Aph Ko
- writer
- activist
(M.A.)
- feminism
- veganism
Aph Ko is an American writer, vegan activist, and digital media producer. She is the author of Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out (2019), co-author of Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters (2017), and creator of the website Black Vegans Rock.
Early life and education
Ko has an older sister, Syl.[1] Ko became a vegetarian in high school.[2] She has a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies and an M.A. in Communication/Media Studies.[2]
Philosophy
Ko believes that "Racism uses animality as a vehicle to oppress any being that is not considered ‘human."[2] She objects to common comparisons of animal exploitation to enslavement of humans.[3][4] According to the UK Center for Animal Law, "citing the frequent metaphorical use of nonhuman animals to discuss racism and racial violence, Ko encourages her readers not to view violence against nonhumans as merely comparative to that which people of colour experience by the dominant racial class" but instead as "casualties of the project of ‘animality’, which is historically and contemporarily part of our own condition.” She argues this is an acknowledgement rather than a comparison, that “it is recognition that white supremacy’s ruthlessness isn’t limited to people of color.”[5]
Black Vegans Rock
Annoyed that popular opinion was that only white people were vegans, Ko created List of 100 Black Vegans and a website, Black Vegans Rock.[1][6] Huffington Post noted in 2016 that "searching the phrase “vegan people” on Google yields countless images mostly of young, smiling white people" and that the then-first image of a person of color was a photo of a hungry child captioned "When you eat meat, she doesn't eat," which framed the issue as one of wealthy white privilege.[3] Ko intended the list and the website to "change the mainstream narrative" that veganism wasn't for Black people.[4] In 2019 PETA said through the site Ko "has arguably done more to give black vegans a voice than any other media outlet today."
Books
She is the author of Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out,[7] which was described by UK Center for Animal Law as "Establishing the connection between white supremacy and animal use, Ko urges a new form of resistance. Rather than taking an intersectional approach, where the two separate movements supposedly ‘meet’, Ko posits a multidimensional angle which recognises the inextricability of the ideologies from the start."[5]
She is co-author with her sister, Syl Ko, of Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism, and Black Veganism from Two Sisters.[8] Aphro-ism was described by Black Youth Project as "conceptualiz[ing] veganism in a way that de-centers whiteness and critiques the intersection of colonialism, race-thinking, and animality."[9] According to Black Youth Project, "The Ko sisters argue animality is a Eurocentric concept that has contributed to the oppression of any group that deviates from the white supremacist ideal of being—white Homo sapiens."[9]
Awards
- 2015 Anti-Racist Changemaker of the Year Award, Sistah Vegan Project[4]
Personal life
Ko lives in Florida.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Severson, Kim (November 28, 2017). "Black Vegans Step Out, for Their Health and Other Causes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ a b c "A Conversation on Diversity in Veganism with Writer Aph Ko". Vilda Magazine. January 18, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Finley, Taryn (April 15, 2016). "This Woman Is Making Black People More Visible In The Vegan Movement". HuffPost. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Black Vegans Rock – Aph Ko Talks About her Remarkable Work". Vegan Life Magazine. April 3, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Lanza, Erin (May 22, 2020). "Book Review: Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out, by Aph Ko – A-law". Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ Chiorando, Maria (March 8, 2018). "12 Inspiring Vegan Women Changing The World". Vegan News, Plant Based Living, Food, Health & more. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
- ^ Aph, Ko (October 15, 2019). Racism as Zoological Witchcraft: A Guide to Getting Out. Lantern Books. ISBN 978-1-59056-597-1.
- ^ Ko, Aph; Ko, Syl (2017). Aphro-ism: Essays on pop culture, feminism, and Black veganism from two sisters. Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Books. ISBN 978-1-59056-555-1. LCCN 2017013836. OCLC 1021232784.
