know, what we projected
29:15
our fate to be, because it's what we
29:17
saw.
29:18
We didn't see all the juiceries and the
29:20
health food and know that you can do
29:21
chia seeds and flax seeds and avoid all
29:23
of these things.
29:24
So I think for us, it's a chance
29:27
for us to exercise our creativity.
29:30
And it's also a chance for us to,
29:32
we're learning that, oh, this is how I
29:35
avoid getting my leg cut off.
29:39
So we also have that vision of what
29:41
it looks like if you go down the
29:43
wrong path, which I think helps propel us
29:45
down a healthier one.
29:47
Brenda Sanders, we've got yet another caller, but
29:51
I really want to tackle this point is
29:53
the pandemic showed that African Americans were suffering
29:57
the worst effects of the pandemic because of
30:00
underlying health issues.
30:02
Is that a big trigger for people to
30:04
wake up and say, wow, in fact, there's
30:06
a film called They're Trying to Kill Us,
30:10
which is an incredible film about how the
30:13
African American community is suffering disproportionately when it
30:17
comes to health statistics and fast food is
30:20
why.
30:21
Yes, yes, absolutely.
30:23
I was so honoured to be featured in
30:26
the film They're Trying to Kill Us.
30:27
And just if I could let people know
30:29
right now, They're Trying to Kill Us is
30:31
a very powerful film that features John Lewis,
30:35
the badass vegan, and it's streaming free right
30:39
now, only for the month of February, Black
30:41
History Month.
30:42
And you can watch it for free, again,
30:45
for free.
30:46
This is really important.
30:48
Families, churches, whoever need to log in and
30:53
get into this film, they'retryingtokillus.com.
30:57
And yes, absolutely, a lot of those themes
30:59
are explored in the film.
31:01
A lot of those things are being explored
31:03
by vegan activists, Black vegan activists.
31:06
And it's absolutely a huge reason why all
31:10
this attention is being put on plant-based
31:12
eating and vegan living is our circumstances.
31:16
The fact that we are leading in most
31:20
of the diet related illnesses right now, and
31:22
people want to change.
31:24
We want to do something different.
31:25
I think that's a large part of the
31:27
reason why you've seen this shift in our
31:29
culture.
31:31
I mean, but two-thirds of Americans are
31:33
overweight or obese.
31:36
And we've got a crisis in this country.
31:39
Honestly, I was in the Dallas, I went
31:42
to speak at the best plant-based conference
31:44
ever.
31:44
And I was sitting in the Dallas, Fort
31:46
Worth airport.
31:47
And I was surrounded by people who had
31:50
been wheeled up, and they were morbidly obese,
31:53
and they were not old.
31:55
So they were younger people.
31:56
And then I looked across and I see
31:57
two parents feeding nuggets to a kid, stuffing.
32:02
And I thought, well, if you were going
32:04
to give a cigarette to a kid, people
32:07
would call child services.
32:09
But even though processed meat is officially cancer
32:12
-causing, according to the World Health Organisation, people
32:15
are shoving this down their kids' throats.
32:17
The US government is subsidising dairy and trying
32:21
to force kids to drink dairy in when
32:24
the global majority and even the National Institutes
32:27
of Health itself says 67% at least
32:30
of all people, this is on the NIH
32:33
website, are dairy intolerant, are lactose intolerant.
32:39
It's a crazy, crazy mixed up world.
32:43
And yet we haven't hit the tipping point
32:45
where, let's say, since this is Black History
32:48
Month, and we're talking about that particular demographic,
32:51
where it's become politically incorrect for, let's say,
32:55
the Black community to buy fast food.
33:00
It's still happening across the board, Naja.
33:04
Yes.
33:05
So the question on why we're on the
33:08
rise, one, I'm going to shout out Tracy
33:11
McWhorter's African American Vegan Start a Guide.
33:13
This is nothing new.
33:14
If anyone remembers Dick Gregory, Dick Gregory was
33:18
also an animal rights activist.
33:22
So if you go to page 32, go
33:24
to Afro, African American Vegan Start a Guide,
33:26
32, it'll tell you the history.
33:29
1915, it was a Vegetarian Food Congress conference.
33:34
This is nothing new to us.
33:36
It's just we weren't being paid attention to.
33:39
So the reason why it's growing now, again,
33:42
we've talked about the health disparities, the type
33:46
2 diabetes, and the heart disease.
33:49
There's seven major reasons that I've seen in
33:53
this article, the GRIO, and I just posted
33:55
a link there.
33:56
I don't know if we can share that.
33:57
I'm sure.
33:58
We'll have listed this, and I have talked
33:59
about this on my show.
34:01
Saving the animals, saving the environment.
34:04
People are becoming aware due to the works
34:06
of people like Brenda and Jasmine and Gwena
34:10
and myself, just pushing the word out there.
34:13
Generation after generation, culture is culture.
