Lantern

Publishing and Media

Lantern

Publishing and Media

Archives: Books

Racism As Zoological Witchcraft

In this scintillating combination of critical race theory, social commentary, veganism, and gender analysis, media studies scholar Aph Ko offers a compelling vision of a reimagined social justice movement marked by a deconstruction of the conceptual framework that keeps activists silo-ed fighting their various oppressions—and one another. Through a subtle and extended examination of Jordan Peele’s hit 2017 movie Get Out, Ko shows the many ways that white supremacist notions of animality and race exist through the consumption and exploitation of flesh. She demonstrates how a critical historical and social understanding of anti-Blackness can provide the pathway to genuine liberation.

Highly readable, richly illustrated, and full of startling insights, Racism as Zoological Witchcraft is a brilliant example of the emerging discipline of Black veganism by one of its leading voices.

“Sometimes a book comes along that has the potential to change how people think. This is one of those books. Racism as Zoological Witchcraft does more than break new ground—it takes the ground we thought we knew, the ground beneath our feet, and shows us with bracing clarity that it isn’t as solid as we thought.”—Claire Jean Kim, author, Dangerous Crossings: Race, Species, and Nature in a Multicultural Age

“You have never read anything like Racism as Zoological Witchcraft, which draws on history, critical race theory, and pop culture to make compelling arguments about the impact of white supremacy both on race and our treatment of animals, especially given the dehumanizing nature of racism. Partially informed by Jordan Peele’s Get Out, but drawing on a wide variety of research, Aph Ko helps us envision a world beyond our limited notions of ‘intersectionality’ to chart a course for a more humane future.”—Tananarive Due, author, Freedom in the Family: A Mother–Daughter Memoir of the Struggle for Civil Rights

“Racism as Zoological Witchcraft is a sophisticated throwdown about how we can re-think anti-racist and animal rights activism(s) in a modality more nearly adequate to our profound entanglement in white supremacy’s comprehensive and hydra-headed monstrosity. Liquefying arcane academic theory in popular culture fluidity, Aph Ko offers a voice at once critical, generous, and polysemous. Her Afro-futurism relentlessly tracks the racialized animality of white cannibalism that eludes ‘sighting’ in discrete discourses and intersectional advocacies. The multi-dimensional liberation she conjures demands a political hearing from anyone laboring for a different future.”—James W. Perkinson, professor of Social Ethics and Theology, Ecumenical Theological Seminary

“Racism as Zoological Witchcraft is a fascinating, groundbreaking, thoughtful work that shows nuanced relationships between systems that historically dehumanize people of color and the consumption of animals as food. This transformative framework is as disturbing as it is enlightening. Aph Ko steadfastly demonstrates that veganism can be more than a matter of health and lifestyle—that plant-based diets can be a radical practice in valuing the aligned rights of all living beings on Earth as well as a practice in dismantling systems on our planet that devalue humanity.”—Ytasha L. Womack, author, Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci Fi & Fantasy Culture

“Racism as Zoological Witchcraft is an exciting hands-on theoretical guide to white supremacy’s grounding in ‘zoological racism,’ a violent devouring of the bodies, souls, and lives of all it deems ‘animal,’ both nonhuman and human. This ‘guide to getting out’ also illustrates the dangers of supposedly liberatory movements that do not recognize ‘the animal’ as the source of violence against animals as well as black people, ultimately providing its readers with the intellectual tools to imagine and enact ‘afro-zoological resistance’ and liberation for all—what could be more important or inspiring?!”—Lindgren Johnson, author, Race Matters, Animal Matters: Fugitive Humanism in African America, 1840–1930

“Aph Ko’s brilliant analysis on zoological racism and movement politics is transformative, challenging everything readers think they understand about racism. By framing white supremacy as a zoological witchcraft practice, she cuts across genres and offers something completely new, linking race and animals in a powerful book that is sure to wake readers up.”—lauren Ornelas, Executive Director, Food Empowerment Project

