On Sundown towns, Trayvon Martin, and Environmental Justice

I also wanted to share with you that I have registered for school. Wahoo! Thank you all for your generous donations. I almost have everything that I need to pay off the bill that I just received last week. I am $900, short, so if you would like help with donations I appreciate it. This will help me be enrolled for spring and summer. I accept paypal donations to the email address breezeharper (at) gmail (dot) com. Your donations help me do the work that I do and I truly appreciate it.

Below is how I have been ‘productive.’ Many of my fans have asked if I have anything new coming out, so here you go. Coming summer 2012….

I have written a chapter for the edited volume Doing Nutrition Differently, which will be released by Ashgate Press. It is edited by Jessica and Allison Hayes-Conroy. My chapter is tentatively titled: “Doing Veganism Differently: Racialized Trauma and the Personal Journey Towards Vegan Healing.” I approach vegan nutrition from a decolonial angle.

I have written a piece for  Deportate, Esuli e Profughe an online journal of women’s memory. The title of my piece is called “Afrocentricism and Revolutionary Black [Eco]-Feminism: Queen Afua’s Vegan Kitchen.” This will be released in summer 2012 as well.

I video-recorded my keynote talk I gave at University of Oregon-Eugene on April 7, 2012. You can get the video of it here: http://wp.me/pzDsy-nV . It was an Environmental Justice conference put together by the Coalition Against Environmental Racism. I think it went “well” if you consider the fact that Eva Luna kept me awake all nite and then I had to wake up at 530 (after finally falling asleep at 430) to catch my morning flight. I love how babies don’t understand they should sleep when it is dark and that they should not want to play.

I will be in Denver, CO April 27-29 to participate in the Brown Suga Youth Festival. Hope to see some of you there!  

Breeze Harper to speak in Eugene, Oregon on April 7 2012: Environmental Justice Conference

Breeze Harper

When: April 7, 2012 

Conference Title: Response / Ability – 17th Grassroots Environmental Justice Conference!

Keynote speaker: Breeze Harper.

Location: EMU (at University of Oregon, Eugene).

Time: 12:00 PM.

I will be speaking about food justice, from and afrocentric, critical race, and vegan perspective for this conference.

Breeze Harper’s 2012 Speaking Schedule

Breeze Harper

Breeze Harper’s 2012 Speaking Schedule

(This will be updated on a weekly basis as more events are confirmed for the year)

(1) January 26, 2012 OAKLAND , CALIFORNIA:

TTS Speaker Series Presents: “Food, Justice, & Sustainability” URL: http://bterry.eventbrite.com/ . Breeze Harper will be speaking on a panel with Raj Patel, Bryant Terry, and others. Time: 7pm-10pm.

Location: Oakland School for the Arts Black Box Theater , 530 18th. St., Oakland California. USA

(2) February 27,2012 AUSTIN, TEXAS:

Brown Symposium at Southwestern University in Texas, in the Austin area. Title of the symposium is  Back to the Foodture. Breeze Harper gives a Keynote speech: ““On Being and Not Being the Wretched of the Earth: A Critical Race Feminist Analysis of Vegan Consciousness”” at 1:30pm at Alma Thomas Theater. 

Event details can be found at: URL: http://www.southwestern.edu/academics/brownsymposium/film.php

(3) April 7, 2012 Response / Ability – 17th Grassroots Environmental Justice Conference!

Keynote speaker: Breeze Harper. Time: :   Location: EMU (at University of Oregon, Eugene). Time: 12:00 PM.

 

Breeze Harper Speaking at Stanford University on May 3, 2011

Breeze Harper

I will speaking at Stanford University from 12pm-1pm, talking about how once can use black feminism and critical studies of race to explore how race and whiteness operate within veganism in the USA. I will be reading from my book Sistah Vegan, speaking about my current dissertation work about critical whiteness studies and applications to critical vegan studies, and drawing on personal narratives on what it’s like doing this type of work in a supposed “post-racial” Obama era.

It will be in the Women’s Community Center: http://www.stanford.edu/group/womenscntr/

Updated Breeze Harper 2011 Speaking Schedule

Breeze Harper 2011 Speaking Schedule.

All events are video or audio recorded and available online unless otherwise noted. EMAIL ME AT BREEZEHARPER (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM FOR URL AND PASSWORDS TO LECTURES YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEARING.

