soul veg east September 6, 2008

last night we, my partner, my baby, and i, went to soul vegetarian east, a vegan restaurant on chicago’s southside that specializes in ’soul food’. it was delicious. family friendly. and comfortable. unlike other vegan restaurants we have been to, they had high chairs available, the conversational noise of pleasure and community and jokes. i was so happy to be in a place that was serving healthy, tasty comfort food to black folks. serving our community and all that.

but soul veg east has an interesting history. a history that i, as one who has lived in the west bank, palestine, find contradictory. as the black hebrews who own soul veg east are serving my community good food and vibes, they are also living in dimona, israel.

in israel, dimona, is known as the haven for black hebrews. dimona is a town in the negev of israel. land that was taken, and is continually being taken, from the bedouin who have lived their for millenia. and dimona is the site of where the israeli government keeps their nuclear weapons. nuclear weapons that are threat to anyone who disagrees with their colonialist agenda. nuclear weapons that the israeli government refuses to acknowledge that they possess but they will lock up anyone who publishes information that proves that these weapons exist. to paraphrase an israeli government official: even if we had these weapons we would not say that we had them…
furthermore, the black hebrews, who migrated to dimona from chicago and now has 3000 folks in its community, are not israeli citizens. in 1969, they were offered full citizenship, but then the israeli government rescinded that offer israeli citizenship is only for jews. a few years back the israeli government granted them permanent residency and in 1990, work permits, but refuse to grant them full citizenship unless they convert to state-authenticated judaism.
they have struggled for full citizenship for 40 years.

but what concerns me most is that they live next to/on top of nuclear weapons and that they are living on land that belongs to another people of color also struggling: the bedouins. that the black hebrews are used as a foil in a dangerous game of hide the genocide and the violence.

if they do someday gain the right to full citizenship, they will not only have the right to vote, but also the obligation to serve in the occupying israeli army. and be stationed for two years in the west bank or gaza. to participate even more in the genocide of a people, the palestinians.

so here is a group who advocates strongly for healthy black communities and liberation, that refuses to use animal products in their clothes. their food. their homes. that experiences the usa as a place of enslavement of black folk. that rescinded their us citizenship even though they have not been granted israeli citizenship and thus are not citizens anywhere. and that struggles to be allowed to take more land from palestinians in order to further their own liberation.

did i mention that their lasagna is kickin? and their fried tofu? and i was licking the bowl of their bbq sauce?

and that the us govt paid for the black hebrews school in dimona? and that the israeli govt subsidizes some of their housing?

and thus the contradiction…what is liberation? how can one advocate for the liberation of ‘our’ folks without advocating for the liberation of all beings? what does it mean to be a citizen? and where do i stand in the midst of these questions, since i know very little of the illinois, the miami and other indigenous folks who lived here in ‘chicago’ before the city of chicago was ever here.

PETA Sued by Author of “The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery” September 4, 2008

Although the article,“PETA Is Sued by Author Over Slavery Comparison,”appeared in the New York Sun a few weeks back, I just came across it today (thanks to the latest episode of Animal Voices) and wanted to share it and get your thoughts.

A New York author of an influential book on animal rights is suing the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, saying the group has brought disrepute upon her book.

At issue in the unusual lawsuit is a campaign by PETA to draw comparisons between the suffering of animals and the suffering of slaves. The campaign drew criticism from civil rights groups.

The suit claims that the controversy PETA stirred up will have an ill effect on the reputation of a 1988 book written by the animal rights activist, Marjorie Spiegel, whose work is titled “The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery.”

First-time readers of the book will now “be forced to view it through the distorted prism that PETA has created, rather than on its own merits,” the civil complaint, which is filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, says…

The lawsuit is perhaps the most surprising, but certainly not the first, negative reaction to PETA’s roving exhibit, titled “Are Animals the New Slaves?”

The exhibit, which toured several cities in 2005, juxtaposed images of oppression against black Americans with images of dead, dying, or captive animals. There was, for instance, a picture of a lynching not far from a picture of a cow carcass in a slaughterhouse, according a news report on the exhibit at the time.

The exhibit drew criticism from civil rights groups such as a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Poverty Law Center, according to news reports.

The traveling exhibit, as well as brochures by PETA, used material that appears to be from Ms. Spiegel’s book without permission, the civil complaint claims.

