José Elias
Meet Changemaker, Vegan Activist Alliance Founder, and Chilis on Wheels Executive Director Eloísa Trinidad.
Learn about her work to make a more inclusive space for marginalized activists and link human and non-human animal suffering.
Transcript
Eloísa Trinidad: We need the entire world to go vegan—and not only vegan. We need more activists. We can have all the vegans in the world, but the systems of oppression are not going to just dismantle themselves.
Being raised in a household where my family, even though we didn't have a lot, consistently gave back and accepted others who were not accepted by society at large, really taught me that all beings should be protected if we have the ability, access, and power to do so. And so, me being an activist started very early, and I've done work related to human rights and animal rights.
I think animal liberation really consists of dismantling all of the systems that are exploiting all beings caught in it and that are also exploiting our planet.
The Vegan Activist Alliance came to be because there were not spaces that were safe enough for various people, whether experiencing prejudice because of ableism, being trans people, or people of the global majority. We wanted to create a space where people could be active. We need the entire world to go vegan, and we can have all the vegans in the world, but the systems of oppression are not going to just dismantle themselves. We need people to become active and empower those who previously felt disempowered to speak for the animals.
One thing that's important to me within all movements is to bring in the information about our non-human relatives where it's not expected. My work involves speaking for my non-human relatives in spaces where human rights are discussed, and within the animal rights movement, discussing these human rights issues that impact how we become a plant-based and vegan world. I want to bring critical thinking and touch on our history into the animal rights movement. Fighting for non-human relatives is not new; it's something we have questioned since we've been on this planet, within the spaces where we discuss human rights.
When I go to these spaces, I talk about why it's important to include our fellow animals when we think of social justice and liberation.