34:16
You're being taught one way, and you have
34:18
to unlearn that.
34:19
So this is the reason why that's happening.
34:22
And it's not a new fad.
34:23
Again, it says that in the seven reasons.
34:26
This is not a new fad for Black
34:29
people.
34:29
Globally, we have been aware of this.
34:33
But I just want to get back to
34:35
it again, and I want to ask Gwena
34:37
Hunter, I think that, and correct me if
34:41
I'm wrong, that there has been, at least
34:43
until recently when all these stories started coming
34:46
out about African Americans switching to veganism at
34:49
a higher rate than the general population, that
34:51
there had been this sort of perception as
34:54
veganism as kind of some effete, hipster, mostly
34:58
white thing, fad, that was practised in Brooklyn
35:02
and Venice, California, and that it wasn't for
35:06
African Americans.
35:07
I mean, has that been shattered, hopefully?
35:12
And what are your thoughts on that?
35:14
Again, I ask because I truly feel that
35:18
if this demographic were to shun en masse
35:21
fast food, it would trigger a collapse of
35:24
modern day industrialised animal agriculture that is killing
35:29
everybody, but disproportionately killing African Americans.
35:32
Can I just piggyback on what I just
35:34
said for a minute?
35:35
Because you're clearing something up for me in
35:39
my head.
35:41
Veganism was birthed out of vegetarianism.
35:44
Okay, can we agree on that?
35:46
It was birthed out of that.
35:47
And sometimes, you know, and I've heard this
35:50
in the communities, that this veganism was formed
35:54
to create a division.
35:55
Now, I don't know how true that is
35:57
or not.
35:58
I mean, everything is about division.
35:59
But when you look at it, some of
36:01
the vegans, you know, it could feel like
36:04
colonialism or demanding, or you have to do
36:07
this.
36:08
Black people don't want to be told what
36:09
to do.
36:10
We have to go in our communities and
36:12
tell and teach with our face and how
36:15
we do it, not how y'all are
36:17
doing it.
36:18
It's how we're doing it, and we're going
36:19
to do it our way.
36:20
And you've got a group of people, and
36:22
there's more people out there that are doing
36:24
it their way.
36:25
It's not or, it's and.
36:26
We're going to do this and.
36:28
Okay, it's not just black, white, grey.
36:30
People have to have their own journey to
36:32
get to where they need to be to
36:34
become vegan, or plant-based, or wherever it
36:38
is that they're going.
36:39
So we're still in the minority here.
36:42
You know, I think we're still under 10
36:43
% of the population in the United States.
36:46
So, you know, not even talking globally.
36:48
So we shouldn't be demanding or pointing fingers.
36:51
We should be compassionate and working with people
36:54
and trying to love.
36:55
And that could be the turnoff to some
36:57
of the Black Americans.
36:58
I guess everyone else can speak to that.
37:00
Yes, I, Gwena, take it.
37:03
She's a perfect segue.
37:05
To answer your question in its entirety, that
37:08
thing that for me is being shattered.
37:11
But there's still a lot of work to
37:12
be done because it isn't the most important
37:14
conversation on everybody's mind.
37:17
That's Black, that's African American, that's having health
37:20
issues.
37:21
So there's still a lot of work to
37:22
be done.
37:24
One of the two things that I've noticed,
37:27
one, the way, in my perspective, the way
37:35
African Americans just actively engage, and the way
37:38
we talk to each other, and the mercy
37:40
and grace, and the education, it's not as
37:45
harsh.
37:46
In the white community, you know, what I've
37:49
seen in the past, not really at this
37:51
moment, but in the past, it can be
37:53
extremely judgemental.
37:55
It can be punishing if you make a
37:57
mistake and you go in a group and
37:58
you say, hey, what's wrong with honey?
38:00
And 500 people make a comment and it
38:02
impacts a person.
38:03
So to me, we are more, for the
38:07
most part, we are, there are exceptions obviously,
38:09
but we are more gentle and we are
38:12
more compassionate with one another.
38:14
You know, I said, when I first got
38:16
into the movement, I didn't really know any
38:19
Black vegans except for the ones that I
38:21
would see online or at conferences.
38:24
And then my first thing, in situations where
38:26
I was a person, you know, I could
38:29
share, you know, certain feelings or certain things
38:33
and it would just be, it wouldn't be
38:35
a big deal.
38:36
But if I had a certain conversation in
38:38
the white community, it would be like, oh,
38:40
you can't do this.
38:41
And it would just be a lot more
38:44
cool, a little bit more harsh.
38:46
And so for me, I feel like more
38:48
love and acceptance and room to make mistakes,
38:52
get up, start over, forget about it, do
38:55
it again.
38:56
And that's also one reason.
38:58
I go on Instagram, I see all these
39:02
beautiful Black people making all this amazing food
39:04
and it's fun and it's beautiful and we're
39:07
having a great time.
39:09
We can't forget that.
