Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star bring the noise to London

Source: echolot

Laaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwd, lawdamercy! Talib Kweli and, vegetarian bad *ss Yasiin Bey's, Black Star is coming to London this weekend and I can hardly contain myself. I've had classic tunes like 'Definition' and 'Brown Skin Lady' on rotation for the original Black Star album dropped back in 1998. Musically both have done amazing things a solo artists, but in Bey's journey through Islam, Hollywood, Broadway and political debate he's always kept it real. He's used his voice to push for more awareness on injustice in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, racism in the American criminal justice system and forced feeding in Guantanamo Bay.

This level of activism is not unusual for hip hop's vegans and vegetarians - consciousness and plant based diets seem to go hand in hand. The Roots, Stic.Man of Deadprez, Russell Simmons, Saul Williams, KRS-One, Q-Tip, Andre 3000, RZA, GZA, and Masta Killa, all get down with beats and beets, as well as bringing righteousness to their lyrics and their communities.

Aside from being in the presence of such a right on MC, I am of course looking forward to the music.  So, for your listening pleasure, here's a little soundcloud playlist featuring some of the newer tracks, remixes and collabs from Yasiin Bey, aka Mos Def.

3 Questions for Sistah Vegan Conference speaker Pilar Harris

Souce: Pilarinmotion.com 

Today the Sistah Vegan project is bringing together black vegan women from all over the interweb to discuss race, gender, veganism, nutrition, yoga and more in the 1st annual Sistah Vegan Conference on 'Embodied and Critical Perspectives on Veganism by Black Women and Allies'. This ground breaking event has been months in the making and has a host of speakers sharing ideas within a vegan activist frame of mind. I caught up with blogger, Pilar Harris, of Pilar In Motion, to ask what she's looking forward to from the conference.

What inspired you to take part in the Sistah Vegan Conference? 

I was really just excited about the prospect of an open forum to critically discuss some of the things I have been experiencing since I became a vegetarian eight months ago. I find that in my family and even in my community, veganism is still considered sort of taboo. When I found out about the conference, I felt inspired to join in and see what other women of color are going through -- to see how the lifestyle impacts each of us in a way that is special and interesting.

You'll be speaking on notions of beauty, how does this topic connect to experiences for women of color?

When I think of beauty and all the issues that stem from it, I'm considering what it means to be a woman as well as all of the ideas, rituals, tools, and products that are a part of how we treat our bodies. For me, beauty is about being at home in the body. As women of color, it's important to be aware of how, historically, we have been cast outside the mainstream notion of what it is to be beautiful. In my discussion, I will cover some of the ways we are marginalized in terms of access to quality, cruelty-free, vegan body care products. I'm very excited to get into this topic because I think many of us take personal care for granted. I know I do!

There are lots of interesting topics being explored at the conference, along with your own, which speakers are you most looking forward to?

This is one of those days that I'm going to be glued to my laptop all day long. I am so looking forward to everything! Some highlights on the roster, for me, are Sari Leigh and Kayla Bitten's discussion of Yoga and Radical Self Care for young girls. One of my favorite vegans, Russell Simmons, has written about yoga as a tool to reduce the stresses that urban youth experience. The topic, in general, is one that I'd love to pass along, maybe in my own community.

 

I'm also looking forward to the open discussion titled "Why I Relinquished the Gospel Bird and Became Vegan." It's nice to hear about the paths women take toward this lifestyle.

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If you're interested in the Sistah Vegan Conference, you can get copies of the recordings after the conference finishes. For more information visit SistahVegan.com.

3 Black Vegan Chefs that are Changing the Game

From best-selling books to Oscar worthy horderves, and everywhere in between, a generation of black vegan chefs are coming into their own and blowing the game wide open. Classically trained, ambitious, inventive and full of flavor, they are working with high profile black celebrity vegans to share their love of food and spread the word on the plant based diet in the community.

