P.A.A.W. 2023 Recap

The inaugural Pre-Animal Activist Week (P.A.A.W.) took place from Oct 1st thru 6th in Atlanta, GA, and it was truly a historic first in APEX’s history! 

Conceived as a first-of-its-kind vegan bootcamp in all things social justice, we were privileged to host six extraordinary individuals from a variety of backgrounds and introduced them to what it means to live the ethics of anti-speciesism and to join the movement toward collective liberation. All selected participants were invited to the event at no cost with APEX covering all travel, lodging, and food expenses for their entire stay. 

Participants were carefully guided throughout the entire P.A.A.W. training process - which actually began before they arrived in Atlanta. All attendees were assigned a variety of materials - including videos, articles, and assorted media - that they had to review in advance of the event.  

APEX was able to bring on board a wellness advocate who facilitated a daily yoga and meditation practice to set the intention and shared sense of purpose at the start of each day. They were also on hand to conduct personal check-ins with all the participants to ensure that everyone’s mental and emotional health remained intact throughout the week. 

Throughout the week, APEX screened several “must-see” documentaries on animal rights and racial justice, including The Smell of Money, Blackfish, and What the Health. This trio of films was selected to introduce attendees to some of the major themes in intersectional animal advocacy, including environmental racism, corporate commodification of animal bodies, and the falsehoods perpetuated by the meat, dairy, and egg industries regarding human health. 

Of course, the purpose of P.A.A.W. is to activate the animal advocate within BIPOC. We helped to foster this recognition within our attendees by participating in three separate animal-focused events: a protest outside the Georgia Aquarium, a vigil for chickens sent to slaughter for human consumption, and a visit to a local animal sanctuary. While the protest and vigil actions were no doubt charged with heavy emotions, spending time with animals who are loved and respected at the sanctuary demonstrated to the P.A.A.W. team what life for animals should look and feel like. It’s important as activists not to focus for too long on the darkness, and sanctuaries are the ideal place to replenish one’s hope after bearing witness to animal cruelty. 

A major highlight for all participants was our visit to the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Downtown Atlanta. The museum is home to several acclaimed exhibits, including an interactive exhibit on the history of the American Civil Rights Movement and another which focuses on the history of oppression around the world called The Global Human Rights Movement. We then made the journey to Atlanta’s historic West End, a neighborhood that is home to many of the region's most celebrated and iconic cultural institutions in Black American history. Once we visited some of the neighborhood’s acclaimed sites, we embarked upon an impromptu vegan food crawl which gave the participants the opportunity to sample from three different Black-owned vegan restaurants! 

Special mention must be made of our chef who prepared all the meals (which were delicious, of course) for the P.A.A.W. participants and also led a plant-based cooking demo to show all the inventive and delectable ways veganism manifests in the kitchen. We also took time between meals to give away food in the form of a plant-based meal distribution project which helped our participants understand that caring for those in need and for nonhuman animals need not be mutually exclusive. 

Other special events included two workshops - one on civil disobedience and another on the basics of veganism - both of which were filled with insightful information for our participants. 

Of course, we couldn’t let our inaugural batch of P.A.A.W. attendees leave empty handed - so we put together a special swag bag for all which included several vegan-themed items, including John Lewis’s newly released Badass Vegan Cookbook! 

And that’s a wrap on P.A.A.W. 2023! We look forward to next year’s event which we hope will be an even greater success and bring more BIPOC to the world of animal activism.