39:10
Yes, it's horrible.
39:11
Animals are being killed right this moment.
39:13
It's a horror movie, but we can't live
39:16
in that all the time.
39:18
To me, that kind of starts to develop
39:20
a mental illness when you're constantly looking at
39:23
the darkness of a situation.
39:25
You got to get up, you know, nothing
39:27
wrong with being in the dark.
39:28
I embrace my dark side all the time,
39:30
but you got to get up and get
39:31
back into that light.
39:32
You got to have a good time.
39:33
You got to make it fun.
39:35
Play with all the different elements of this
39:37
movement.
39:37
Play with the cooking, play with the activism,
39:40
go to the protests, go do education, like,
39:43
you know, get involved in all of it.
39:45
But sometimes I see on the other side,
39:48
it just gets a little bit too harsh
39:49
and kind of mean and critical.
39:51
And that's where it starts to turn people
39:53
off.
39:54
Well, what I'm hearing is that if we
39:56
want to truly revolutionise the vegan movement within
40:02
the Black community, already there's huge advancement.
40:07
The Black community is ahead of the general
40:09
population.
40:10
But what's required is to foster leadership within
40:14
the Black community, as opposed to people who
40:17
are not in that community saying, here's what
40:19
you should be doing.
40:20
And be compassionate.
40:22
Is that what this is not about?
40:24
Is this not about love?
40:25
Is this not about equality?
40:27
Is this, like, you got to be the
40:29
things that you're talking about, and often people
40:31
are not those things.
40:32
They talk about it, but when that moment
40:35
comes to actually embody it, they can't.
40:40
Yeah, these are all incredible points.
40:42
Naja and then Jack, let's hear from everybody,
40:45
but you were shaking your head, Naja.
40:47
No, that's right.
40:48
You know, you can't, no one has to
40:50
do anything.
40:51
And whoever's watching and looking, the Black person,
40:55
African, they don't have to do anything, you
40:59
know, but be in their skin.
41:01
You're coming to educate on the reasons why
41:03
they should be vegan and the benefits, and
41:05
that's great.
41:07
There's people that's starving out there.
41:09
They're not going to bypass a piece of
41:11
meat because you're talking about being vegan.
41:13
Like, let's have some common sense here.
41:15
We can only do what we can do
41:17
to educate the masses and in hopes that
41:20
they will make change, right?
41:23
Yeah.
41:24
Oh, yes, absolutely.
41:27
I mean, I'm coming here from a perspective
41:29
of, wow, this is an incredible development.
41:34
How can this phenomenon of African Americans essentially
41:43
leading the vegan movement be accelerated even?
41:49
I want to go to one quick thing,
41:51
but I think you had something to say,
41:52
Jasmine, then we'll jump over.
41:55
Yeah, I guess kind of piggybacking off of
41:57
what everyone said, like just the importance of
42:00
humility.
42:01
And then when you're thinking specifically about the
42:03
Black American community, like really think about it.
42:06
This is one of the first times in
42:07
history that Black Americans have even had somewhat
42:12
bit of control over what they put in
42:15
their bodies.
42:16
For the longest time, if you're going historic,
42:19
we were fed the scraps.
42:20
And then it took a while for Black
42:22
people to get entrepreneurial footing in this country.
42:24
Yes, there were some people who were doing
42:26
well, but I look at my grandmother.
42:27
My grandmother was eating mayonnaise sandwiches.
42:31
That's how she was getting by.
42:32
She was giving her kids crackers for dinner.
42:35
And so finally, I'm the first generation of
42:38
Black Americans in my family where I can
42:40
comfortably eat, me and my mom, whatever our
42:43
heart desires.
42:44
So just imagine what it's like to come
42:46
to someone who just got that power and
42:49
tell them, no, you know what, I want
42:50
to take some of that power back and
42:52
control what you eat.
42:53
And then you also are in the body
42:56
of the type of people that took that
42:59
right from us in the first place.
43:02
You have to think heavily about that.
43:04
So it's not saying that you shouldn't tell
43:06
someone to go vegan or you shouldn't educate
43:08
them, but you should take the time to
43:10
learn the nuances of any community that you
43:13
want to educate.
43:14
Wow, this is powerful.
43:16
I'm just thrilled that we're having such a
43:18
deep conversation and not just staying on the
43:21
surface.
43:22
I was trying to think of on our
43:25
category where we have many of the Black
43:28
vegan leaders and videos about them, and there
43:31
are many more, the stadium's full, if we
43:34
would include every single one, which we would
43:36
love to.
43:37
But I was like, who epitomises this phenomenon?
43:41
This was my vote.
43:43
You can have your own votes, but I'm
43:45
going for Pinky Cole.
43:47
Let's watch.
43:47
She's a 30-something powerhouse who founded the
43:51
slutty vegan restaurant chain, and Pinky Cole is
43:54
at it again.