Lauren Von Der Pool

Source: Vonderpoolgourmet.com

Lauren Von Der Pool, is the celebrity chef behind raw vegan athletes Venus & Serena Williams and vegetarian rapper Common. She's been bringing vegan food to black folks since she was 15 years old, when she started her first business selling vegan food to students at Howard University. Today she travels the globe as a Cordon Bleu trained celebrity chef, soaking up recipes, meeting fellow chefs and generally being fabulous. When she's stateside, she works to combat the food deserts that plague urban centers by teaching high school kids about nutrition in her home town of DC and has become a spokesperson for Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign against obesity. She is inspired and inspiring as an author, advocate,chef and entrepreneur with a genuine passion for plant based cuisine.

Ayinde Howell

Source: ieatgrass.com

Chef Ayinde Howell has many strings to his bow. Not only is he a successful chef who has mastered the art of the mac n' yease, but he is also a poet, actor, writer, musician and czar of his own vegan web mecca, I Eat Grass. Growing up in a vegan household, he's been practicing his skills for years and he's made lots of friends along the way. His Hillside Quickies Sandwich Shop was favorite with Def Jam vegan Russell Simmons and his first e-book venture, 10 Ways to Get Your Protein, includes a foreword by vegan songstress India Arie. And his Kickstarter funded, Wildflower Pop-Up Vegan Restaurant, was the talk of 2012 in towns like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His passion for food and drive adventure definitely make him one to watch.

Bryant Terry

Source: The Nail That Sticks Up

Bryant Terry is probably the best known chef on this list. His bestselling book, Vegan Soul Kitchen lays out a blueprint for how to cook the food that you grew up on, without the flesh, and has helped him spread the word on ham-hock free collard greens on television, at universities, and online. He describes himself as a 'food activist' and works tirelessly against obesity and food injustice that causes what he calls a 'quasi apartheid in the food system' in America. With his most recent book, The Inspired Vegan, he took an interest in gardening and became a spokesperson for urban farms with food education initiative Nourish Life. There is much anticipation around his upcoming title, Afro Vegan, and with Terry's track record it's sure to be a next level read.

Serena Williams Killing it a Wimbeldon 2013 on a Raw Food Vegan Diet

Number One ranked and easily one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Serena Williams, is currently treading the grass at Wimbledon 2013. After more than 10 years in the game and five Wimbledon plates on the mantle, just about anyone who's watching knows that she's flipping fantastic with the racket. But what a lot of people don't know is that this year, her power serve is powered by a raw vegan diet.

Back in November 2011, Serena joined sister Venus in a raw vegan diet in order to fight symptoms of Venus' Sjogren’s Syndrome.  Since then, pundits and opponents have been noticing that she's been leaner and keener on grass, clay and concrete, playing some of the best tennis of her life. As of writing, she's on a 34 game winning streak and in 2012, she won 'the most WTA singles titles of the season with seven titles which included two grand slam titles at Wbimbledon and the US Open. She also won the WTA Championships and her first singles Olympics gold.'  So far this year, she's been killing it on the WTA tour with 6 titles including the French Open and is looking in fine form at Wimbeldon, strolling into the 4th round without dropping a set.

Obviously, 18 years of professional tennis and countless hours of practice with a superstar sister go a long way, so it cannot be conclusively said that her raw food vegan diet is the secret to her latest her competitive edge BUT it is clear that it ain't hurtin' nothin either. With simply fabulous private raw food vegan chef, Lauren Von Der Pool, in tow we wish her all the best in this year's tour. 

Celebrity Chef Lauren Von Der Pool

Call for papers for the first annual Sistah Vegan Conference

Dr. Breeze Harper, editor and mastermind of black female vegan anthology, Sistah Vegan, is hosting the  first annual Sistah Vegan Conference this fall, on September 14, 2013. It will be an online interactive conference, meaning presenters can use webcams, audio, and PowerPoint which will be fully experienced by the audience.

At the end of each talk, audience members will be able to engage in Q&A with the presenter. The entire conference talks will be video recorded and accessible after the event, to ensure that this valuable information will not be lost; it also ensures that those with internet access who could not attend will be able to access this information.

