83: “If I can open my mind about veganism… I can do anything… it was so liberating” - Jamila Anahata of the Afro-Vegan Society - Sentientist Conversations

Jamila (thesoulfulveganista.com & @Jamila_Anahata) is an activist, blogger & holistic lifestyle coach. She is aso Marketing Director of the Afro-Vegan Society. Sign up for their NAVCON2021 summit on Nov 13th - open to all!.

In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”

Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.

We discuss:

0:00 Welcome

01:12 Jamila’s Intro - Soulful Veganista & the AfroVegan Society

- Community, creativity, connection to resist oppression and help others

- "All the isms & justices". Veganism, racial justice / food justice / climate justice...

- AVS: Veganism through a black lens

02:45 What’s Real?

- Growing up in Maryland in the Southern US

- Raised Southern Baptist Christian. Bible study, daily church, Sunday service

- "I used to down religion... that industry"

- The church as a powerful community for black southern people... "throwing our pain at the altar"

- Experiencing deep racism... beyond bias

- A hunger for something beyond the suffering of "this realm"

- "I was always a gothy kid... a punk kid"

- "3 seconds after I went vegan I decided I wasn't going to be Christian any more"

- "If I can open my mind about veganism... I can do anything... it was so liberating"

- Leaving religion because of evidence, ethics or rebellion

- "My dad is a natural activist... he reminds me of Malcolm X"

- Learing the painful history of Christianity

- Not wanting to support the religion or animal product industries

- Empathy as a moral compass. I didn't need religion for that

- Keeping the compassion & community

- Looking within for ethics

- Spirituality. Connection & oneness

- "There's more to life than my own suffering or flourishing"

- Languages, class, religions, castes, hierarchies, status & how they separate us

- "I swiped away all the titles"

- Eckhart Tolle

- "I am not what they think I am... I am divinely guided"

- "If we wiped away all the oppressive things from Christianity that's what we'd be left with"

- "I feel like I receive intuitive messages from my spiritual team"

- Scepticism & believing in science... but that can't be all there is

- Other planes or dimensions

- "I was that faith based person where science was the enemy"

- "This pandemic helped me... I learned that medicine is OK..."

- Believing in 'what is' doesn't make me a less of a spiritual person

- Naturalism on this plane, spiritualism for the others?

...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info and on YouTube.

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.

Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our groups. The biggest so far is here on FaceBook. Come join us there!

Thanks Graham.