43:58
Drawing lines around the block and then some
44:01
for her superb vegan menu items with risque
44:05
titles like menage a trois and sloppy toffee.
44:10
Why the outrageous name?
44:12
Because we're told, sex sells.
44:15
Not content with a rapidly expanding vegan empire
44:18
of restaurants and food trucks, Pinky Cole is
44:21
out with a book called Eat Plants, Bitch.
44:24
I grew up in a very humble household.
44:27
My father served 22 years in prison, and
44:30
I watched my mother work multiple jobs every
44:33
single day.
44:34
My mom used to come home tired.
44:35
She worked payroll services, she worked at McDonald's,
44:39
she was a musician, she worked at the
44:41
bank, and like, she was literally and figuratively
44:44
Jamaican.
44:47
And I realised that I never wanted to
44:50
work that hard because my mother didn't get
44:53
to fully walk in her purse at that
44:55
time.
44:56
So while my father was in prison, I
44:58
literally said, you know what, I gotta make
45:00
it, because I don't want to grow up
45:02
like this.
45:03
I don't want to have to work so
45:05
hard for the rest of my life that
45:07
I can't afford the level of freedom that
45:09
I want, and I want to be able
45:10
to take care of my mom.
45:12
And that's exactly what I did.
45:13
So I grinded for a very, very long
45:15
time.
45:16
And here we are.
45:17
Literally, I'm still the girl in the grown
45:20
woman body who now has a hundred million
45:24
dollar brand.
45:25
A hundred million dollar brand.
45:32
Thanks to Paige Parsons Roach for supplying that
45:35
video, by the way.
45:37
She went to the event.
45:38
Brenda Sanders, wow.
45:41
And you have to look at one of
45:42
the other more successful entrepreneurs in terms of
45:46
vegan restaurant chains is Kevin Hart, the African
45:49
American radio star and TV star.
45:54
Yeah, I mean, folks are just coming out
45:56
of the woodwork.
45:57
People understand where the future is headed.
46:00
Like, there's just no denying it now, and
46:02
especially within the Black community.
46:04
And I think because such a strong foundation
46:06
is being built at the community level.
46:10
And if it wasn't for that work, if
46:11
it wasn't for, you know, Najee and me
46:13
struggling and sweating and, you know, figuring out
46:17
how to put on Vegan Soul Fest that,
46:19
you know, we exceeded 14,000 people, you
46:23
know, in 2023 as a veg fest, you
46:27
know, a music and food festival.
46:30
And it's just a lot of work.
46:31
It's an awful lot of work on the
46:33
ground, you know, just shifting culture.
46:36
And I think that that's what you are
46:38
talking about, you know, shifting the culture away
46:41
from what it was, you know, what we
46:44
sometimes call slave food, and into a different
46:48
light, into a different direction.
46:50
That's fun.
46:51
That's exciting.
46:52
That's compassionate, like Jenna was saying.
46:55
And that is that it sticks, you know,
46:59
it's not just some passing fad that was
47:01
cute and fun, but it actually is being
47:03
built from the ground up.
47:05
And so that is structural change.
47:08
Everybody, in my opinion, who eats animal products
47:12
is supporting their own oppression, supporting climate change,
47:19
accelerating climate change.
47:21
There was a study in the New York
47:23
Times that was from Oxford University, just came
47:27
out recently, no shock that no other media
47:30
picked it up, even though they love to
47:32
show what I call catastrophe porn all day,
47:34
floods, fires, people drowning, cars being overturned, houses
47:38
floating into the ocean.
47:40
But here was a solution in the form
47:43
of a report from a study.
47:48
Oxford University said heavy meat eaters, which is
47:50
most Americans, can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions
47:55
footprint by 75% by switching to a
48:00
plant-based diet.
48:01
If you think about that for one second,
48:02
that means if everybody switched to a plant
48:04
-based diet, we could collectively reduce our greenhouse
48:08
gas emissions footprints by 75%, which would mean
48:12
that we could return the temperatures back to
48:15
where they were a couple of hundred years
48:17
ago before the start of the industrial revolution.
48:20
It's the solution right there staring us in
48:22
the face.
48:23
And yet there is this intense resistance by
48:27
the media, which is advertiser-based and controlled
48:31
by the meat, dairy and pharmaceutical industry.
48:33
And there's also societal and cultural resistance with
48:40
people always citing their own background.
48:42
I don't care what your heritage is.
48:45
I'm talking black, white, any.
48:47
Oh, I could never go vegan because I'm
48:50
fill in the blank.
48:51
Okay.
48:51
I'm Puerto Rican and Irish.
48:53
I've heard I could never go vegan because
48:54
I'm Puerto Rican.
48:55
I could never go vegan because I'm Irish.
48:57
It's all nonsense.
48:58
It's brainwashing.
49:00
So how do we break through that?
49:03
I'd love to do a round robin because
49:05
if we could get people to stop supporting
49:07
their own oppression, that would be game over.
