FEATURE: Sea Sharp

Sea Sharp is an American poet of color who immigrated to England in 2012 as an alleged "refugee of Kansas." Sharp is a self-taught hula hoop dancer with tattoos, piercings, and semi-freeform locs. 

As a Kansas State University graduate with qualifications in Creative Writing, Literature, Theatre, and Women's Studies, Sharp is a Pushcart Prize nominee, winner of the Prairie Seed Poetry Prize 2015/16 (judged by Debra Marquart), and has upcoming or published poems in The Wild Ones, Storm Cellar Magazine, The Great American Literary Magazine, Coe Review, Polychrome Ink, and elsewhere. Sharp's debut poetry collections, "The Swagger of Dorothy Gale and Other Filthy Ways to Strut", is scheduled for print in 2016 by Ice Cube Press. To read some of Sharp's work, please visit: www.seathepoet.com. 

Unfortunately, poets are rarely paid enough to sustain an adequate living. Therefore, Sharp's profession currently involves working alongside investigators in local government (National Trading Standards) to combat mass marketing fraud. Sharp manages numerous projects with the purpose of gaining intelligence about scam letters that target vulnerable UK residents and the criminals who send them. 

Sharp chose veganism on New Years 2011 and currently practices a hybrid veganism, which includes Fruitarian, Low Fat, Raw, and everything "Intersectional." Sharp also follows Black and Liberal Feminisms, The Hip Hop Declaration of Peace and other movements, which aim to eliminate oppressive attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyles.

You can follow Sea Sharp on:

Twitter: @SeaThePoet

Facebook: www.facebook.com/seathepoet

Instagram: @SeaThePoet

Show Your Support by Donation on Patreon

Don't forget to visit: www.seathepoet.com

FEATURE: Casserley

Photo Credit: Schirley Amaral Photography

Casserley is an actress, performance artist, model, harpist, writer and student. She is training to be a therapist on an attachment theory course and also studying for her masters in infant mental health. She lives in London, England. 

I realized from an early age that eating animal products did not feel natural. I came to veganism for both dietary and ethical reasons--eating flesh and animal products has always felt wrong. I have been picking the meat out of my food since I was a little baby. I always wanted to cuddle animals, not consume them. My compassion for other creatures is not disturbed by my own actions, though I cannot control the actions of others of course...nor would I attempt to, except by my own example.

I am aware of breaking the meat loving African stereotype especially in regards to chicken!! As a Nigerian Irish girl, I am the product of two highly meat loving societies. In Ireland especially, it seems almost patriotic to celebrate meat and as a consequence veganism can be frowned upon. My experience of Nigerian society has been that consumption of meat is linked to status and by corollary, avoidance of meat is synonymous with deprivation.  
My loved ones expressed consternation with my choice and became very preoccupied with my protein intake. My grandmother worried that my hair would start to thin, but my fro is as robust as ever!!! My advice to other people would be do not let your personal health and lifestyle choices be dictated by received notions of ethnicity.

Follow Casserley here:

https://www.instagram.com/casserleycielo/
 

Sunday BVR News Roundup

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LGBTQ Black Vegans Featured in Article About Orlando Shooting

Richard Bowie recently spotlighted LGBTQ vegans of color in an article for VegNews. BVR advisory board members Pax Ahimsa Gethen and Christopher Sebastian McJetters were interviewed as well. Read their thoughts HERE. 

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A Call for Papers for Sistah Vegan Anthology 

In 2010, Lantern Books published the groundbreaking anthology Sistah Vegan, edited by Dr. Amie Breeze Harper. Dr. Harper, of the Sistah Vegan Project, will be organizing and editing a sequel to Sistah Vegan called The Praxis of Justice In an Era of Black Lives Matter (working title). Deadlines for Abstracts are August 15, 2016. Read more about this project HERE. 

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Vegan SoulFest Featured in Fox5 News

Vegan SoulFest 2015, Courtesy of The Umbrella Syndicate with permission from Vegan SoulFest / Facebook

Vegan SoulFest is coming up soon on August 20, 2016. The Fox5 article states:

"The third annual Vegan SoulFest is heading to Baltimore this summer and will feature around 100 vegan-friendly businesses and organizations serving up healthy food and an exciting music line-up. It's a free celebration of the vegan lifestyle and culture at Baltimore City Community College's Liberty Campus. On Saturday, August 20 from noon to 7 p.m. vegans and visitors curious about the diet can enjoy vegan grub, cooking demos, health lectures, kid's activities and live music. Last year the festival welcomed over 3,000 attendees."