“In Racism as Zoological Witchcraft, Aph Ko has written an accessible argument rooted in theory that is eminently readable and will have broad appeal. In her argument for what she calls ‘epistemic ruptures,’ Ko has created a compelling treatise against making current activist movements merge, arguing instead that our conception of ‘the animal,’ as a label for consumable and disposable bodies, is tied to the legacy of racism that operates by virtue of zoological, white supremacist witchcraft. Using examples from popular culture—including Jordan Peele’s 2017 film Get Out—Ko examines the tension that exists between contemporary anti-racism and animal rights movements and argues for an examination of ‘raw’ oppressions that can move the conversation beyond modern day liberation movements in ways that intersectionality has been unable to achieve.—Laura Wright, author, The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals, and Gender in the Age of Terror

“Aph Ko’s work is at the center of a conceptual Big Bang. Theorizing beyond increasingly stale notions like diversity, speciesism, and intersectionality, she takes us back to the ‘raw oppression’ itself. She guides our hands towards the one weapon that has characterized every true movement against oppression: recognizing the incomplete nature of our current justice movements. The scholarship is as rigorous as it is accessible and refreshingly inspiring. Her insights not only challenge all of us concerned with racial and animal oppression to imagine new pathways forward, but to recognize that much of Black thought from Frederick Douglass to Angela Davis already had gone beyond a vision of racial justice or human dignity to open toward a vision of freedom for all life.”—Aaron S. Gross, associate professor, University of San Diego, and founder of Farm Forward

Grief’s Journey

Grief and love are at the center of the human and divine drama. How we find our way through the mazes of these losses and gains determines our character, meaning, purpose, and our legacy. When clergyman, psychotherapist, and spiritual director Hal Edwards lost Betsy, his wife of fifty years, he was perhaps as well placed to chart his passage through that maze as anyone. Yet grief spun its own thread, leading his soul on a voyage into the center of sorrow, before accompanying him toward clarity, illumination, and wisdom.

Grief’s Journey is at once a tender memoir of a marriage, a poignant reflection on friendship and age, and a practical and compassionate guidebook for those who grieve (whether alone or in group workshops).

“For years I have grieved four different personal deaths with little to no help from others. This book is spot-on about how grief can feel. Better yet, I found enormous help with the questions and meditations in the last chapters. I highly recommend this little treasure book to anyone going on grief’s journey. It has profoundly helped me!”—Gale Hartman

For the Birds

For thirty years, Karen Davis has been advocating for, writing about, and studying the world of chickens and other domesticated fowl. As the founder and director of United Poultry Concerns, Davis has done more than perhaps anyone to reveal the complex and socially rich lives of birds. Her writing—intellectually rigorous, passionate, erudite, and witty—brings fully to the fore the great injustices we have perpetrated on these intelligent and loving creatures.

For the Birds showcases Davis’s three decades of popular and academic work. She tells the story of how she became an advocate and the many individual birds she has known and whose lives and deaths have deepened her commitment to seeking their freedom from suffering. Stirring, provocative, and brilliantly written, For the Birds illuminates one woman’s enduring quest to change our perceptions of those animals we routinely confine, abuse, and kill by the billions.

Yoga for the Wounded Heart

Orphaned in her early teens and shuttled between abusive foster homes, Tatiana Forero Puerta found herself in her early twenties in New York City, haunted by memories of her tumultuous youth and suicidal feelings. Following emergency hospitalization, she was advised by her doctor to take up yoga. Over days, weeks, months, and then years, she embraced yoga’s honesty and discipline—delving more deeply into its wisdom, literature, and, vitally, its practice. In so doing, yoga healed her scars, opened her soul to forgiveness, and allowed her to reconcile herself with a past that had threatened to snuff out her life.

Yoga for the Wounded Heart is an unsparingly honest memoir of a childhood lost and of courage and resilience gained. It’s also an exploration of the fundamentals of yoga—as a technology that focuses our awareness; as a practical application of mindfulness and attention to what is really going on in our lives and bodies; and as a vehicle for the body to guide the mind and heart toward healing.