49:11
Can I say something?
49:13
Well, some people were thinking about how they're
49:17
going to stay alive tomorrow depending on where
49:20
they live and how they're living.
49:21
So that's the priority on their brain.
49:24
But to talk about food and let's say
49:27
the Latino market, Black, Greek and vegan.
49:29
I went up there over the weekend.
49:32
I was there Monday.
49:33
She's doing the damn thing.
49:35
First Afrobaricua to bring the Latin vegan gang
49:40
to like, I don't know.
49:41
I just see she's going to do wonders.
49:43
So how do we bridge the gap between
49:45
us and the Latin community?
49:49
People are doing their thing to bridge that
49:53
gap.
49:53
And we just got to keep on coming
49:55
up with these innovative ways and reaching the
49:57
people.
49:58
So it's going to happen one idea at
50:03
a time.
50:03
And like I said, it's not or, it's
50:05
and.
50:05
We need to do this and, and that,
50:07
and, and that.
50:08
Everybody can contribute in some way to reach
50:10
the people.
50:11
Uh, I, I totally hear what you're saying.
50:15
I guess my sense of panic and, um,
50:19
impatience is that I personally feel, and it's
50:22
not just me.
50:23
I mean, Sir David Attenborough did a incredible
50:26
documentary about how there's only nine boundaries and
50:28
we're breaking through six of them.
50:30
And I just read an article yesterday that,
50:33
uh, the global oceans, if there's a collapse,
50:36
uh, it could create like cataclysmic climate changes
50:41
immediately.
50:42
I, I looked in the article, I was
50:44
like, well, when could this happen?
50:45
It said anytime between 2025 and 2050, I'm
50:48
like 2025, that's two years from now.
50:51
So, uh, I mean, I feel like, yes,
50:55
we have to, you know, as it's the
50:57
same thing that people say, it reminds me
50:59
of that film.
50:59
Don't look up where they're yelling on the,
51:03
on the morning show, Hey, a meteor is
51:06
coming.
51:06
And the host is saying, calm down.
51:08
You're so strident.
51:10
And I don't know what, what, if we
51:12
could do a round Robin on that, how
51:14
do we balance the urgency of the situation
51:16
with the need for people to, to have
51:18
information, um, a process information in a certain
51:22
way?
51:23
Well, one thing I would say is, um,
51:26
as far as like perspective, when you're looking
51:27
at, um, you know, cause everyone wants to
51:31
blame someone, um, they want to have a
51:34
villain.
51:34
So I think sometimes, um, vegans can look
51:37
at the non-vegans like, okay, these are
51:40
the villains because they're contributing to this.
51:42
And I would say maybe go further.
51:45
Um, cause if I was pointing at a
51:47
villain, I would say a lot of these
51:49
people who are feeding their children, this stuff
51:52
they're doing.
51:53
So, because this is what their doctor said
51:55
to feed their children.
51:56
This is what, um, advertising companies are promoting.
51:59
This is what's, um, in the grocery stores
52:02
that they can afford.
52:03
So I would place blame on those higher
52:06
powers, um, when I'm delivering, um, my message.
52:11
And I think that's one of the ways,
52:13
uh, we can, you know, start to see
52:16
change, make sure we point at the right
52:18
people.
52:19
I'm devastated that we're almost out of time.
52:21
So I want to get Gwena Hunter, your
52:23
thoughts on this.
52:24
Um, well, we've used this word and you
52:26
used the word, uh, brainwashing.
52:28
Um, Brenda used the word first, I heard
52:30
her use the word programme, which is a
52:31
really, um, powerful word that I like to
52:34
use because that is what is happening.
52:36
We, all of us have some programme that
52:38
we're running on something.
52:40
Nobody is 100% awakened for everything.
52:44
We're all running some type of programme, running
52:47
some type of story.
52:49
And just like what Jasmine said, it's like,
52:51
we, we need a villain, especially in this
52:53
movement.
52:54
We definitely, you know, the meat eaters are
52:56
ruining this.
52:57
They're doing that, but it's no different than
52:59
when you were eating meat and the programme,
53:01
you didn't wake up from your programme.
53:03
What woke you up?
53:04
Use that because there's all types of different
53:07
ways that people wake up.
53:09
I can talk to a spiritual community when
53:11
my eyes closed.
53:12
If you want to have me talking about
53:14
science or some other stuff, that's not my
53:16
forte.
53:16
Everyone wakes up in the way that they
53:18
are programmed or we're all programmed in certain
53:21
types of ways.
53:22
So like Jasmine said, I think it's very
53:25
important that we stop making enemies.
53:29
You need to stop that.
53:31
And the vegan community is huge for that.
53:33
We love to, you're wrong and you're this.
53:36
And it's like, you know what?
53:38
Yes.
53:38
Veganism is a huge awakening, but we also
53:41
need to clean up our own ish as
53:43
well.