Read more from the article HERE. 

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The Vegan Nigerian Is Having an Event

In just a few days on the 29th of this month at La Suite West Hotel (Bayswater, London), starting at 7pm, Tomi Makanjuola of The Vegan Nigerian will be hosting a buffet. She writes:
"Instead of a plated service, guests will be able to help themselves to a buffet selection ranging from canapes to colourful salads, to jollof rice, fried rice, and a selection of desserts, drinks (and more!). There will be gluten-free and nut-free options available. I'm hoping that it will be a laid-back, fun evening with good music and a chance for guests to mingle."

Get tickets to the event HERE. 

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BBC Covers Ital-The Vegan Rasta Movement

Poppy and Dan recently set up Ital Fresh, a pop-up vegan Caribbean food truck in Liverpool, and they were interviewed by Ciaran Varley of BBC. They stated: 

"Whenever anyone thinks of Caribbean food, they automatically think jerk chicken. We are educating people through our delicious, fresh and vibrant food, showing that Caribbean food can be so much more besides chicken. One of our signature dishes is jerk pineapple. We definitely honour the flavours of Jamaica, and the pineapple adds a fun, tropical spin - and has a similar mouth feel to chicken! We call it 'juicy jerk' and people really love it!"

Read the full interview HERE. 

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Help Seba Johnson Tell Her Story

Seba Johnson is a world-renowned Animal Rights activist and Olympian. She is currently writing a book where she can tell her story in a way that it has never been told. Please consider donating to help her complete her book. Click HERE to donate. 

Interview: Amahl Abdul-Khaliq

Photo Credit: Vashni Balleste

Amahl Abdul-Khaliq is AF THE NAYSAYER - a flourishing producer in the electronic and instrumental hip-hop world. Within the last two years this New Orleans-based, Los Angeles-bred producer has dispersed his atmospheric productions across 70 cities and at over 300 shows in the US alone. His sound has been categorized as “electrifying soul-hop” whose core is best described by Atlanta producer DISTAL as, “Layered, intelligent design with a simple and easily digestible delivery.”

His collaborations in New Orleans have led him to become the ambassador for Red Bull Music Academy, as well as founder of beatmaker showcase Dolo Jazz Suite. AF has toured with artists such as Durazzo, Prism House, and Sports Coach, and has opened for Glitch Mob, Om Unit, Quantic, Lapalux, Young Fathers, and the 2016 Mad Decent BUKU Party (feat: Yellow Claw, NGHTMRE, Louis The Child, and Jazz Cartier), just to name a few. AF also kept busy by lending production on “Mackerel Sky” (feat. RoQy TyRaiD) from Billboard-charting album “RNDM” by Mega Ran, and remixing other artists such as the single release “Friendly (AF THE NAYSAYER Remix)” by Taiwanese hip hop group Juzzy Orange and Boyfriend's "Company Ink," which was featured on Spotify’s 2016 Fresh Finds playlist.

AF’s upcoming solo EP consists of a conceptual hip hop album for a faux-video game soundtrack “Armor Wing Battle Unit,” and collaborative postmodern hip hop EP with rapper Darby Capital, “Courtney Love Love.” Both show that there is no end in sight for AF THE NAYSAYER and his eclectic sound. If you haven’t jumped into AF THE NAYSAYER’s world yet, now is the perfect time to become part of the experience.

We had the privilege of interviewing Amahl about his journey into veganism as well as his perspectives on social justice. 

Photo Credit: Vashni Balleste

BVR: How did you first learn about the concept of veganism?
 
A: I knew about vegetarianism as a child growing up in Los Angeles, but I learned the concept of veganism in middle school. I was really interested in martial arts, specifically in Shaolin Kung Fu, and they [the monks] are very much dietary and spiritual vegans. Also, some of my favorite BMX riders are practicing vegans, so I would attribute my discovery of veganism to Kung fu and BMX—two sub-cultures.
 
BVR: Why did you decide to become vegan?
 
