Sistah Vegan Project

How Whiteness and ‘Law and Order’ Can Shape ‘Cruelty-Free’

Over the past few weeks, there have been inquiries for me to talk about intersections of #systemicracism and #plantbased food culture (a.k.a #veganism) I would like to share a public lecture that I gave at U Chicago in 2017. It’s about 27 minutes long. Though this lecture occurred five years ago, the concepts I address continue to be incredibly useful to apply as plant based commodities culture…

2ND NOVEL DEBUT BY DR. BREEZE HARPER

If you enjoy intersections of racial justice, food justice, Black feminism, and I invite you to listen to an excerpt from my new sci-fi/fantasy novel, Seeds of Sankofa. I did my MA and PhD with a focus on racial justice, food systems, black feminism, and ethical consumption. However, I know that most people are inspired by creative narrative fiction like novels over dissertations and thesis. I…

I’ll Be Giving Birth in 2022….

Forthcoming novel from A. Breeze Harper My new “baby” in 2022 will be a new novel I’ve been working on since 2019. The book is called Seeds of Sankofa. I use the concept of seeds as metaphor to explore the future of possibilities without forgetting the past. Seeds of Sankofa is about racial justice, food justice, and Black maternal health justice within the context of the future of ethical…

How to Maximize Black History Vs. Just Knowing Our History

Check out my diversity, equity, and inclusion colleague, Doug Harris of Kaleidoscope Group as he breaks down five stages on how to optimize Black History for Black folk: knowing, embracing, personalizing, acting, and achieving. “If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you’re going….” – Doug Harris“Personal success has minimal meaning when people are failing around you….” -Doug…

USA “Democracy” and Violence

Last night, on January 6, 2021, I was listening to congress talk about how today’s Capitol Hill “riot mob” was an assault on USA’s democracy and that USA was founded on democracy and not violence. Say what? USA was founded on violence. Indigenous genocide. Enslavement of Africans. This violence created a “democracy” for landowning white men who were basically considered the “humans” in which…

The USA is not “a country of immigrants” and this is why…

I keep on seeing this in reference to the USA: “We are a country of immigrants”.

Good intentions, but this erases that:

1. There were indigenous people and still are indigenous people living here.

2. West Africans were abducted and forcibly shipped over the Atlantic ocean to become enslaved. This is not the same as say, the ‘immigrant’ British white men who were able to voluntarily jump…

AntiRacism Matters and Juneteenth

I wanted to share this with you. Juneteenth is June 19, 2020. I wanted to celebrate the constant struggle and fight for freedom and liberation, and not forget history as well. I’ve been teaching a lot about Black Lives Matters within the context of antiracism-in-action . I prefer antiracism-in-action vs. “ally”. 

5th Grade History Book

Adventures of Homeschooling 4 Kids #1:

My 11 year old child just had an assignment to write a farewell letter as if he were living in 1740s Britain and about to move to one of the Thirteen Colonies. I said, “Let’s keep in real. You are a mixed Black child. How do you think this is going to go down?” His assignment was to read about the 13 colonies, their economies,…

6 Black History Month Challenges for White Folk

Huey from The Boondocks

What would a Black ‘future’ month look like? How would you create a racially equitable system for the future? If it’s hard to conceive of that, ask yourself why. Learn more about why focusing on ‘equity’ is more effective than ‘equality’ rhetoric: https://www.centerforsocialinclusion.org/our-work/what-is-racial-equity/

Consider not using MLK Jr’s “I have a Dream…

“One White Man Did Not Single-Handedly ‘Free the Slaves’” (Talking to My Kids About Histories of Racism and Anti-Blackness)

Last Thursday, on the way back from gymnastics and parkour classes, my two elders children, Eva Luna (8) and Sun (10.5) told me about the some of the history they learned in school over the past year. It was another session that was a prime learning moment to engage in a more anti-racist retelling of history.Again. I just have to keep on repeating and re-telling as they are consistently…

Integrative DEI for Written Materials: Make Your Written Words Convey More

Ok, I just slam dunked another client deliverable.

Credit: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/young-black-woman-basketball-player-with-ball-vector-14187918

I am asked to engage in critical-integrative DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) content editing of a manuscript or business materials all the time. I have wonderful clients ranging from bestselling authors on gender…

My Newest Novel: Black Girl Magic Across Space and Time, Critique of Green Capitalism, and Technocracy

I am writing a new book (as many of you know). Well, actually two books.

One is an Afro-futuristic themed novel, integrating ethical food objects to tell the story of systemic racism, violence, green capitalism, and the colonization of another planet to sustain the ‘better’ class of plant-based consuming elite….

My other one is a critical memoir, Black, Mama, Scholar: On Black Feminism, Food…

Leadership, Diversity, and the “Cruelty-Free” Conundrum

Date: September 10, 2019 Time:  10am-2pm PST Description Animal-free food alternatives are on the rise in the USA, ranging from veggie burgers, to cashew milk yogurts, to vegan D3 supplements. These products have been marketed as “cruelty-free”, conveying the narrative that non-human animals have not suffered, been harmed, or killed. However, underneath this narrative is often this uncomfortable…