I wrote a few pieces on vegan advocacy on www.ThoseCrazyVegans.net I would love to share here.
Getting Started as a Vegan Advocate
When we awaken to veganism, especially for ethical concern for other beings, we usually want to do something to share the message with others. There are many great resources out there that will further not only our knowledge of animal agriculture and veganism, but also how to promote veganism.
As stated in the Vegan Advocacy Support page, there may be vegan organizations, groups, and restaurants in or around your area, and many online resources that can help support one to becoming and staying vegan and to connect with other like-minded people.
How to Create the Perfect Vegan Life is an excellent short resource on understanding why it is vital that we all become vegan advocates and how to avoid burnout while creating a perfect vegan life. Other resources on vegan advocacy are books by Casey Taft, PhD, Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy and Millennial Vegan.
There are countless ways one can promote veganism. It can be mind boggling on how many choices and approaches there are. One can host a film screening or talk with Q&A afterward, a peaceful, non-violent demonstration, or they can start their own vegan group or organize an event, amongst many others. The possibilities are endless. You could also create a YouTube channel, write books or blog on veganism, combine vegan advocacy through drawing, painting or photography, or even start a restaurant or store. Again, the possibilities are endless. Anything is achievable, and only through our intuition, will we know our unique way of spreading the word.
One aspect of veganism many people talk about is how does one go about earning money just from promoting veganism alone. So you talk to a friend or family member about veganism and why you went vegan, but you don’t make a living from that? And sometimes that can be frustrating. As animal advocates, most have no clue as to how to earn money promoting veganism. Though our focus should not be solely on income, people need to make a living in order to survive. To learn how, we highly suggest reading the book, How to Create the Perfect Vegan Life.
Organizations and Meetups
Getting involved, sharing your voice, and finding like-minded people can be a challenge for a lot of people. As a vegan, it’s no different. Sometimes it can seem impossible to find anyone around who doesn’t still think they’re an omnivore, but with just a little bit of effort, we can discover all kinds of ways to expand our world without giving up our dedication to living a compassionate life.
Countless organizations all over the world focus on supporting vegan issues and spreading the philosophy of kindness. Joining up with established groups of advocates is a good way of making new friends, share your ideas, and get the word out about the urgency of people adopting the vegan lifestyle. Often these organizations host meetings, outreach opportunities, and other events where they collaborate, synergize, and bond with other people who hold similar values.
Click here to search for organizations in your area or around the world, or here to learn how to get started as a vegan advocate.
One excellent way to find vegan movers and shakers is through websites like Meetup.com. It’s free to join and search for people hosting interest-specific events in your area, so by searching the term “vegan” you can often find folks to get together with who are creating or going to potlucks, movie nights, expos, educational, advocacy-based, and other types of events. This is an excellent way to make new friends in your home town or while traveling and learning about what others are doing to help end cruelty to animals.
Vegans never stand alone; we are growing in numbers and getting stronger every day! The more we all create and participate in vegan-based activities the more we can band together to help spread the message of kindness and compassion far and wide.
Vegan Support
In a world of immense suffering and violence and with friends and families criticizing and justifying their actions, it seems that some vegans have nowhere to turn for support. They do not know any other vegans and find being in this world, a lonely and sad place. Some vegans become depressed and angry and may go back to eating all sorts of animal foods.
It is crucial, especially for new vegans, we get all the help and support we need from other vegans. There are a few resources for doing this. In your area or the nearest major city, there may be vegan societies or associations, groups, restaurants, or events, where you can meet and find some of the loveliest people who can guide and help you on your way to a vegan life. However, if there is nothing in your area, you can search for online vegan groups, organizations, or events through social media websites such as meetup.com or Facebook.
IDA (In Defense of Animals) also has an Animal Activist Helpline for animal rights and vegan support. We highly recommend this free service.
Number – 1-800-705-0425 (Toll-Free Canada/US)
Website – Click Here
Veganism and Social Justice
Veganism is a social justice issue. It is also based on love and compassion for all expressions of life. Veganism is also connected to every other issue. No issue or sentient being is ever separate. Everything is interconnected and interrelated in some way. There is, however, a tiny percent of vegans who tend not to include certain humans, or every human, in their sphere of kindness. And even though The Vegan Society defines veganism to only include animals (nonhuman that is), Those Crazy Vegans includes all sentient beings in the context of veganism and this site.
Therefore, we must understand what the core issue of every oppression is. May that be, women’s rights, black rights, LGBTQIA rights, or environmental rights, they are all cut from the same cloth. All tyrannies are intricately linked to one another and are not separate issues. There is only one underlining cause to all of the world’s problems and every social justice issue, which we are, or have been faced with. But it is not that simple to recognize and awaken to the interconnectedness of all life and how it directly relates to human wrongs. It is because we are all programmed since birth to view animals as food and property, which goes against our heart’s values of loving-kindness. Because we were taught as young children to consume the flesh and secretions of brutally tortured animals, we tend to exhibit the same violence and terror either internally, on ourselves, to other beings, or both. Though not everyone who consumes animal-based foods will cause direct harm to another being, pre-vegans (or non-vegans), tend to foster more negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, judgment, fear, illnesses, hate, etc., within themselves.
All over the world, wars are raging, racism and oppression abound. If we take a close look at the oppressors and see what they eat, they virtually always consume animal-based foods of some sort. You will hardly ever see vegans causing harm or supporting wars and destruction. It is because veganism is love, and if we want to live in a world of love, we must embrace this caring way of life.
But what does veganism have to do with human rights? Are Those Crazy Vegans really up to something?
When a person ceases to exploit animals and stops eating and using them, they become a highly spiritual being, who no longer wishes to harm anyone, human or otherwise. When we feel love for all expressions of life, we easily acknowledge that we must strive to cause the least harm that we possibly can. Of course, none of us are perfect, and there will be times when we inadvertently cause some harm, but we must understand that we need to continue improving and attempt to cause less violence. As more of us become vegan, there will be fewer people who will be oppressed. The only way to create a true world at peace is when we all work together to end every form of oppression. It starts with each one of us, therefore, making veganism the ultimate protest to a better world for all.
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Thank you for all you do to help the nonhuman animals, the Earth, each other, and to further the vegan cause. :)
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