Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in peace with humans, animals, and the environment.
Taking a look at the rates of heart disease within the African American community, and its correlation with the consumption of food in Black communities, particularly of fried foods and “soul food” in general. Vincent believes that education about food, and accessibility (or lack thereof) of healthy vegan options in communities, needs to be emphasized by those committed to a vegan vision.
Visit his website: hi, donald vincent
As an English professor, freelance marketer, and copywriter, and as he
works on rap and poetry projects or the 2020 Compassion Arts Festival, 2018
grantee Donald Vincent has seen the events of the global pandemic affect all
aspects of his work. Classes and festivals have had to move online;
marketing messages need to be repurposed and reconsidered; and travel plans
have been rebooked and pushed back for months. Despite all the disruption in
his day to day, he’s also found this period to be a time of community. With
everyone spending more hours communicating over digital devices, Vincent
sees that although we may be physically distant, we’re now socially closer
than ever. As he sees it, communities are rising up and pushing to “redefine
the new normal” and foster the values they wish to promote.
Redefining the new normal also includes the resurgence of the Black Lives
Matter movement in mainstream consciousness. While he’s gratified to see
more conversation on anti-blackness among vegans as a whole, he still thinks
that considerable ground needs to be traversed between those who don’t see
how “All Lives Matter” fails to grasp the specific realities expressed by
Black Lives Matter movement. For Vincent, a part of the solution is to focus
on specific issues within BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color)
communities, rather than trying to use a broad-brush approach that
oversimplifies and inhibits concrete action.
One example he provides is to look at the rates of heart disease within the
African American community, and its correlation with the consumption of food
in Black communities, particularly of fried foods and “soul food” in
general. Vincent believes that education about food, and accessibility (or
lack thereof) of healthy vegan options in communities, needs to be
emphasized by those committed to a vegan vision. He mentions how, when he
lived in New York City, he had to travel twenty minutes to his nearest Whole
Foods, while the local food options consisted primarily of bodegas and
liquor stores—a result of a long history of redlining and disinvestment in
communities of colour. He adds that many foods and drinks considered
“essential” for children, such as cow’s milk, support large American
industries, when they aren’t necessary for human health. Vincent argues that
African Americans and people of colour need to educate themselves on what
they’re putting in their bodies, and shift to a veganism that isn’t just
processed, soul-food replacement, but, rather, legitimately healthy.
As an educator himself, at UCLA and Emerson College, Vincent has found his
vegan projects influencing his relationships with his students. When
introducing himself to his students at the beginning of a semester, Vincent
often plays the game “Two Truths and One Lie.” He tells them he has made a
rap album about veganism, is a chef, and then throws in a lie. The students
always pick the rap album as the falsehood. To their surprise, they discover
that Vincent produced his most rewarding project to date, the CAF-funded
Vegan Paradise, in 2018. The creation of the album, Vincent found, opened up
a dialogue with people. From his Parisian engineer who only spoke French, to
the students who approached him for college-friendly vegan meal plans, to
the wider vegan and hip hop communities he got to meet through the creating
the album, Vincent had many productive and meaningful interactions.
His most recent project is the release of a poetry collection,
Convenient Amnesia, in early 2020. When he signed the contract
late in 2019, he didn’t anticipate a Summer 2020 release. However, in light
of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others in the U.S., the
book’s publication was moved up. The increased book sales have allowed the
publishing company, Broadstone Books, to produce and publish more poets and
thus amplify more new voices.
Donald Vincent is currently working on a series of critical essays that
explore topics such as food deserts, and how environments impact low-income
areas, particularly in African American communities. He also wishes to move
to France with his partner in Fall 2021, where he can continue to do what he
loves at a lower cost. Until then, Vincent continues to make and create,
educate, and work to do what he can to spread his message.
Learn about Grants from Culture & Animals Foundation HERE.
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