- ^ a b "Three ways Black veganism challenges white supremacy (unlike conventional veganism)". The Black Youth Project. October 23, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Black Vegans Rock
- v
- t
- e
Veganism |
|
---|---|
Vegetarianism | |
Lists |
Secular | |
---|---|
Religious |
and drink
- Agave syrup
- Chicken fillet roll
- Coconut burger
- Coconut milk
- Fruits
- Grains
- Gelatin substitutes
- Jambon
- Meat alternative
- Miso
- Mochi
- Mock duck
- Nutritional yeast
- Plant cream
- Plant milk
- Quinoa
- Quorn
- Seitan
- Soy yogurt
- Tempeh
- Tofu
- Tofurkey
- Cheese
- Vegepet
- Vegetables
- Hot dog
- Vegetarian mark
- Sausage
- Sausage roll
- Beer
- Wine
- Veggie burger
and events
reports,
journals
- On Abstinence from Eating Animals (3rd century)
- An Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, as a Moral Duty (1802)
- Vegetable Cookery (1812)
- A Vindication of Natural Diet (1813)
- Reasons for not Eating Animal Food (1814)
- Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824)
- Nature's Own Book (1835)
- Fruits and Farinacea (1845)
- The Pleasure Boat (1845)
- The Ethics of Diet (1883)
- What is Vegetarianism? (1886)
- Shelley's Vegetarianism (1891)
- Behind the Scenes in Slaughter-Houses (1892)
- Why I Am a Vegetarian (1895)
- Figs or Pigs? (1896)
- Thirty-nine Reasons Why I Am a Vegetarian (1903)
- The Meat Fetish (1904)
- The New Ethics (1907)
- A Fleshless Diet (1910)
- The Benefits of Vegetarianism (1927)
- Living the Good Life (1954)
- Ten Talents (1968)
- Diet for a Small Planet (1971)
- The Vegetarian Epicure (1972)
- Moosewood Collective Cookbooks (1973)
- The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook (1975)
- Laurel's Kitchen (1976)
- Moosewood Cookbook (1977)
- Fit for Life (1985)
- Diet for a New America (1987)
- The Sexual Politics of Meat (1990)
- Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997)
- The China Study (2005)
- Skinny Bitch (2005)
- Livestock's Long Shadow (2006)
- The Bloodless Revolution (2006)
- Eating Animals (2009)
- Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows (2009)
- The Vegan Studies Project (2015)
- Animal (De)liberation (2016)
- The End of Animal Farming (2018)
- Vegetable Kingdom (2020)
- Making a Stand for Animals (2022)
- Meat Atlas (annual)
- The Animals Film (1981)
- Diet for a New America (film) (1991)
- A Cow at My Table (1998)
- Meet Your Meat (2002)
- Post Punk Kitchen (2003–2005)
- Peaceable Kingdom (2004)
- Earthlings (2005)
- A Sacred Duty (2007)
- Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
- Planeat (2010)
- Forks Over Knives (2011)
- Vegucated (2011)
- Live and Let Live (2013)
- Cowspiracy (2014)
- PlantPure Nation (2015)
- What the Health (2017)
- Carnage (2017)
- Dominion (2018)
- Eating You Alive (2018)
- The Game Changers (2018)
- You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment (2024)
authors,
physicians
cookbook authors
- Nava Atlas
- Mayim Bialik
- Gypsy Boots
- BOSH!
- Edward Espe Brown
- Tabitha Brown (actress)
- Suzy Amis Cameron
- Hannah Che
- Pinky Cole
- Chloe Coscarelli
- Yamuna Devi
- Sue Donaldson
- Crescent Dragonwagon
- Rose Elliot
- Rip Esselstyn
- Carol Lee Flinders
- Dick Gregory
- Richa Hingle
- Madhur Jaffrey
- Mollie Katzen
- Frances Moore Lappé
- Deborah Madison
- Linda McCartney
- Mary McCartney
- Tracye McQuirter
- Joanne Lee Molinaro
- Moosewood Collective
- Isa Chandra Moskowitz
- Bawa Muhaiyaddeen
- Gaz Oakley
- Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
- Mathew Pritchard
- Satchidananda Saraswati
- Derek Sarno
- Miyoko Schinner
- Alicia Silverstone
- Bryant Terry
- Anna Thomas
- Haile Thomas
- Lauren Toyota
- Jeeca Uy
- Umberto Veronesi
- Nisha Vora
- Alan Wakeman
- Ben & Esther's Vegan Jewish Deli
- Cinnaholic
- Crossroads Kitchen
- Greens Restaurant
- Little Pine (restaurant)
- Slutty Vegan
- Souley Vegan
- Veggie Grill