A: I was vegetarian for a long period of time, and originally it wasn’t for animal rights or health. As a practicing Muslim, I had a lot of dietary restrictions, and didn’t eat that much meat. I was vegetarian for so long that I figured that the next step logical step was veganism. I was vegan for two years before reverting back to old habits, but at that time I wasn’t focused on my diet and didn’t have a reason to be vegan. A few years later, as my goals and ambitions became clearer, I decided to give veganism another try. Now that I have more clarity and purpose, I have set goals for myself, and I’m never changing back.
 
BVR: As a black person, how does race impact your veganism?

A: Honestly, I don’t really feel like it does. I’m actually not close to the vegan community itself. To me, it’s just a solo spiritual journey that I’m following, and I often feel like an alien. I live in southern Louisiana, where everything’s filled with meat and deep fried, but I do have some friends who are black and vegan. I don’t necessarily think they influence me or I influence them, though. It’s purely coincidence.

I’m trying to do a better job connecting and networking with my fellow black people: to let them know what I’m doing and how I’m trying to make change through my diet. In my own mind I feel that I’m eating more like our ancestors, and I’m trying to get more people to increase their fruit and vegetable intake for health reasons. In truth, though, I have to take care of myself before I take care of other people.
 
BVR: What would you tell someone who thinks veganism is a “white person’s” thing?
 
A:  I can’t really blame someone for thinking that. The media’s stereotypical “vegan” is an upper-middle class, health conscious white male or female. It’s been embedded in our brains for so long that we believe skin tone and social class is what makes up a vegan. It’s not, of course. It's very similar to the way people associate being educated with being white. It’s not really a white or black issue, it’s a lifestyle, and it's for anyone willing to work toward it.

Like, if you’re black and speak standard vernacular English, you might hear “Oh, you talk like a white person.” All of that is slave mentality, and it's a major problem in modern America. High vegetable and fruit intake has been the diet of black and brown people for centuries. The main thing holding people back from embracing so many things is the mindset that things are "white" or "black": that's what we have to overcome. There are plenty of black vegans who are raw foodists out there, and the fact that you have this website shows that there’s definitely outreach. More black celebrities are embracing veganism than ever, and it’s currently trendy to be vegan or vegetarian. I think it’s all about a change in perspective, and we need to be able to recognize the difference between something that’s positive in all people, and something that the media portrays as positive.

YOU CAN FOLLOW AMAHL HERE:

Music:
selfeducatedvinyl.bandcamp.com

Instagram:
www.instagram.com/afthenaysayer

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/afthenaysayer

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/afthenaysayer

SoundCloud:
www.soundcloud.com/afthenaysayer

FEATURE: Agda Santos

(The English translation is at the bottom. Thanks to Brett Scriver for translating)

Bom, li uma matéria sobre vocês no Brasil Post e achei interessante relatar um pouco da minha experiência por aqui como negra e como vegana.

A comunidade vegana em mina cidade é bem pequena e praticamente 90% se conhece. Nosso mercado de alimentos acaba sendo bem amigável, sempre com uma oferta de cursos de "como criar sua horta" ou receitas veganas e vegetarianas. Como uma negra vegana não sofri qualquer discriminação. Mas sofri por ser acima de meu peso.

Um dia estava em um café com uma amiga e ela estava relatando o progresso no Desafio 21 Dias sem carne pra um rapaz. Ela estava feliz compartilhando com ele sobre o Desafio e então me introduziu na conversa ao dizer que eu sou vegana. O olhar do rapaz, ao medir meu corpo da cabeça aos pés foi muito desconfortável. Ao que ele completou com "ah, mas você não tem cara de vegana, tem cara de quem adora um churrasco". E aquilo me magoou. Respondi apenas que ele devia rever esses esteriótipos.

De fato, a representação negra, tem que ser lembrada sempre. Mas o que mais me chamou a atenção é justamente essa força de vontade de não cair novamente nas grandes industrias.

Tais industrias criam agora um mercado exclusivo pro vegano/vegetariano. Eu não concordo com isso.

Tento ao máximo cultivar o que como e tento educar minha família e amigos quanto a isso.

É dificil, mas se não tentarmos, ninguém irá fazer pela gente.

Bom, é isso.

Parabéns pela iniciativa.

Um abraço aqui do extremo norte do Brasil!

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English Translation

Well I read an article about your organization the Brazil Post and I thought it would be interesting to relate a little of my experience here as a Black woman and as a vegan. 

