27/10/2021
Today we remember Rosa Parks who calls us into a holy kind of commitment to justice as we keep going in our pursuit of care for non-human and human creations alike.
Most of us know Rosa Parks for her involvement in the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, but did you know that Rosa Parks was a vegetarian?
Not only that, Parks had committed herself to eating vegetarian for over 40 years after a childhood of poverty induced poor nutrition. Parks sights health concerns as a prompt for her choice to abstain from eating meat and to eat vegetables instead. This can be a controversial take for some vegetarians and vegans who believe these plant-based choices must be for animals first.
Many Black activists have sought out plant-based, meat-free lifestyles in order to fight back against health disparities caused by systemic injustice and the stresses of oppression. Some of these injustices include disproportionately high presence of food deserts and high rates of diabetes in Black communities compared to whites. Parks is one of many Black activists, past and present, who took concern for her health and the health of the community and expanded that to include concern for other living beings. We learn from Rosa Parks how caring for oneself can have ripple effects in caring for others.
