Black History Month: Inspiring Black Vegan Activists

February is Black History Month, a month during which we honour the often unreported accomplishments of Black people throughout history. In celebration of Black History Month we have featured five inspirational black vegan activists.

Coretta Scott King

Civil rights leader and wife of Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King believed that animal rights were a logical extension of MLK’s philosophy of nonviolence and was a vegan for more than 10 years before her death. 

Angela Davis

Dr. Angela Davis is a famous scholar, activist, writer and vegan. She addresses the suffering that the meat, dairy and egg industry inflicts on both animals and humans, commenting that ‘[S]entient beings … endure pain and torture as they are transformed into food for profit, food that generates disease in humans whose poverty compels them to rely on McDonald’s and KFC for nourishment.’

Dr. Amie Breeze Harper 

Dr. Harper, a black vegan intersectional scholar, is the creator of the Sistah Vegan Project and editor of Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Heath and Society, which discusses what it means to be a black female vegan.

Benjamin Zephiniah

Poet & Musician Benjamin Zephiniah went vegan at the age of 16 after befriending the local cats in his neighbourhood and realising that animals were his friends. Veganism brings Benjamin peace, as he comments ‘when I eat I have a clear conscience’. 

David Carter

Former NFL player and animal rights advocate, David Carter, switched to a vegan lifestyle after watching the documentary ‘Forks Over Knives’. While he was inspired to transition to a vegan diet to improve his health, he is also passionate about the plight of animal suffering, stating in relation to veganism that ‘It’s not just about our bodies. It’s not just about our health. It’s about humanity.’