“Tatiana sees the human condition in a way that blends spirituality and practical insight, and she writes like both a wise teacher and an understanding friend. It takes someone with these integrated diversities—gentleness and strength, youth and wisdom, lightheartedness and realism—to explore the territory covered here, and she does it masterfully.”—Victoria Moran, bestselling author, Main Street Vegan

“This book should be prescribed to anyone who is hurting. In an age where yoga has taken on somewhat of a trendy role in society, the pure, unpretentious, and down-to-earth approach that Yoga for the Wounded Heart takes is a beacon of light.”—Jennifer Faylor, author, Edison’s Ghost Machine

“Tatiana is a natural teacher. She has what it takes to make philosophy clear and applicable to both beginners and seasoned yogis. Her work is a beautiful contribution to the yoga community.”—Jhon Tamayo, founder, Atmananda Yoga

“Yoga for the Wounded Heart is a testament to the Enduring Spirit and a guide for those seeking to understand the proudly transformative tools of yoga. Tatiana’s wisdom and words of resiliency speak directly to the hero’s journey and what it is to be established in the gift that yoga promises. Through insight, story, and the fearless application of the full breadth of yoga, Tatiana demonstrates the steps of meeting the challenges of waking from the dream and opening to the wholeness at the other side. Part testimonial and part academic perspective on the Yoga Sutras, Yoga for the Wounded Heart is rare, even among the rare, as it has come out of Tatiana’s own hard-won relevancy of what it is to be a survivor and a yogi. Tatiana is a shining example of what it is to be a hero, not despite our story but because of it.”—Shanti Kelly, founder, Shanti Yoga Practice

“Tatiana has done us the service of authoring a book as both teacher and student of the art, science, and philosophy of yoga. Yoga for the Wounded Heart is a beacon of light illuminating the teachings of an ancient tradition, while also serving as a living, breathing example that our greatest strength rests in our vulnerability. For anyone moving through the trials of depression—or longing to understand the heart, mind, and soul of those who do—this book answers the call for help.”—Kevin Courtney, creator, The Bridge Practice

Beyond Beliefs

Vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters can feel like they’re living in different worlds. Many vegans and vegetarians struggle to feel understood and respected in a meat-eating culture, where some of their most pressing concerns and cherished beliefs are invisible, and where they are often met with defensiveness when they try to talk about the issue. They can become frustrated and struggle to feel connected with meat eaters. And meat eaters can feel disconnected from vegans and vegetarians whose beliefs they don’t fully understand and whose frustration may spill over into their interactions. The good news is that relationship and communication breakdown among vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters is not inevitable, and it is reversible. With the right tools, healthy connections can be cultivated, repaired, and even strengthened.

In Beyond Beliefs, internationally recognized food psychology expert and longtime relationship coach Dr. Melanie Joy provides easy-to-understand, actionable advice so you can:

– Learn the principles and tools for creating healthy relationships
– Understand how to communicate about even the most challenging topics effectively
– Recognize how the psychology of being vegan/vegetarian or of being a meat eater affects your relationships with others, and with yourself

“Melanie Joy thinks clearly, writes exquisitely, and persuades truthfully. Beyond Beliefs gently melts the bars of the cages which we erect around our beliefs. It deserves a place in every vegan library and on the reading list of every non-vegan.”—Philip Wollen, former vice president of Citibank and founder of Winsome Constance Kindness

“From the minute you meet Melanie Joy, it becomes clear that she is a catalyst for connecting you with your deepest levels of compassion and common sense. Instantly you wish you could be at least a fraction as articulate as she is. Luckily, you now have in your hands a guide to help you navigate distances between you and the others in your life, the world, and yourself. Beyond Beliefs will leave you feeling clearer, more connected, confident, and even— though many difficult issues are addressed—happier. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to be a more mindful agent for bringing the light of conscious living to everything from personal relationships to the predominant culture in which we live.”—Lani Muelrath, author of The Mindful Vegan: A 30-Day Plan for Finding Health, Balance, Peace, and Happiness