The complaint draws attention to the negative reviews that the exhibit received and positive book reviews Ms. Spiegel’s work garnered.

bell hooks, comfort food, dealing with racism (internalized,overt, and institutional) September 4, 2008

There is a quote that I ran across , while reading the book Breaking Bread by bell hooks and Cornel West:

“We deal with White supremacist assault by buying something to compensate for feelings of wounded pride and self-esteem…We also don’t talk enough about food addiction alone or as a prelude to drug and alcohol addiction. Yet, many of us are growing up daily in homes where food is another way in which we comfort ourselves.
Think about the proliferation of junk food in Black communities. You can go to any Black community and see Black folks of all ages gobbling up junk food morning, noon, and night. I would like to suggest that the feeling those kids are getting when they’re stuffing Big Macs, Pepsi, and barbecue potato chips down their throats is similar to the ecstatic, blissful moment of the narcotics addict.” (hooks 1993)

This quote made me think about MANY things. One of them is that rarely do I encounter mainstream literature about “eating problems” that investigate how these problems can be rooted in one’s way of coping with internalized racism, pressures of racialization, and whiteness as a system in the USA. As a matter of fact, most of the vegan mainstream stuff that gets published that is doing well in terms of sales, tend to assume that the expected audience is white middle class folk. Now, I’m not hating on these authors, just pointing out the “gaps” I see, simply because of my experience as a black female vegan and because I tend to look at food and health issues through a critical race, critical whiteness, and postcolonial feminist analytical lens.
I do understand that one’s book can’t cover ALL issues when trying to write a bestselling book about veganism and diet… so, these authors write something that will appeal to the mainstream which, by default in the USA, is the collective white middle class experience. Yea, it’s marketing and trying to reach out to the largest audience. I’m just wondering about books like “Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven”, which I recently read. It was a “fun” read, but I got the feeling that the expected audience are married straight white pregnant females who can “easily” transition into a whole food vegan diet during pregnancy, if they just “cared enough”. In addition, the authors are very direct about their feelings about “eating right” while pregnant and if you don’t, then you’re being an “asshole” to your body and your baby. Seriously, that is how they talk. I am thinking of how many women of color are trying to eat “right” while pregnant, and many may not necessarily find the transition easy if a) they don’t have access to salaries and stores that allow them organic foods (as it’s been shown the black and brown populations in the USA, at least, have the worse access to ‘healthy’ food), and b) they deal with racism and classism so frequently, reaching for junk food is their comforting way for dealing with surviving through a society that is still in denial about the stresses and pain caused by continuing racisms, classisms, and sexisms.

I CLEARLY remember feeling that I had to be “silent” about the racist-sexist experiences I encountered on a weekly basis, K-12, in my 98% white working class rural New England town. And I clearly remember using junk food (mostly animal based) as a way to deal with what I was not ALLOWED to bring up to my white peers and teacher: racism and expectations of Whiteness on my black female body and mind. When I was stressed about this, I reached for Chicken McNuggets; not broccli or whole grains.
Does anyone think about these things when they’re reading mainstream vegan rhetoric that “yells” at people for not “easily” transitioning into an “ethical” animal-free diet ? Has anyone read literature or other types of rhetoric that ignore how trauma from racism and expected Whiteness influence one’s relationship to comfort “junk” food products? (I put “junk” in quotes because I’m assuming “junk” is subjective).
For this discussion, I am not looking to bash or be hateful toward “white” folk who may not “get” what I’m talking about. Nor am I looking to be judgmental against people of color who eat “junk” food. I’m seeking compassionate and understanding dialogue around these issues, simply because I don’t READ about this stuff in the mainstream vegan and AR literature or see it in vegan outreach campaigns… but know it needs to be talked about.

Source: hooks, bell., and West, Cornel. Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life. Boston: South End Press, 1991.

-Breeze Harper

Exotification & the Vegan Traveler September 2, 2008

I’ll say it up front: I love to travel. I love to see new places; I love trains, planes, buses & big huge backpacks (so much better than cruddy suitcases!). But I’m conflicted about it. I know that when I travel I am also carrying the baggage — & privilege — of being an American, with a certain amount of financial privilege, & the privilege of speaking a language that is considered, for better or for worse, the closest thing to a global tongue right now. What does it mean for me to travel to other parts of the world? I try to be conscious of issues of exotification, but sometimes I wonder if leisure travel, especially to a country or culture not “your own” (which I realize is a complicated issue for many people, self included), inherently makes the places & people you’re visiting subject to exotification.

We’ve talked about how frustrating this stuff is recently. I thought I’d examine some specific examples of the ways in which vegan travel is discussed, in light of that, & throw it open for discussion.