The vegan community in my city is quite small, and practically 90% of us know each other. The range of foods that are available turns out to be really favorable, and there are always classes offered on "how to grow your own food" or vegan or vegetarian recipes. As a Black vegan woman I have never suffered discrimination, but I have suffered for being overweight. 

One day I was in a coffee shop with a friend and she was talking to a guy about her progress with the "21-Day-Meat=Free Challenge." She was so happy sharing her experience with the challenge with him, and then she brought me into the conversation, pointing out that I was vegan. The look on the guy's face was very uncomfortable as he measured me from head to toe to which he finished with , "Ah, but you don't look like a vegan, you look like someone who loves a good barbecue." That hurt me. I only responded that he should take another look at these stereotypes. 

In fact, Black representation can never be forgotten. But what I've been really focused on is not falling into the hands of big corporations again. The same corporations are now marketing lines of products exclusively to vegans/vegetarians, and I don't agree with that. 

I try my best to grow as much of what I can eat, and I try to educate my friends and family about that. It's hard, but if we don't do it, no one is going to do it for us. Well, that's all. Congratulations on your effort. Hugs from the far north of Brazil! 

FEATURE: Crystal Polyi

My name is Crystal Polyi, I am a 37 year old Black Vegan. I turned vegan two years ago. I always saw myself as a natural person, from running track in high school to my first born. When I was pregnant the doctors pressured me to take the pregnancy pills, I refused but agreed to replace the pills with natural foods. I was given a list of food I must eat every month, and overtime they checked my blood, and I met my target. The doctors were shocked and amazed when I did make it happen. This was about 12 years ago, I had food stamp cards and I only used the cards for dairy and juice, anything unhealthy I wouldn’t buy or I gave away for free to other mothers in the market. So, healthy eating and living is possible even if you are broke.

Holistic health is preventive care, we don’t wait until we are sick to seek help. This is why Preventive care is so important in the black communities or any community. Most, people will say, “why should I eat healthy ?” or “I don’t need that”, not knowing you should be feeding your body healthy foods and herbs. Prevention is KEY, and we need to educate our black community on this.  

 I decided to turn away from meat, and fast. I also have a daily yoga practice, morning meditation, and I eat Vegan. Vegan is not a diet, it is a lifestyle. I am currently in school at “Ayurveda World” in NYC to become a Board Certified “Holistic Health Practitioner”. I graduate this October in 2016. My goal is to create a natural healing cure for Cancer & HIV/AIDS…also Diabetes and other chronic conditions. I have a natural way to prevent some of these diseases. I have healthy options for most chronic disease, such as herbs, vitamins, foods and other natural healing therapies. Currently, I’m looking to work with other Holistic Doctors or Practitioners in the field. When clients come to work with me, I treat the patient, not the disease. My website will be coming soon, where I will hold Consultations. 

Social Media Links

Instagram: @NamasteCrystal

Twitter: Namaste Crystal

Facebook| www.facebook.com/crystl320   

FEATURE: Cazoshay Marie

Hello! My name is Cazoshay Marie and I am so excited about the Black Vegans Rock movement! As an Alaska-grown wellness professional, my mission is to make holistic health and wellness available to all communities and individuals, especially the black community and others marginalized within our society. I travel all over teaching my customized wellness events and classes to communities, groups and organizations to include Black Lives Matter Portland, Covenant House Alaska and the International Center for Traditional Childbearing’s Black Midwives and Healers Conference.

I am a certified raw vegan chef, sharing delicious and flavorful vegan recipes on my blog, DID with Cazoshay. I want the single mom in the ‘hood supporting her family on minimum wage and the young political science major paying off their tuition to be able to afford and create healthy vegan food for themselves and their families. I keep it very simple and make the instructions doable without fancy or expensive equipment. I post a lot of my tips and recipes with full instructions on Instagram, frequently using hashtags like "#hiphop" and "#melaninpoppin" to have them show up on the timelines of those who may not have otherwise considered healthy vegan eating as the radical and necessary act of preservational self-care that it is. One of my blog posts, entitled #AfroVeganista, specifically addresses attaining holistic health and wellness for ourselves and our communities in a fun and fabulous way.