“In this insightful and engaging book, Melanie Joy offers wisdom, comfort, and advice for any vegan or vegetarian who’s ever felt misunderstood by meat eaters and for any meat eater who’s ever felt confounded by vegans or vegetarians. This book can show you the way beyond your beliefs, so you can relate and communicate with clarity and compassion. I highly recommend it!”—Lisa Bloom, civil rights attorney at The Bloom Firm

“Melanie Joy is fundamentally shifting the way we view our relationship with others and ourselves, making the world a better and more compassionate place in the process.”—Nathan Runkle, Founder of Mercy For Animals

“Dr. Melanie Joy addresses an important subject with keen insight and lucid thought.”—Glen Merzer, author of Off the Reservation

“Melanie Joy hit the nail on the head! This is the book all vegans need, to gain perspective, alleviate compassion fatigue, and live healthy lives with a purpose!”—Shannon Keith, Esq., president and founder of ARME and Beagle Freedom Project

“As a member of a veg/non-veg marriage, I am grateful for Melanie Joy’s wisdom about living with a partner’s choices while honoring my own integrity. Beyond Beliefs is essential reading for anyone who wants mealtime to be a source of nourishment—physical, spiritual, and social.”—Linda Riebel, PhD, licensed psychologist and faculty, Saybrook Graduate School

“Navigating relationships can be hard, particularly for new vegans trying to figure out how to relate to their non-vegan friends and family. Dr. Joy’s book provides excellent guidance to help with these issues and provides vegans and others with the tools they need for social success.”—Dave Simon, Esq., author of Meatonomics

“Melanie Joy’s work contains some of the very best thinking ever on the psychology of eating and provides the first really robust, consistent, deep analysis of some of our most critical food beliefs. In Beyond Beliefs, Joy has again made a major achievement. This book is, please excuse me, a joy to read. I cannot imagine anyone reading this without an ‘aha’ moment, and one for the good.”—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, PhD, author of When Elephants Weep and other books

“This book can help people with any food beliefs significantly improve their relationships and communication. And if you’re vegan (or vegetarian), this book will also help you better understand yourself and be a much more effective ambassador for the cause.”—Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of The 30-Day Vegan Challenge and other books

Changing the Game

Norm Phelps has long been one of the leading theoreticians, historians, and strategists of the animal advocacy movement. His new book collects his recent writings on this subject, as well as offers in print for the first time a fully revised and updated version of the e-book he published with Lantern in 2013 (978-1-59056-379-3). Phelps argues that faced with the overwhelming wealth and power of the animal exploitation industries, animal activists are like David trying to stand up to Goliath. But rather than following the unsuccessful strategies of the past, Phelps proposes that we change the game by adopting David’s strategy of refusing to play by Goliath’s rules. Additional essays explore class and race in animal advocacy, the place of public policy vs. private morality in creating social change, and the unyielding barrier of human exceptionalism.

Trenchant, wise, and deeply committed to the reduction of suffering and the liberation of animals, Changing the Game is sure to offer animal advocates much food for thought as the movement charts a way forward for all sentient beings.

Principles of Flight

After narrowly surviving a plane crash, Bill Hatcher wakes up to discover his life of carefree abandon shattered. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania in the 1990s, he had risen above his own racial prejudices and religious jingoism, and yet had remained emotionally aloft, afraid to commit to the full transformation that was calling to him.

In spite of misgivings, he returns to Africa. In Kenya, he flies bush planes, guides wilderness courses, and falls in love with a young Kikuyu woman. All seems well until Bill is attacked and beaten by thugs and then injured when he’s chased by an elephant. Still unable to deal with reality, he escapes to Alaska, where he flies still higher and loves even more recklessly. Ultimately, the principles of flight force him to make a choice: to fly away again or finally return to Earth as an advocate for social, animal, and environmental justice.

Set before, during, and after 9/11 and the wars that followed, and filled with spectacular scenes of flights over the African savanna and Alaskan glaciers, Principles of Flight is a memoir of grand adventure, as well as a psychosocial inquiry into the hyper-masculinism that has dominated the world.

