all of them are vulnerable...

from evolve campaigns...

it's time to end the fallacy of human superiority that allows untold crimes to be committed against the voiceless - the holocaust needs to stop... by embracing veganism you can save countless lives...

the interconnectedness of oppression...

i'm reading a book titled "eternal treblinka" by charles patterson at the moment - it "examines the origins of human supremacy and describes the emergence of industrialized slaughter of both animals and people in modern times"...  it is a powerful exposé of the human capacity for horror that's way beyond anything i thought could exist in the human psyche, let alone reality - it is not an easy read, i shed tears every time i turn a page, yet it is something i am drawn to, repulsed and repelled by, but need to read to its final sentence...

the title is taken from a short story, 'the letter writer' by isaac bashevis singer, polish-born jewish-american author and nobel laureate, in which he states "in relation to them (animals), all people are nazis; for the animals it is an eternal treblinka"... the book is actually dedicated to him...

according to lucy rosen kaplan, former attorney for peta and daughter of holocaust survivors, "in eternal treblinka we are presented for the first time with extensive evidence of the profoundly troubling connections between animal exploitation in the united states and hitler's final solution"...

jane goodall says "charles patterson's book will go a long way towards righting the terrible wrongs that human beings, throughout history, have perpetrated on nonhuman animals."

i'm still reading it, so not yet ready to write about it, but i felt it was time for a new post, however i am so totally pissed off with the human species and their treatment of our nonhuman kin, and so very ashamed to be part of a species that is capable of such horror that i am unable to write a post without rage and hatred, so instead i have opted to share three videos by three womyn i find inspiring and who passionately believe in feminism and nonhuman animal rights... here they 'join the dots' between the oppression of womyn and the oppression of nonhumans...

ruby hamad... "feminism, veganism and patriarchy"...

ashley maier... "violence against women and animal rights"...

both make reference to the wonderful carol j adams... "politics and the absent referent in 2014"...

i hope you find them inspiring... i hope. i implore, you make the connection... it really is time to change the world... 'animal rights' is, without doubt, a fundamental feminist issue... womyn's liberation and 'animal' liberation go hand in hand...

from 'animal rights is a feminist issue'

sisters all...

i was reminded today of an article i read last month titled commodities and cages... i thought it fitting to share an excerpt this international womyn's day as a tribute to Betsy, Lucy, and Anarcha (and so many more) who were enslaved and brutalised in the 1800s...

"Montgomery Alabama 1846 -1853. Dr. J. Marion Sims (1813-1883) is now known as both “The Father of Gynecology” and “The Father of Vaginal Surgery”. Sims was born in South Carolina and practiced there, in Alabama, New York City, and throughout France. He is widely recognized for laying the foundations for modern gynecology, pioneering the use of surgical steel sutures, and developing several techniques in vaginal surgery. What is less known about Sims is “the fact that many of his accomplishments ….were obtained at the expense and the surgical exploitation of Black women”.

While Sims went to some length to hide his use of slave subjects, featuring white women in anatomy articles and texts, his primary research subjects were three female slaves – Betsy, Lucy, and Anarcha. He operated on each of these women as many as 30 times without anesthesia, believing that blacks did not have the same capacity for pain as whites. Sims even went so far as to purchase Anarcha in order to continue operating on her. In addition, he addicted all these women to opiates in order to facilitate their post-operative recovery and expedite another round of surgeries.

After moving to New York in 1853, Sims continued his exploitation of poor and African American women, exposing them to dangerous experimental surgeries at the Women’s Hospital of New York City. Describing the death of an African American woman after such a surgery, MacGregor (1998) writes:

“Clearly from Sims’ point of view, the life of the patient in this case was expendable. Her body in many ways had become his even before she died… While he placed his findings at the altar of science, her class and her race placed her at Sims’ disposal.”

Because these women were deemed less than human.

They were only animals, and above all, they were property."

their story is one of many echoes from the herstory of slavery, a reflection of the enslavement that exists today, those subjugated and brutalised now our sisters (and brothers) of other nations, other tribes - "because they are deemed less than human... they are only animals, and above all, they are property' ... you can read the full article "commodities and cages" on vine sanctuary's website...

heat and tears...

as i melt in the sweltering heatwave we're experiencing here in melbourne, i watch petey and shadow constantly on the move inside to outside, outside to inside, finding refuge in all sorts of places, continually visiting their water bowl as i continue to top it up - and my thoughts shift to other nonhumans, and i start to weep for all those enslaved in tin sheds with no opportunity to move away from the crush of bodies in the oppressive heat, with only stagnant (if any) water to slake their desperate thirst... i weep for those in paddocks with no shelter, with no water and no way of getting to the dam on the other side of the fence... i weep for those chained in backyards, and those confined to cages... i weep for those incarcerated in feed lots forced to defecate where they stand, lie and sleep, with nowhere to move to escape the feces filled pens.. i weep at the brutality that humans continue to perpetrate against our nonhuman kin... i weep at the compassion that seems to be so lacking in so many... i weep for all the victims of human abuse, and i weep for the victims of human apathy...

"If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth - beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals - would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?" ... George Bernard Shaw, playwright, Nobel prize in literature 1925

so, while i continue to melt and weep, i thought i'd share this video that popped up on my google+ stream the other day... simone reyes is vegan, an activist and a wonderfully passionate orator... although i don't agree with her view on peta or their 'naked activists on the corner' misogynistic campaigns - the only point we disagree on (because you can't subjugate one to free the other, and that's what peta's campaigns do - you can read more on that point in ruby hamad's article 'the problem with peta') please take the time to watch this inspiring young womon...

and here's some dark vegan humour to end this post... on those rare occasions i go to a restaurant with necrovores i want a waiter just like this one...

another story of awakening...

journalist, blogger and food critic Ori Shavit talks about her journey to veganism with humour and eloquence in this 13 minute video...