Happy Pride Month 2024 from Afro-Vegan Society!
This Pride Month, we celebrate these leaders who are not only transforming the way we eat but also ensuring that the movement for veganism is inclusive and representative of all voices within the Black community. Their dedication and impact are paving the way for a more equitable and compassionate future.
Read more about these amazing Black vegan trailblazers below and connect with them via social media or their website for more Black vegan content.
Brooklynne Palmer (she/her) @beetsbybrooke
Brooklynne Palmer, MD MPH is a plant-based doctor and content creator. She uses her passions of nutrition, medicine, public health, and size-inclusivity along with her identity as a Black queer vegan to explore the intersectionality of health and wellness. Dr. Palmer aims to help people navigate the nuances of healthcare and personalize their goals to fit their needs.
Photographer credit: Gwen Park
Pax Ahimsa Gethen (they/them/their) Website: https://funcrunch.org
Pax Ahimsa Gethen is a queer Black trans vegan blogger and content curator. They are a long-time volunteer for Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, and received the 2023 Media Contributor of the Year award for their work to improve the representation of marginalized people on the encyclopedia. Pax lives in San Francisco with their spouse Ziggy.
Adjoa Courtney (she/her) @cookingwithjoya
Chef Joya, also known as Adjoa Courtney, is a vegan chef based in Charlotte, North Carolina, captivating taste buds with her flavorful plant-based creations. Raised vegan since childhood, her love for cooking blossomed in her grandmother's kitchen. Chef Joya's signature style lies in transforming classic dishes into delicious vegan delights, winning over both vegans and meat-eaters alike.
Her impressive career boasts a loyal clientele that includes celebrities (though she keeps their names private for privacy reasons). Interviews and social media hints reveal collaborations with artists like Fantasia and Mo'Nique [YouTube: The Truth About Being a Celebrity Chef + Celebrity Client Stories | Chef Joya | Plant Girl Magic].
Chef Joya's creativity extends beyond the kitchen. She's a published author with four cookbooks, including "It's Soul Mahmazing!", brimming with her flavorful vegan twists on soul food staples. She’s currently working on her 6th cookbook which will be another vegan soul food cookbook.
Craving that Chef Joya magic in your own kitchen? Look no further than her website, chefjoyasnest.com. There, you'll discover her signature "Chef Joya's Fifty-Eleven Seasoning Bundle," known for continually selling out, alongside other bold flavor options to elevate your plant-based dishes.
A multi-media maven, Chef Joya keeps fans engaged on social media with her channel "Say What! It's Vegan?" offering recipes and cooking tips [YouTube: Say What! It's Vegan? It's Life is more flavorful…]. Her talent and mission to make delicious vegan food accessible have been recognized by publications like Veg News, GLAAD, Wall Street Journal, Food Network, Ebony, and many many more.
Adding to her impressive culinary accolades, Chef Joya has garnered numerous awards:
Charlotte Mac Down winner 2018, Triad Mac Down Winner 2018, and Charleston Mac Down Winner 2019
WFAeats 2019 overall winner and 2020 Savory dish Winner
Charlotte Eats Chef 2022 winner
Critics' Choice "Best Vegan Chef" (2019 and 2021) awarded by The Best of The Nest issue of Queen City Nerve Alt. Weekly Newspaper
Readers' Choice "Best Chef" (2019) awarded by The Best of The Nest issue of Queen City Nerve Alt. Weekly Newspaper
2021 Women Building the Future Honoree by Vegan Women Summit and Impossible Foods
Top Vegan Chef at the Vegan Women's Summit (2024)
This well-deserved recognition is a testament to her culinary artistry and dedication to promoting plant-based cuisine.
Elle Flores (she/he/they) @elletravelsvegan
Elle Flores, a nonbinary and queer Dominican from the Bronx, New York, has been a dedicated vegan for nearly 12 years. They are passionate about activism and work as a flight attendant. Elle identifies as pansexual, demisexual, and sapiosexual. Additionally, they are neurodivergent, living with diagnoses of Bipolar II, ADHD, and chronic anxiety.
LoriKim Alexander (we/us/she) @itsthecypher
Jamaican born and world bred, LoriKim Alexander is the Ongoing Programming Manager at Afro-Vegan Society. LoriKim is an educator, organizer, biologist, conservationist, abolitionist, naturalist, and healer. We synergize all of these into Black liberation work from a Queer, vegan perspective. Us’ central work is building The Cypher, a Black Trans & Queer femme-led Trans & Queer Black Indigenous People of Color formation dedicated to total liberation.
Destiny DeJesus (she/her) @eatyodestiny
Destiny DeJesús, originally from the Bronx, NY, ended up in Dallas, Texas in 2016 seeking more affordable living options amid the rising costs in her home city. It was in Texas that she discovered her calling in community organizing and embraced a vegan lifestyle. As the driving force behind “Eat Yo Destiny,” she passionately advocates for budget-friendly vegan living, prioritizing food accessibility and empowering individuals with the knowledge to shop locally at grocers and convenience stores. Her platform serves as a guide, revealing vegan options within communities while tapping into local resources like pantries and community fridges. With her creative culinary skills, Destiny empowers others to create wholesome and nourishing meals with limited ingredients. As a community organizer, she creates inclusive spaces for BIPOC to share their experiences within the vegan movement and hosts events focused on food justice, plant-based living, and sustainability.
Photographer credit: Candice Lyons
Solaire Denaud (she/they) @afro_ecologiste
Solaire Denaud is a Black queer Haitian-French PhD candidate at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her work explores the presence of plant-based diets (afro-veganism) and animal-centric ethics throughout the African Diaspora. Denaud’s research interests include animal ethics and environmentalists’ involvement in anti-colonial and anti-racist resistance. Additionally, her writing focuses on the crucial role of women and gender minorities in using food as a political tool for liberation despite the continued dismissal of cooking, farming, and caring as forms of activism. In the fall of 2024, Denaud is scheduled to teach the first "Afro-vegan" academic class, a Black Studies course titled “Black Veganism: Animality and Race in the African Diaspora.”
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