53:43
The stuff that we have going on inside.
53:45
And if we do that, there'll be an
53:47
awakening on levels that are unprecedented, but I
53:52
won't get into all of that right now
53:53
because that's my jam.
53:55
I'm going to burn my vegan police t
54:00
-shirts.
54:04
Can I add to the conversation?
54:07
Yes.
54:08
Because climate change is an emergency and I
54:11
don't think that people have been treating it
54:13
as such.
54:14
I've seen people right now, you know, there
54:16
are tornadoes and floods and mudslides and all
54:20
these things with so much more frequency drought
54:23
and like food prices are through the roof
54:25
and people are like, what's going on?
54:27
Why do these foods cost so much?
54:30
As somebody who is privy to the different
54:33
elements of the food system, I'm like, no,
54:35
it makes perfect sense when you have things
54:37
like floods and droughts and things that directly
54:42
impact the food system and the distribution system,
54:47
because we have this huge industrial, just global
54:51
food system that is absolutely ridiculous.
54:54
All these different elements are just creating a
54:57
really awful tornado of awfulness that is only
55:01
going to get worse.
55:02
And, you know, the Oxford study saying blatantly
55:05
that, you know, changing this one thing in
55:08
mass will change our entire situation.
55:12
That is the reason why I'm constantly pushing
55:15
this information, this education about climate change, about
55:19
the ways in which a plant-based food
55:21
system would help to solve these problems that
55:24
the animal-based food system has caused.
55:29
And we really, it's past time.
55:32
Like we have to be dealing with this
55:33
stuff immediately, right now.
55:35
You know, it's not something that we can
55:36
just be like, oh, you know, that's in
55:38
the future.
55:39
Climate change will happen, you know, later.
55:41
Like we're in the midst of it right
55:43
now.
55:43
And so I do feel that sense of
55:44
urgency as well.
55:46
Yes.
55:46
And bringing in the political aspect, you know,
55:49
talking about leadership with within the African-American
55:55
community on the vegan issue.
55:57
Senator Cory Booker is a vegan and he
56:02
is one of the leading voices inside the
56:06
government, inside the legislative bodies that is speaking
56:11
up for veganism.
56:12
But it's a very, very scary thing to
56:15
do because they have ways of shutting you
56:18
down.
56:19
And so that's another factor is educating the
56:24
politicians.
56:25
I mean, I recently went to a gathering
56:28
and there was a politician there who was
56:30
very up to date on a lot of
56:32
issues, a lot of issues.
56:33
But when somebody raised the issue of health
56:36
and plant-based food, it was like, what
56:40
are you talking about?
56:41
What, what, what, what, what, huh?
56:44
We've got important issues here to talk about.
56:46
Why are you talking about that?
56:47
That's, that was the general vibe.
56:50
And so, you know, it's really hard to
56:51
get people to even acknowledge that this is
56:56
the solution, not even acknowledge that it's a
56:59
solution, acknowledge that this is an issue that
57:01
needs to be discussed.
57:03
Naja.
57:04
It's about money.
57:05
Come on now.
57:06
No, we're not naive.
57:07
It's a capitalist country globally.
57:11
It's about the money because if we're in
57:13
this dire state, all the government has to
57:16
do is put out a mandate.
57:18
They, we've seen it with the pandemic, right?
57:20
It's that simple, but it really isn't because
57:23
it's about the money.
57:25
Yes.
57:26
So I just want to give everybody an
57:28
opportunity to weigh in on this.
57:30
Frankly, our Voice of America show has ended.
57:34
But I said, we are having a really
57:36
fascinating conversation here and I didn't want to
57:39
cut it off because I feel like a
57:40
lot of times when we do shows like
57:43
this, just when things are getting to the
57:46
nitty gritty and we're getting to something that
57:48
is truly solutionary, it's like, well, time is
57:51
up.
57:52
So I just want to give everybody just
57:54
another couple of minutes to dive into this
57:57
because honestly, the future of our civilisation, our
58:01
lives is at risk.
58:05
And I personally believe that the African American
58:09
community in the United States, if it were
58:13
to become, and you could say this about
58:15
other demographics, let's say we're all women, let's
58:18
say women who make 80 some percent of
58:21
daily shopping decisions in society.
58:25
And that's pretty much true across the world.
58:28
If women decided, you know, as a demographic,
58:31
it's politically incorrect to eat meat and consume
58:34
dairy, that would do it.
58:36
So how do we go from where we
58:39
are here to where the ideal situation where
58:43
people drive by a fast food joint and
58:46
say, I can't go in there, I can't
58:49
take that ride because I'm supporting my own
58:53
oppression and essentially it's almost a form of
58:57
self-enslavement.
59:01
Anybody?
59:02
Yeah, I mean, we have to just, and
59:05
I'm always going to say that education is
59:06
key, you know, whatever event that I'm a
59:09
part of, whatever programming, you know, that Afro
59:12
Vegan Society does, whether virtual or in person,
59:17
for me, a big part of it has
59:18
to be about disseminating information and education.