• February 12, 2011. 10:00am – 11:00am University of California-Berkeley. Keynote Address by Breeze Harper: “Critical Race Feminist Applications to Vegan Philosophy”. Event: FemSex Conference.  101 Morgan Hall. 
• March 4, 2011. 10:15 am . University of California-Davis. Conference: “Fierce, Fearless, Feminist.” Breeze Harper’s Talk: “Going beyond the post-racial vegan philosophy in the USA.”Buehler Alumni Center, 10:15am (scheduled talk will be approximately 20 minutes long).
• March 24, 2011. 7:30pm-10:00 pm. Def Story’s Food Fights. Food storytelling slam. Featured storyteller: Breeze Harper will give a critical race feminist spin to her experience with veganism as a black woman in the USA. Location: Spice Monkey Café & Restaurant 1628 Webster Street @ 17th Street Oakland, CA. . URL: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193671743988127
• March 28-30, 2011. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Ecofeminism 3 Day Symposium. Breeze Harper as Keynote Speaker and Panelist.
  • March 28, 7:00 pm. Panel Talk with Breeze Harper: ”Pieces of Meat:” The Relationship Between Animal Liberation, Gender Equity, and Racial Justice. Date Mar 28, 2011. Time 7:00 pm. Location Women’s Resources Center, 703 S. Wright St. 2nd floor . Sponsor University of Illinois Women’s Resources Center University YWCA. Hot Topics Dinner Dialogues: A collaboration between the Women’s Resources Center and the campus YWCA, Hot Topics Dinner Dialogues are dialogue workshops designed to generate conversation around issues at the intersection of race and gender. All Hot Topics events are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
  • March 29. TIME: 7:00 PM. Keynote Address by Breeze Harper: “Race and Whiteness within Vegan Philosophy: Critical Race Feminist Reflections from the Sistah Vegan Project” Location: Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center (708 S. Matthews, Urbana, IL 61801). 
• April 27, 2011. Lecture Talk Time: 9:30 am. University of California-Berkeley. Conference, “Race, Space, and Nature.”  Breeze Harper’s lecture: “Pain and Pleasure of the Exotic: A Critical Race Feminist Analysis of the Use of ‘Exotic’ Amongst Vegans (Tentative title).” URL: http://racespacenature2011.wordpress.com/conference-schedule-location/
• May 3, 2011. Time: Noon. Location: Women’s Resource Center, Stanford University. “Race and Whiteness in Veganism? What Critical Race and Black Feminist Frameworks Can Tell Us” Breeze Harper to speak about intersections of veganism, black feminist theory, and food politics.

Breeze Harper Coming to University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign Campus March 28-30, 2011

Breeze Harper to be keynote for the 1st Annual Campus Ecofeminism Summit at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Campus March 28-30, 2011

Breeze Harper

Campus Ecofeminism Summit @ the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a three-day summit bringing awareness to issues within ecofeminist discourse and activism, featuring a film showing, outdoor activities, a eco-feminism theater lab, teach-ins, a performance, and our keynote speaker and author of Sistah Vegan, A. Breeze Harper, will participate in a campus panel discussion on the racialized and gendered dynamics of veganism in the United States and deliver our keynote. This year’s summit is sponsored by the Student Organization Resource Fee (SORF) and co-sponsored by a variety of campus and community organizations including the Women’s Resources Center, YWCA, Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, OIIR’s DiversityEd, African American Studies Department, Gender Action Network, Flatlander Fund, Champaign County Healthcare Consumers, Prairieland Community-Supported Agriculture, Urbana’s Market at the Square, and Creative Intervention Agency.

Keynote Speaker, Breeze Harper, Bio

Breeze Harper is a PhD Candidate at University of California, Davis in the department of Geography. Her theoretical emphasis are critical geographies of race, critical feminism, and critical food geographies. Her current dissertation work focuses on the USA Vegan movement, analyzing how ‘post-racial’, normative whiteness, as well as ‘race-consciousness’ manifest. She is comparing mainstream popular vegan ‘race-neutral’ media (Skinny Bitch, Kind Diet, Quantum Wellness) to the ‘race-conscious’ vegan media such as Queen Afua’s Sacred Woman, Ietef Vita’s hip hop vegan activist music and education, and her own book Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health and Society (Lantern Books 2010). Her upcoming book, Scars (Black Coffee Press 2012), is a creative fictional project about how a black teen lesbian, living in rural New England, navigates normative whiteness, racism, and her own internalized homophobia.

