[Opinion]: Was the 'Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter' Essentially 'All Lives Matter

Question: Was the ‘Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter’ essentially ‘All Lives Matter’?

It would be great to hear from people who attended The Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter if this is the impression they got (after reading the article below). The person who wrote this article below did not attend the conference but they did want to write about the meaning of the conference and poster (see above). This is quite challenging if you didn’t attend the conference and instead, analyze a poster that was meant to represent multiple systems of oppression and intersectionality; that it was not designed to ‘equate’ black people as the same as bulls. As a matter of fact, I make this clear during the conference that we are talking intersectionality and not comparisons.

In addition, the conference speakers made it clear how “black lives matters” is important to use versus ‘all lives matter’ (which is a racial micro aggression) because the latter erases the specific systemic racism and anti-blackness experienced by Black people in the USA . We also discussed Emory Douglas’ work about the use of ‘pigs as cops’ without ever being angry and saying we are ‘offended’. If you attended the 45 minute talk, we discusses how amazing Emory Douglas’s work is and understand why black people used ‘pigs as cops’ because of police brutality. We also asked what an anti-police brutality method can look like without the negative use of ‘pigs’. We asked how we can build on Douglas’s work– not tear it apart.

My dissertation also explains why and how it is completely understandable and logical why comparing black struggles to non-human animals is problematic; and why Afro-centric veganism tends to focus on plant-based diets without much focus on anti-speciesism (the author has not read my dissertation).

If you did attend the conference, please read this article and let me know if this was your impression. Our intention was that opposite of what the author wrote so it’s interesting that despite the intention, this is what came across to her (reminder, she did not attend the conference). Please do not write nasty comments about the author. Please do not feel compelled to defend me. I’m asking the opinion of those who attended the conference to read the below article and share your own conclusions and interpretations. Thanks Check Your Activism for writing this and letting me know that you interpreted the entire intention of my conference as something I had never intended. I appreciate it. I do not agree, but I appreciate the time you took.

Why The Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter is Essentially ‘All Lives Matter’ by Check Your Activism.

Like what the Sistah Vegan Project Does? Find out about our 2016 upcoming conference “The Role of Foodie+Tech Culture in an Era of Systemic Racism and Neoliberal Capitalism”. If you missed our Spring 2015, “The Vegan Praxis of Black Lives Matter” you can download the recordings with slides, here

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