In addition to being a raw vegan chef, I am also a certified yoga instructor. I teach weekly community hip hop yoga classes in Portland, Oregon. The first fifteen minutes of the classes are for community engagement; I encourage my students to interact and communicate with each other in this time period before we begin the physical portion of the class. We sing, we rap, we heal…but most importantly, we have a good time taking care of our bodies. Yoga, like veganism, can be extremely exclusionary; I am an outside-the-box instructor who teaches it in a way that is fun, relevant and approachable. I offer these classes at a discounted rate to make them more accessible to those who may not be able to afford standard yoga class fees.

I am so encouraged by the creation of Black Vegans Rock, and I look forward to being a part of the growth and sustainability of this movement! Namaste.

Support Cazoshay's Work

Check out her gofundme page and donate anything you can. She is raising mone so that she can take her classes on the road. Funds raised through her campaign will be used for travel and location expenses that come from bringing her class to other states. She also wants to upgrade her equipment so that she can offer better quality videos. Click HERE to donate.

Links to websites and articles:

Website: www.DIDwithCazoshay.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com.DIDwithCazoshay 

YouTube: www.Youtube.com/DIDbyShay

Recipes: www.DIDwithCazoshay.com/recipes

Instagram/Twitter/Periscope: @Cazoshay_Marie

FEATURE: Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar

Our goal is simple, provide the best food for your priceless body temple. We go the extra mile in our food preparation to bring succulent entreés, luscious salads and side dishes, satisfying desserts, and of course the most refreshing juices. 

Raw living foods have proven over and over that the Raw Food Diet is the optimal diet for living human beings. We are the only living creatures that bring additional heat to foods for consumption. 99% of restaurants will rely on the worst cooking methods, which are deep frying and microwaving, for convenience, speed, and cost. What is convenience for most restaurants will end up inconveniencing your health and vitality. We are dedicated to using the best ingredients, no matter the cost, and the best methods for optimal flavor, textures, and presentation.

A key component to our business is providing fresh juice and coconut water for those looking to fast for healing, maintenance and optimal health. Fasting with the coconut water is second to none. We don’t believe in using carrots or wheatgrass. Carrots are a man created food that you will never find growing wild in nature and wheatgrass is for four legged animals. We can drink chlorophyl from land vegetation as well as sea vegetation combined with the coconut water to provide a true natural blood transfusion via our juice.

As a devoted Raw Foodist, Khepra Anu has dedicated his life to sharing his knowledge of the power that the Live Food lifestyle combined with systematic fasting has on the body. Over the past 15 years he has hosted numerous health retreats in the U.S. and internationally, during which he guides participants through his unique approach to repairing and detoxifying the human body through the scientific and mechanical application of coconut water, fresh juices, and living food. In 2011 Khepra expanded his platform by opening Khepra’s Raw Food Juice Bar in Washington, D.C., which was featured in the Washington Post’s Best Eats in 2012. In 2013 Khepra was a featured speaker at the Green Earth Festival in the Bahamas and a panel guest speaker at the Natural Living Seminar at Howard University. In the same year Khepra’s designer Raw Burger not only won him the Best Raw Cuisine award in the Best Food on the Planet competition in Ocean City, MD, but it was also featured on WETA’s Best Burgers in Washington television program.

His Raw Food creations have continued to earn him accolades with his most recent honor being from the ECAC 2014 Raw Food Festival, whose attendees voted his cuisine number one in four different categories: Best Dish, Best Savory dish, Best Dessert, and Best Juice. Khepra can often be heard on Washington D.C.’s public radio station WPFW where he is often invited to speak about the wonders of Raw Food living. In 2012 Khepra added author to his list of accomplishments by releasing his first book: Paradise Health: A Feasting and Fasting Guide to Optimal Health through Detoxification. Recently, Khepra was featured in the acclaimed hit documentary, The Healing Effect, released early 2014 by director Drew Scott Pearlman.

Khepra is available for private consultations, raw food certifications, lectures, classes, and health presentations. Please contact him at khepra@chefkhepra.com.

Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar 

402 H St NE

Washington, DC 20002

www.kheprasrawfoodjuicebar.com

202-803-2063

Mon - Sat 11am to 8:30pm

Sunday 12pm to 7pm

 

Links to Khepra's work:

kheprasrawfoodjuicebar.com

youtube.com/khepra

https://www.facebook.com/khepra

https://www.facebook.com/ChefKhepra

https://www.facebook.com/KheprasRawFoodJuiceBar

twitter; @chefkhepra & @kheprarawbar