Pre-Summit Activities: Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Champaign-Urbana Community Meal-Swap & Passive-Living House Tour

3pm, “Let’s Garden Together!” Community Gardening Hour

4pm, Tour of the Eco/Passive-Living House

5pm, Community Meal-Swap

The Anchorist House (1005 Fairview Ave. Urbana, IL 61801)

For instructions on how to participate in the community meal swap, click here!

Directions to the Anchorist House: Take the 22 Illini North to the light at Lincoln and Fairview. Then, walk one block west. The house is on the south side of the street.

RSVP on Facebook here: http://on.fb.me/hN0JzH

DAY 1: Monday, March 28th, 2011

“An Ecofeminist Film Showing: Food, Inc.”

feat. Opening Performance: An Excerpt from “Dreams, Diving, and Culinary Creations”

2pm, Courtyard Café, Illini Union (809 South Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820)

Description: As part of the 1st Annual Campus Ecofeminism Summit, a screening of Food Inc. will explore the nuances of the corporate-controlled food industry. Free and open to the public! To view the complete trailer, click here: http://imdb.to/PUZrr. An excerpt from “Dreams, Diving, and Divine Culinary Creations” by Julianne Panagacos performed by Julianne Panagacos, Aba Kiser, and Brook Celeste from the School for Designing a Society will open the film. Hosted by the WRC, YWCA, and the Courtyard Café in the Illini Union.

RSVP on Facebook! http://on.fb.me/eWIs73

Hot Topics Evening Dialogues: “Pieces of Meat: The Relationship

Between Animal Liberation, Gender Equity, and Racial Justice” A Panel Discussion

7pm, YWCA (1001 South Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820)

Featured Speakers:

A Breeze Harper, PhD Candidate/Author of Sistah Vegan

elizaBeth Simpson, Co-Director, Creative Intervention Agency

Rafter Sass, Co-Founder, Ecological Learning Institute

Jennifer Carerra, PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Description: Join us for a discussion of the relationship between the women’s movement, racial justice, and veganism and/or animal rights. Our panelists will speak about their own work and how their own perspective has grown over time, as well as, share with us ideas for living a conscious life. Free and open to the public, all Hot Topics Evening Dialogues—a collaboration between the Women’s Resources Center and the YWCA—seek to explore the gendered and racialized dynamics of social justice discourse and activism.

RSVP on Facebook! http://on.fb.me/fBM475

DAY 2: Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

Vegan Meet n’ Greet n’ Eat with A. Breeze Harper, Author of Sistah Vegan

12pm, YWCA (1001 South Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820)

Catered by Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant

Description: As part of the 1st Annual Campus Ecofeminism Summit, come join the Women’s Resources Center, YWCA, and our keynote speaker, A. Breeze Harper for an informal meet n’ greet! We will offer free vegan food provided by the Red Herring Vegetarian Restaurant and get to know our speaker, A. Breeze Harper, author of Sistah Vega: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Health, and Society.

RSVP on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139003026170361

Teach-In: Unpacking Environmental Racism in Our Community

3pm, Douglass Branch Library, Conference Room (504 E. Grove Street, Champaign, IL 61820)

5pm, Local Residents Speak, Contaminated Site Tour 5th and Hill Street

Description: As part of the 1st Annual Ecofeminism Summit at the University of Illinois, participants will explore the contamination affecting residents of north Champaign and the failure to address the safety of the families there as an example of environmental racism and injustice in our community. Members of the Champaign County Healthcare Consumers will inform us of the history of the contamination and the grassroots efforts to demand accountability. After the teach-in, we will be joined by local residents from 5th and Hill Streets to discuss how the disaster has impacted their lives and tour the contamination site together. Participants will be able to tour the site safely and it is recommended that you wear close-toed shoes and comfortable clothes for walking. NOTE: Students seeking support in traveling to Douglass Library should meet at the Women’s Resources Center (703 S. Wright St MC-302 Champaign, IL 61820) at 2:30pm to travel with WRC staff via public transit.

RSVP on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172504626132289

“Race and Whiteness within Vegan Philosophy: Critical Race Feminist Reflections from the Sistah Vegan Project” A. Breeze Harper, PhD Candidate UC-Davis/Author of Sistah Vegan

7pm, Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center (708 S. Matthews, Urbana, IL 61801)

Description: Join us for the keynote lecture from A. Breeze Harper, author of Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health, and Society. Book sale and signing provided by Jane Adams Bookstore. Credit cards are accepted for book purchasing.

RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119247421487194

DAY 3: Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Teach-In: Exploring Local Food Networks

12pm, YWCA (1001 South Wright Street, Champaign, IL 61820)

Featured Speakers:

Home-Growing: Maggie Taylor, La Casa Co-Op Gardener

Community-Production: Laurence Mate, Flatlander Community Kitchen Volunteer

Production for the Community: Anne Barnes, PCSA Prairieland Community Supported Agriculture

Distribution for the Community: Lisa Bralts, Urbana’s Market at the Square

Description: Join us for a discussion of local food networks in the community, from the home, community, and distribution level. Our panelists will discuss their work, local resources, and their visions for a more environmentally-conscious community.

RSVP on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112617655483912

“Eco-Feminism Outdoor Theater Lab”

Featuring elizaBeth Simpson of the Creative Intervention Agency

3pm, Near Alma Mater on Wright and Green Street on Grass

Description: As part of the 1st Annual Campus Ecofeminism Summit, ElizaBeth Simpson of the Creative Intervention Agency will host a theatre lab that addresses issues at the intersection of ecology, racism, and gender incorporating Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theatre, and other techniques. Expect to enjoy a unique way to learn about yourself and your relationship to eco-feminism! All are welcome to participate in these sessions- no theater experience is necessary. Participants will use prompted, improvisational movement and sound to explore weekly themes related to the experience and interest of the participants.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=107951689287117

Breeze Harper To Speak at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign March 28, 2011

Click on Book to purchase a signed copy

I will be speaking at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on March 28, 2011 at 7pm.

Hot Topics Dialogues:”Pieces of Meat:” The Relationship Between Animal Liberation, Gender Equity, and Racial Justice

Date Mar 28, 2011

Time 7:00 pm

Location Women’s Resources Center, 703 S. Wright St. 2nd floor

Sponsor University of Illinois Women’s Resources Center University YWCA

Hot Topics Dinner Dialogues: A collaboration between the Womens Resources Center and the campus YWCA, Hot Topics Dinner Dialogues are dialogue workshops designed to generate conversation around issues at the intersection of race and gender. All Hot Topics events are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

Sistah Vegan Book and Events Calendar

April 5, 2010: Inspirasoul Blog Talk Radio: “Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans on Food, Identity, Health & Society”

Location: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/inspirasoul/2010/04/05/sistah-vegan-black-female-vegans-on-food-identity-

Time: 10:00 AM PST/1:00 PM PST

Talk/Interview: Breeze Harper will be interviewed for an hour about her book and research work. This will be a Live show, so the audience is invited to call in at 347-205-9904

April 8, 2010: Berkeley CA Sistah Vegan Book Release Celebration, Talk, and Signing with Breeze Harper.

Location: Guerilla Cafe, 1620 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley CA. Time: 7-9pm. Books available for purchase.

April 10, 2010: San Francisco GreenFest. 2-3pm Talk: “Grub and Eco-Politics”.

Go to: http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/san-francisco-spring-2010/a.-breeze-harper/

April 14, 2010: Earthsave Radio Interview with Caryn Hartglass (host)

Location: http://www.earthsave.org/radio.html Time : 12-1pm PST.

Talk: Breeze Harper will be interviewed about Sistah Vegan and the work she is doing as a PhD Candidate at UC Davis, focusing on intersections of critical race and vegan studies.

April 15, 2010: OAKLAND , CA PREMIERE OF SISTAH VEGAN BOOK

Location: AK Press 674-A 23rd St., Oakland CA 94612. 7-9pm

Talk: “Sistah Vegan: Breeze Harper Talks About the Intersection of Critical Race and Food Studies.” Book will be available for purchase and she will be signing.

URL: http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/sistah-vegan-breeze-harper-speaks-on-the-intersection-of-critical-race-food-studies/

April 17, 2010: “The Future of Health Care: Eat Well, Be Well” Holistic Health Conference at San Francisco State University

Location: San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA. Jack Adams Halls, Cesar Chavez Student Center. 1130am- 12:45pm.

Talk: Vegetarian, Vegan, and Raw Diets- Benefits and Concerns (Breeze Harper and Dr. Will Tuttle)

April 29, 2010: “Breeze Harper Book Talk and Signing of Sistah Vegan“

Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30pm

Location: Cafe Gratitude, 1730 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley, CA 94709 (415) 824-4652 http://www.cafegratitude.com/

May 1-2, 2010: Farm Sanctuary’s Annual “Hoe Down”.

Location: Orland, CA. Farm Sanctuary.

Talk: “A Compassionate Talk About Normative Whiteness in Veganism.”

URL: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/farm/calendar/ca_hoedown/speakers.html