I updated this from last night because I wanted to write about B12 and provide several more book sources.
The other week, Nina Planck published an article about the risks of raising vegan children and I thought I’d answer some of the statements she made. You can find the article here that I’m referring to: Is Veganism Good for Everyone?
I was getting sick whenever my toddler would bring something home from the playground… but then I added these things to my diet and haven’t been sick since. Watch the video to see what I added.
——— *Grapefruit Seed Extract (Nutribiotic brand):
*Elderberry (boil in water. Never eat fresh elderberry or dried berries unless you have boiled them. If you don’t, you will poison yourself with cyanide that is found in the berry.
Cee Knowledge of Digable Planets, Sistah Vegan, DJ Cavem Moetavation at Brown Suga Festival in Denver on April 28 2012. Keynote speaker: A. Breeze Harper (aka Sistah Vegan)
Video recording of Breeze Harper’s April 28 2012 keynote address for the Brown Suga Youth Festival in Denver, Colorado. ATTENTION: THERE ARE 3 PARTS. SCROLL DOWN FOR PARTS II & III.
Part I (47 minutes)
Breeze Harper
Yup, that’s right.
I said “vagina.”
Stop being squeemish. (LOL)
For real, though, lest’s talk about vaginal health. Yea, it’s a broad topic, but I am going to focus on maintaining vaginal moisture through herbs and food.
They sell so much lube in the stores, I have always wondered if it is ‘normal’ that so many vaginas in the USA have problems with ‘dryness’.
I asked Angela Davis about extending compassion beyond humans as part of social justice and making Occupy Movement successful.
I got to ask her my question about something she alluded to in her keynote, that sounded like she is pro-vegan and anti-speciesist. My husband video recorded my question and the answer she gave me. I felt silly that I didn’t have a copy of Sistah Vegan on me so she could have that reference! ARGGGHHH!!!
And yes, I mispronounced her name… but I was nervous dammit! I mean, it’s not like everyday I get to ask one of my top critical feminist theorists a question!
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated”- it is a MahatmaGandhi’s quote. If Gandhi saw how the livestock in Fukushima have been treated, he would judge us as a heartless nation.
On May 12, 2011, Prime Minister Kan (Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters) ordered the Fukushima Governor to euthanize the remaining livestock in the 20km no-entry zone. Since livestock are someone’s property, Fukushima prefecture has to obtain permission from the owners of the livestock when euthanizing. The decision was made based on the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency. The method of euthanazia should comply with the ones set forth in the guidelines of OIE (The World Organization for Animal Health) and American Veterinary Medical Association (The AVMA). Based on that, the Japanese government uses drugs like tranquilizers and muscle-relaxants to euthanize the animals. There is no humane way of killing, animals always faint in agony before given any of these drugs that definitely put them to death.
The officials of Fukushima government stated that “these livestock does not have any market value. By destroying them, livestock farmers can start a new life.” Animals are property of people. Livestock does not have any value other than as “products.”
According to Yomiuri Newspaper, issued on April 24 2011, there were 4,000 cattle, 30,000 pigs, 630,000 chickens and 100 horses in the 9 effected villages in Fukushima. Most of the pigs and chickens had died by last summer.
Yomiuri newspaper reports that 80% of cattle in the affected areas still remain trapped in the 20 km no-entry zone, as of October 20, 2011. Some of them were abandoned and left to their own devices, while others left locked enclosures to suffer slow death. Those that have been abandoned are being described by Yomiuri, as “invading people’s property.”
These animals are also the victims of human’s arrogance and neglect. They are dying through no fault of their own and in a very sad irony the enslaved creatures who through this terrible event gained their freedom for brief time, are slaughtered in the end, none the less. They are guilty of nothing other than being non-human.
<references>
OIE:
http://www.oie.int/index.php?id=169&L=0&htmfile=chapitre_1.7.6.htm
AVMA:
http://www.avma.org/
Yomiuri Newspaper “野良牛 捕獲１割未満 警戒区域の民家被害” Nov.10, 2011:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111109-OYT1T01023.htm?from=tw
Excerpt from an interview with Afya Ibomo from Frugivore.
I have been a vegetarian for 21 years, and vegan for 15 years. I became a vegetarian because I had asthma, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic dehydration as a child. After awhile, I became tired of taking numerous pills and medications per day. I knew there had to be another way to deal with my illnesses. When I was 15 years old, my mother found an allergy specialist that suggested that the food I was eating could be the cause of my problems. This was the first time that I connected food to health, and simultaneously, the rapper KRS-One had a song out called “Beef”, which discusses vegetarianism, health, and the food industry. Armed with all of this information, I became a vegetarian at age 15. My health improved somewhat, but it did not completely get better until I became a vegan.
Full interview here.
In this video I talk about how I struggle with not being a “mammy” when it comes to accommodating the emotional needs of particular white vegans who do not extend mindfulness to me when they talk to me about ‘their’ post-racial view of veganism.
Here is a useful article to read to understand more about what I mean by “mammyism” . I don’t agree with a lot in this article, but it does give a basic premise of mammyism:
Abdullah, Afi Samelia. “Mammy-Ism: A Diagnosis of Psychological Misorientation for Women of African Descent.” JOURNAL OF BLACK PSYCHOLOGY 24, no. 2 (1998): 196-210.
As if we didn’t need any more evidence that the animal product industry is an intrinsic element of the perpetuation of male supremacy. This is actually an update of an ad from 2005 which featured pathetic looking men jamming into a grocery store lines, their arms occupied by multiple milk cartons. I’m tempted to write a rather long treatise on the various social implications of this ad campaign, but I’m inclined to think that the pictures and links will speak for themselves.
If you’re interested in feeling further offended here’s the mini-site for the campaign:
http://www.everythingidoiswrong.org/#/
In this video I speak about how white male middle-class paternalism ended up offending and upsetting an African American practitioner of vegetarianism and Reiki. This video is an example of how white middle class paternalistic rhetoric becomes an impediment when communicating with “other” communities that don’t fit into the racial-class-gender status quo’s conception of ‘logical healing systems’ or ‘morality.’ I also didn’t say this in the video, but my friend kept the identity of the person who moderated the listserv, a secret, and sent me the quoted response she got from the moderator, in terms of she wanting to post about Reiki.
In this video I speak about how I am also raising money to finish my PhD/dissertation.
If you like what you hear and believe in the necessity of anti-racist and critical whiteness analysis within veganism (in order to help build coalitions and solidarity), please contribute to my fund. I am seeking $10,000 by September to register for school. Thus far, I have received $3200 in contributions (Thank you!!). My critical race and critical vegan dissertation fellowship was not renewed for 2011-2012 year, so this is why I’m seeking assistance. You can email a paypal donation to breezeharper (at) gmail (dot) com. If you’re not comfortable with that, you can email me and I can provide a postal mailing address. Thanks.
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