59:22
So panel discussions and people, you know, doing
59:24
talks and things like that, because I feel
59:27
like that's the way to reach the masses.
59:30
We gotta go mainstream.
59:32
You know, we can't just be in this
59:33
echo chamber with other vegans, right?
59:35
I mean, I love vegans, vegans are great,
59:38
but I don't need to talk to vegans,
59:40
you know, I need to talk to mainstream
59:42
folks who don't have access to this information.
59:45
And so talking about the issues, educating about
59:48
the issues, sharing the issues with family, friends,
59:50
coworkers, you know, church members, whomever, it's just
59:54
really, really important that this information gets disseminated
59:58
widely and fairly quickly in order for us
1:00:01
to see a change.
1:00:03
Absolutely.
1:00:04
Okay, Jasmine, your final, final thought on this.
1:00:08
I think more alternatives need to be preached.
1:00:14
If we are talking about, I guess, the
1:00:17
mother that is taking her child to a
1:00:21
fast food restaurant, like the first thing that
1:00:22
comes to my mind is because I wasn't
1:00:24
really eating that much fast food before I
1:00:26
went vegan.
1:00:27
So the first thing that comes to my
1:00:28
mind when I was young, I went to
1:00:29
McDonald's, that was a time when I glorified
1:00:31
my mom, she could do something very amazing
1:00:34
for me because I liked, even though the
1:00:36
food was crap, I loved it.
1:00:38
And so she could feel great as a
1:00:39
mother.
1:00:40
So, you know, just even being conscious of
1:00:42
like, okay, how, what kind of alternatives are
1:00:46
we offering to that?
1:00:47
What kind of alternatives are we offering to
1:00:49
someone who is working two jobs, who has
1:00:51
four children, who doesn't have the time to
1:00:54
make this great plant-based meal with all
1:00:57
the nutrients?
1:00:57
Because yes, rice, beans, you know, a lot
1:01:01
of these are very cheap and affordable, but
1:01:03
they don't, you know, for a child, if
1:01:06
you come, if you're in a home and
1:01:08
you don't have a lot of money to
1:01:09
be kind of constrained to that kind of
1:01:13
simple diet might bring sadness in the house.
1:01:17
So really making sure that when we talk
1:01:20
about the mother who is taking her kid
1:01:23
to McDonald's, we also say, but here are
1:01:26
all these other things that you can do,
1:01:28
not only to just replace the food, but
1:01:31
to give the child more nutrients.
1:01:33
And so that mom can have the sentimental
1:01:35
moment of giving her child a decent meal
1:01:39
that they actually really enjoy.
1:01:42
I hear you.
1:01:43
And I also want to talk, we can't
1:01:46
wrap up this conversation without talking about food
1:01:49
deserts, because that's still a very real thing,
1:01:52
Gwenna Hunter, and you deal with that with
1:01:54
your LA Vegan Food Bank.
1:01:57
Yeah, and just technically, the technical term regarding
1:02:02
a food desert, I'm technically not in a
1:02:05
food desert, because there is a supermarket that
1:02:10
is about a mile and a half away,
1:02:12
but we do operate in a lower income
1:02:16
community where there is higher crime.
1:02:19
So to me, it's not just about just
1:02:21
the food desert, that is one aspect of
1:02:23
it.
1:02:24
But it's also just about taking care of
1:02:27
our community, being the government, not waiting for
1:02:30
them to step in and to do things.
1:02:33
We don't need their permission.
1:02:34
We can do these things on our own.
1:02:36
One of the things that I did want
1:02:38
to mention that I like to do a
1:02:42
lot to, you know, around the people that
1:02:45
I'm with is normalise, change my language regarding
1:02:51
animals.
1:02:53
So, you know, referring, you know, like I
1:02:56
recently lost my cat, and I really went
1:02:59
through the depths of grief with that.
1:03:03
And for a while, I was nervous to
1:03:05
like, let people know that I was still
1:03:06
grieving, because people think and I've had people
1:03:09
like, oh, this cat, like, just get another
1:03:11
one, get over it.
1:03:12
And it's like, no, that was a soul.
1:03:13
That was my child.
1:03:16
So normalising the language around your love and
1:03:20
your compassion and the way you view animals
1:03:22
and calling them mothers and fathers and sisters
1:03:27
and brothers, because, you know, you got to
1:03:30
get in the heart.
1:03:31
That's how you stay.
1:03:33
It's to me, it's all about the moral
1:03:35
compassion.
1:03:37
So yeah, I just wanted to add that
1:03:40
is, you know, normalising our feelings and our
1:03:43
language regarding animals.
1:03:45
Absolutely.
1:03:46
That's such a powerful thought.