They are specifically looking for critical perspectives on veganism, animal compassion work, and self-care from the epistemological standpoint/embodied experiences of people identified women of African descent. We seek presentation that address

• sizeism
• ableism
• lgbtq experience and challenges in heteronormative spaces
• intersecting antiracism and animal compassion
• how racist micro aggressions in predominantly white spaces affect our health, and why self care is a needed aspect of ‘social justice’ for Black women and girls
• critical perspectives on Afrocentric or Afrikan holistic health movement
• parenting as a black vegan

Topics need not be limited to these above, however, the above are more of a priority, due to their near invisibility in most vegan and animal compassion spaces. This is open to all women and girls of African descent regardless of ‘formal’ education background or writing/artistic style. We encourage academic and non academic presentations.

Should your presentation be accepted, you are invited to submit it to be part of the first Sistah Vegan journal issue, scheduled for a January 2014 release.

Please send proposals by July 10, 2013 which should include your name, institutional affiliation (if you have none, that is fine too), presentation title and 150 word abstract. Talks should be about 20 minutes long, with 15 minutes for Q and A. Email to breezeharper at gmail dot com.

Possible keynote speakers have already been sent invitations. Once their participation is confirmed, Dr. Harper will post their presentation titles.

As part of the Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for the Sistah Vegan Project , those who can help are asked to donate to see this conference happen. Dr Harper will be offering honorariums for keynote speakers and hopes to offer scholarships for those who cannot pay registration fees. Why registration fees? Though it is online, there is a need to pay for the internet conferencing service and a plan that can host one hundred or more people. All are welcomed to register and attend as audience members.

For more information visit Sistah Vegan.

Sister goes vegan: Tia Mowry's New Vegan Photoshoot for PETA

Tia Mowry's Vegan Photo shoot for PETA

Tia Mowry, one half of twin stars of 90s American TV show Sister Sister and former star of BETs The Game, has teamed up with PETA for a campaign to promote her new found veganism. She looks amazing in the photo shoot wearing nothing but a gorgeous apron made of live veggies—specially designed by costumer Mia Gyzander. Tia was ecstatic at the press launch on Monday.

Tia announced that she and her husband Cory Hardrict had become vegan earlier this year. Tia adopted a vegan diet for better for health, to boost energy, and cleanse mind and body. While she was welcomed by some, she was also met with a bit of bullying from others on twitter.

Any vegans out there? Do you get bullied for being vegan? I sure am...
— Tia Mowry (@TiaMowry) March 21, 2013

She bounced back with a frank and endearing Google Hangout and this brand new campaign. Tia was especially moved to advocate vegan eating to her friends and the African American Community as some of her family members have suffered from diet and lifestyle-related health ailments.

Tia joins a number of black celebrity women who are embracing a meat free lifestyle in order to keep fit and combat illness like heart disease which affects black women at a rate that is twice as high as white women. According to the Black Women's Health Imperative, Black women die from heart disease more often than all other Americans. Vegan and vegetarian diets have been proven to reduce the rate of heart disease by as much as a third so Tia is sending a welcome message.

Check out the behind-the-scenes footage from Tia's tantalizing photo shoot and her interview with PETA about how going vegan has changed her life!

Tempeh Recipe: Vegetarian Chicken Salad Style Sandwich

Chicken Style Tempeh Salad Sandwich with Watercress

Tempeh is one of the first products to be reviewed in my Meet Your Meat Substitutes series and it sets the bar extremely high. This vegetarian chicken style salad is just gorgeous and keeps for a few days making it ideal for picnics and lunch box treats. the par boiling pre-treatment might seem long winded, but I've found that this is common amongst tempeh recipes. Along with making the tempeh plump and moist, it also opens it up for flavouring.

Chicken Style Tempeh Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

8-12 oz of tempeh, cubed
2 stalk celery sliced
1/2 onion, minced
1/2 cup apricots
1/2 cup soy mayonnaise or 1/2 cup regular mayonnaise (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon yellow mustard (spicy golden brown is nice too)
salt & freshly ground black pepper 

Directions:

1. Place the cubed tempeh in a saucepan of boiling, salted water.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 12 minutes, drain and set aside to cool.
3. Place the cubes in the refrigerator or freezer to cool while you make the sauce.
4. In a large bowl, combine the celery, apricot and onions. Then mix in mustard, mayo and season to taste.
5. After boiling, the tempeh will have expanded, so you may need to cut the cubes down in to bite sized chunks. Next add the tempeh to the salad mixture.
6. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors combine.
7. This will keep covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.
8. This salad goes great on wheat toast, in a pita pocket, or top of a jacket potato.

