2020 was the year of illuminated injustice.
Shadows came to light through a tragic global pandemic that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands amid confusion and tension about how to keep ourselves and one another safe. Environmental destruction, political polarity, rampant police brutality, and contention around the resulting global civil-rights protests all became a part of the confronting, uncomfortable, heartbreaking backdrop of daily life.
So what does this have to do with veganism? Everything.
There is no more “single-issue” activism. Veganism is no longer just about the animals, it’s not apolitical, and it cannot center solely on white voices, faces, and experiences. Simply put, our lifestyle isn’t immune to the structural problems that exist in all other corners of American life. For veganism to grow—for more lives to be saved—it’s time we begin to unpack the movement’s inconsistencies, course-correct, and change for the better.
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, I witnessed many prominent vegan brands and influencers choose to not speak out against Black oppression. They stood silent, wanting to “keep politics out of veganism.” Some even proclaimed that “all lives matter,” a deeply dismissive and offensive way of derailing the movement. But veganism has never been neutral or apolitical. At its core, it is a lifestyle
