By Leslie Goldberg
For five minutes, maybe three minutes, I’m not sure exactly, — animal rights activists stopped the world.
Today as cars backed up on Geary Street in San Francisco and as other cars were blocked from leaving a big downtown underground parking lot, over 100 protesters from the animal rights organization DxE formed a large circle in the street. Wearing blue T-shirts and white bloody masks, we held signs with pictures of animals and signs reading, “WHO WILL THEY KILL TODAY?”
For those few moments people stopped, looked and heard a magnificent choir of full-throated voices rising to the heavens chanting:
“ONE STRUGGLE ONE FIGHT”
“HUMAN FREEDOM ANIMAL RIGHTS”
“THEIR LIVES”
“NOT OURS”
“THEIR BABIES”
“NOT OURS”
“THEIR SKIN”
“NOT OURS”
“THEIR FLESH”
“NOT OURS”
“THEIR MILK”
“NOT OURS”
I felt my voice strong and my feet solid on the ground. Finally I was up off my knees. You see, for six years I’ve been either silent or begging, pleading, cajoling, even joking in an effort to persuade people to give up the murderous habit of using animals for food, entertainment, shoes, clothing and research. It hasn’t worked.
There is a smaller percentage of vegans today than in 1999. Part of the reason our numbers have decreased instead of grown is a wildly successful advertising ploy/scam by the animal foods industry called “Humanely-Raised,” “Cage-Free,” “Organically Grown” and “Free-Range.”
Out on Geary, the drivers were getting angrier and angrier, laying on their horns.
Eventually the protest in the street stopped and we moved to continue our Direct Action on the sidewalk. I never knew that the front of Macy’s could be a sacred space, but today it was. With the masks now off we stood silently outside the automatic doors of the store: witnesses to the unimaginable suffering that is going on every minute of every day in research laboratories, on fur farms, in slaughterhouses and on farms which raise animals for food.
Nine billion land animals are killed every year in the United States for food.
Clutching shopping bags, a lot of people scurried past us. Others just stood and stared as we resumed chanting. Others snickered, but even a street musician’s upbeat (and loud) electric guitar playing right next to us couldn’t dent the solemnity or the gravity of our witnessing or obscure the magnitude of the worldwide “Eternal Treblinka” endured by animals on this earth.
We’re not going away until every animal is free from suffering.
– A Vicious Vegan blog post –
I’m curious to know where you got the stat that there are less vegans today than in 1999?
Yes – it is because of that organic bs that they pump out that veganism isn’t growing as much. I’m s h o c k e d though. I thought that there was aLot more progress being made towards veganism and when you say there is a smaller % of vegans today than in 1999 I just want to c r y. ‘They ‘are so many…
I did see a vegan billboard in my town last week which was great and ‘heartening’ to see, but – never ceases to amaze me how hard and harDENED people are and entrenched in their callousness and taste for blood. Thanks for posting this. Really moving and great to hear about this.
Thank you for your courage. Thank you for you perseverance. Thank you for your time and effort and expression of passion for the voiceless. When you speak the truth people often shut their ears. The truth is too painful, too real, too much work to acknowledge, accept and act on, but it cannot be silenced! It will prevail. Thank you for fight the good fight.
Bless these wonderful activists. They are heroes for these poor animals.
It was a great protest and I was proud to be part of it. The San Francisco Westfield Mall, which we also visited, is the most profitable mall in the entire country. Hundreds of people there watched us. There may have been sneers, but still, we planted seeds wherever we went.
I just found your site tonight. Thank you for everything you do. You are changing minds and saving lives. Sometimes I get so discouraged by the burden that is the knowledge of what we do to animals every second of every minutes of every day. Sometimes I feel paralyzed. But then I find people like you and I remember never to stop fighting for what I know to be right. You are an inspiration! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you Sarah! One of the things that’s giving me hope is I joined Direct Action Everywhere. I love loud, disruptive protests. We’re bringing this issue out into the open. As vegans, I think we’ve been too reluctant to talk about these things that mean so much to us because we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I’m tired of that. Gotta come out of the vegan closet.
This is beautiful that it is happening. I SO agree that it is beCause of slick marketing – organic, humanely raised, cage free and all the other BS-ey wording that buys them more ‘taste-budders’ and buys all the ‘taste-budders’ more time to delude themselves while they smack their lips on corpse.
That’s me too – begging, pleading, cajoling and joking – to NO AVAIL. Silent responses, defensive responses, responses of agreement that there is cruelty – but no changes in eating behaviours, mocking responses, and even vegan meals with me – but not many people changing. This remarkable protest style WILL bring awareness and I think change that no other method that has been tried will. Others have had their day in the light – FINALLY it is animals turn. I am with you and i thank you all!