1:03:49
So, Jasmine, your final, final thought, and then
1:03:53
we'll go to Brenda, and then we'll wrap
1:03:54
it up, because this has been a really,
1:03:56
really powerful conversation.
1:03:58
My final thought, one, Jane, I love the
1:04:02
panel of women that you've chosen to have
1:04:05
on the show today.
1:04:06
And one of the reasons why I like
1:04:07
it is because, you know, during Black History
1:04:09
Month, there are a lot of, and I
1:04:11
want to say this without taking anything away
1:04:13
from anyone, there are a lot of, you
1:04:16
know, more trendy vegans who, you know, they
1:04:20
do something great, and then it blows up.
1:04:23
And then all of a sudden, they become
1:04:25
the faces of the plant-based movement, but
1:04:28
they haven't necessarily, you know, done the work.
1:04:30
And even me, I would say, I would
1:04:32
put myself in that category a few years
1:04:34
ago, where I felt like, yes, I did
1:04:37
this film and I went vegan, but I
1:04:39
haven't put in some of the work that
1:04:41
some of these other people have put in
1:04:43
the movement.
1:04:44
And I want to acknowledge that.
1:04:45
And I want to say that the women
1:04:46
that you have on this panel today, like,
1:04:49
they might not be super trendy and, you
1:04:52
know, like, world-renowned, but you pick women
1:04:55
who are doing the work.
1:04:57
So, thank you for recognising that.
1:04:59
Well, I actually thought that you all are
1:05:01
trendy and world-renowned.
1:05:03
In my opinion, that's how I feel about
1:05:05
you.
1:05:06
But you get what I'm saying.
1:05:08
Everybody has their 15 minutes.
1:05:11
And sometimes it's 45 minutes and sometimes it's
1:05:14
10 minutes.
1:05:15
But I think that, you know, to your
1:05:18
point, Gwena, where you said we have to
1:05:20
clean up our own act, I think it's
1:05:21
really important that we start getting rid of
1:05:23
our own egos, or at least putting a
1:05:26
little kybosh on the ego of who did
1:05:29
this, who's responsible for that, who made this,
1:05:31
who's leading this, because, again, you know, there's
1:05:36
nothing to bring people together like a climate
1:05:39
crisis.
1:05:40
And when I say climate crisis, I'm not
1:05:43
just limiting to that.
1:05:44
Let's face it.
1:05:45
As far as I can see, going plant
1:05:49
-based as a global culture would solve human
1:05:52
world hunger, since a huge percentage of the
1:05:54
food, if not most of the food being
1:05:56
produced, is being fed to farmed animals.
1:05:59
It would stop climate-related or help mitigate
1:06:03
mass climate-related migration, which is an aspect,
1:06:06
for example, of the immigration crisis that nobody
1:06:09
discusses, that a lot of temperate land where
1:06:11
people work the land for centuries and aeons
1:06:14
is no longer temperate, and they can't stay
1:06:16
there and grow their own food, so they
1:06:18
move, because climate change has destroyed the temperate
1:06:23
nature of the land that they've been raised
1:06:25
on.
1:06:26
It would certainly solve the warming of the
1:06:31
planet and the ocean dead zones and wildlife
1:06:36
extinction, habitat destruction.
1:06:38
I mean, the list is very long, preventable
1:06:41
human lifestyle diseases.
1:06:43
So I think that we are looking at
1:06:46
such a huge solution to so many problems
1:06:50
that it's understandable that there's some frustration that
1:06:55
it's not evident to everybody that this is
1:06:59
a super, super important issue at the very
1:07:03
least.
1:07:04
So I just want to thank all of
1:07:05
you for your work, your incredible work.
1:07:08
You've inspired me.
1:07:10
I feel we are on the brink.
1:07:12
Hopefully we'll come back next year for Black
1:07:15
History Month and announce that we've had even
1:07:19
more progress.
1:07:21
And I just want to say to everyone,
1:07:24
thank you so much for being a part
1:07:25
of this really important conversation.
1:07:27
Thank you for having us.
1:07:28
Thank you.
1:07:29
Thank you so much.
1:07:31
It's been great.
1:07:32
And I always take the opportunity to tell
1:07:34
people to please, please download Unchained TV.
1:07:39
We are the world's only free nonprofit vegan
1:07:43
streaming network, and you can download it on
1:07:45
any phone, and you can download it on
1:07:48
any TV.
1:07:49
It's on all Samsung TVs or any TV
1:07:52
via Amazon Firestick, Roku device or Apple TV
1:07:55
device.
1:07:55
It's also available on your phone.
1:07:58
You can download it for free.
1:08:00
Unchained TV.
1:08:01
This video is streaming now and will continue
1:08:05
to stream as well as almost 2,000
1:08:07
other documentaries, including The Invisible Vegan.
1:08:10
Thank you so much, ladies.
1:08:12
Have a great one.
1:08:13
Happy Black History Month.
1:08:16
Thank you.