Farmers Market Vegan’s “Vegan Chews & Progressive News” series strives to promote artful vegan food and progressive discussion of social issues—both of which prove necessary in fostering a society that prioritizes the well-being of all creatures (not just the rich, white, or human) over the continuous striving for profit/resource accumulation.
Whoof, it has been a week, ya’ll. Lack of indictments in the cases of both Mike Brown and Eric Garner, as well as a bunch of racism coming to the fore at my own college, has taken a toll on many folks’ physical and mental wellbeing. Before getting to all of that in today’s edition of Vegan Chews & Progressive News (# NewsandChews), however, why not open on a light note with some mouthwatering vegan recipes? Because challenging rampant white supremacy gets easier with mango-glazed tofu and the thickest of milkshakes…right?
Favorite Newly Published Recipe
Mango-Lemongrass Glazed Tofu
via Maikin Mokomin
Photo via Maikin Mokomin.
A brightly flavored and vibrantly hued dish ideal for adding some much-needed color to the gray days of early winter.
Best Recipe I Made This Week
Banana Cream Pie Blizzard
via Minimalist Baker
Photo via Dana Shultz.
A milkshake to challenge all milkshakes, this thick glass of banana-ey goodness takes me back to the Dairy Queen Blizzards I often enjoyed in my non-vegan childhood days. Check out this past post for info on buying bananas.
Must-Read News Story
Though my liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, NY has long served as a microcosm of larger state issues, this past week has proved particularly intense in terms of the campus reflecting the white supremacy so obvious in the Grand Jury’s failure to indict both Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for shooting unarmed Black teenager Mike Brown, and NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo for choking Eric Garner to death. Below are articles by two English professors that powerfully speak to their experiences as people of color on a college campus so imbued with the systemic white supremacy of U.S. society.
“Who Really Burns: Quitting a Dean’s Job in the Age of Mike Brown”
by Eve Dunbar at Jezebel
Photo via Shutterstock.
“My Vassar College Faculty ID Makes Everything OK”
via Kiese Laymon at Gawker
Photo via Kiese Laymon.
Favorite Podcast Episode or Video
“Seeing Red on Black Friday”
via Belabored Podcast at Dissent Magazine
Photo via Belabored Podcast.
Race in the U.S. cannot be discussed, of course, without considering class (and vice versa), and this episode of the Belabored podcast does so well. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the amazing organizing of the #BlackOutBlackFriday protests, which simultaneously railed against racial oppression and consumerism – a connection expanded upon by Color of Change representative Rashad Robinson:
“While it’s unacceptable that we live in a world where co-workers must band together to start charity food drives to feed themselves and where Black children can be left dead in the streets at the hands of the police… In this new age of participation, the movements for economic justice and police accountability are indivisible because they both exist in the lived experiences of Black people who are confronting the systems of power which have brutalized our communities.”
Read more in this article by Belabored co-host Michelle Chen.
Book Recommendation
“Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture”
by Ytasha L. Womack
Photo via Chicago Review Press.
In light of…everything…I know I’ve found myself running from fleeting moments of despair (and I’m a white girl). However, this book by Afrofuturist Ytasha L. Womack outlines a framework for envisioning a future society of racial justice – a framework enacted through the world of Black sci-fi and geek culture. Fascinating and inspiring stuff, ya’ll.
In solidarity, Ali.
I cannot wait to try that blizzard! I spent my freshman year of college trying every single one (hey, at least I ran to DQ to get one haha)
In more subdued news, it really saddens me how each of the recent white policeman v. black citizen have been handled. I often find myself at a loss as to how these things can change. Racism is so engrained in American society (when people make a racist joke and then say “just kidding” or when minorities reinforce the stereotype because “it’s about them anyway”) In being the optimist that I am, hopefully more awareness and knowledge will come out of these tragedies as to prevent further exploitation of said peoples.