   

   Par Boiled Tempeh Cubes

   

   Salad sauce mixture

   

   Add the tempeh to the mix

Build yourself a lovely tempeh sandwich

PETA's list of Sexiest Vegetarians Celebrities 2012 lacking in Black Beauties

Leona Lewis, former winner of PETAs Sexiest Vegetarain Celebrity

PETA has announced its list of the 100 Sexiest Celebrity Vegetarians of 2012. While every starlet is a contender, I was struck by the lack of black women on the list. While black men make up 14 out of dreamy 50 male nominees, only 4 black women are listed amongst the 50 veggie vixens. So what gives?

I mean Leona Lewis, Serena Williams, Robin Quivers and Angela Simmons are all gorgeous, but there are lots of other black female vegetarian celebrities that could have been listed this year.

If they'd have asked me, I would have included some of these sexy black vegetarian female celebrities.

Erykah Badu - Musician, Actress and Vegan

Angela Bassett - Actress and Vegetarian

Joy Bryant - Actress, Animal Rights Activist and Vegetarian

Tina Turner - Legend and Vegetarian

Nia Long - Actress and Vegetarian

Alicia Keys - Singer and vegetarian

India Arie - Singer, Song Writer, Vegetarian

Book review: Michael Clarke Duncan agrees that Skinny Bitch is awesome

Oscar nominee Michael Clarke Duncan, describes himself as a 'big guy' and is not the image that most people conjure up when when they think of vegetarians. But last week, the star of Green Mile, and partner of American Appretice vegetarian vixen Omarosa, confessed to PETA that his recent conversion to vegetarianism was inspired by a combination of health concerns, a screening of Meet Your Meat and a reading of classic vegan/health manifesto, Skinny Bitch.

What is it about Skinny Bitch?
Well, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin's book 'Skinny Bitch: A No Nonsense, Tough Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous',  has been a New York Times Bestseller and spawned a suite of follow ups because it's more than just a book about vegetarianism or veganism. It's about getting you to understand how your body is affected by all the food and drink that you feed it. Caffeine, dairy, meat, aspartame are all strictly off the menu. Water, sleep, fruit and legumes are all definitely in.

I originally borrowed the book the shelf of my friend at Teeny Vegan Kitchen . She said it was a must read and she was right. The thing that really carries this book is the tone. The girls are straight talking, frank and curse a lot- their chapter on bowel movements is very amusing - but they speak the truth. By the end of it I felt more than motivated to cleanse myself of the toxins that were making me sluggish, unhealthy and keeping me from harnessing my inner skinny bitch.


I found the book to be quite an eye opener and a great read, and apparently I'm not the only one.

Happy Birthday to Hip Hop Vegan, Andre 3000

Source PETA

 It's May 27, which means that Roots and Greens has the honour of celebrating the birthday one our favourite human beings and commited vegan, Mr. Andre 3000. Along with performing serious services to awesomeness with hip hop crew Outkast, Andre 3000 has dabbled in acting, activism, fashion, and music production. His commitment to the cause earned him a place as PETA's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity in 2004. For his birthday, I put on the Love Below and I've prepared a special Andre 3000 inspired vegan meal that even Ms. Jackson would like. Happy birthday Dre, I hope you like the Bombs over Butter bean Cassoulet with Idle -Wild Rice and Spinachplayalisticohsosimpesideofsalad as much as I did.

  Idle-Wild Rice

Wild rice needs a little bit more prep than most store bought rice. I used a Thai Glutinous Black Rice for this and it need to be soaked for a hour before I could put it in rice cooker - but it was worth the wait for the beautiful colour and nutty flavour of the rice. I'll be honest, though, I didn't find it that sticky!