Print copies of this book are now available from billhatcherbooks.com

We Animals

A chronicle of the lives of hidden animals and animal photojournalism, spanning many countries over the course of fifteen years.

Celebrating ten years since its publication, We Animals illustrates and investigates animals in the human environment: whether they’re being used for food, fashion, and entertainment, or research, or are being rescued to spend their remaining years in sanctuaries. Drawn from thousands of photos taken over fifteen years, award-winning animal photojournalist Jo-Anne McArthur offers insight about our treatment of animals, makes animal industries visible and accountable, and widens our circle of compassion to include all sentient beings. This new edition includes a foreword by Jo-Anne McArthur and new photographs.

“My goals have always been to educate people about our treatment of animals. To reduce their suffering. To widen our circle of compassion to include non-human animals. To make animal industries visible, and accountable.”—Jo-Anne McArthur

Drawn from thousands of photos taken over fifteen years, We Animals illustrates and investigates animals in the human environment: whether they’re being used for food, fashion and entertainment, or research, or are being rescued to spend their remaining years in sanctuaries. Award-winning photojournalist and animal advocate Jo-Anne McArthur provides a valuable lesson about our treatment of animals, makes animal industries visible and accountable, and widens our circle of compassion to include all sentient beings.

“Powerfully disturbing. These images take us to dark and hidden places visited by only a few determined and courageous individuals like Jo-Anne McArthur. They reveal the secret practices that many people will not want to know about. For the animals’ sake, I beg that you will not only look but feel. For if we truly understand their suffering then, surely, we shall no longer condone it. And the heart-warming images at the end of the book show us the road to compassion.”—Dr. Jane Goodall, primatologist and author, Reason for Hope

“To look at Jo-Anne McArthur’s gorgeous, heart-breaking photographs is to be reminded of the dignity and worthiness of all living creatures, and to be awakened to the vast, redemptive power of empathy.”—Barbara Gowdy, author, The White Bone

“This is a work of grace, direct from the soul. This groundbreaking book emanates integrity, hard work and a cosmos of empathy. May there be a tectonic shift of consciousness in our lifetime. For the Ghosts.”—Liz Marshall, filmmaker, The Ghosts in Our Machine

How to Create a Vegan World

In this thought-provoking book, Tobias Leenaert leaves well-trodden animal advocacy paths and takes a fresh look at the strategies, objectives, and communication of the vegan and animal rights movement. He argues that, given our present situation, with entire societies dependent on the use of animals, we need a very pragmatic approach. How to Create a Vegan World contains many valuable ideas and insights for both budding advocates for animals and seasoned activists, organizational leaders, and even entrepreneurs.

“Tobias Leenaert’s writings are consistently some of the sharpest and most perceptive material in the animal protection movement’s literature. His advice gives activists the tools to play a decisive role in ending the era of industrialized animal exploitation.”—Erik Marcus, publisher of Vegan.com

“As religious, political, and dietary dogma enjoys a heyday, How to Create a Vegan World offers pragmatists a welcome haven. With research supporting his position, the author contends that in valuing both small changes and sweeping ones, we can build, rather than bulldoze, our way to a compassionate and sustainable world.”—Victoria Moran, author, Main Street Vegan, and director, Main Street Vegan Academy

“Tobias Leenaert has a unique and practical point of view on all things vegan that cuts through the issues like a knife through a firm cake of tofu. He is not afraid to challenge common misconceptions and norms with his penetrating, fact-based reasoning. Always independent and illuminating, we count on activists like Tobias to lead the way towards a vegan world.”—Seth Tibbott, founder and president, the Tofurky Company

“How to Create a Vegan World is a must-read for anyone who wants to maximize their impact to make the world a better place for animals. Tobias Leenaert synthesizes a wealth of research with his own extensive experience as a vegan advocate to present clear arguments and practical tips for effective vegan advocacy. I highly recommend this book!”—Melanie Joy, PhD, author, Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, cofounder and codirector, Center for Effective Vegan Advocacy

“Tobias Leenaert is one of today’s most important writers regarding animal issues. Probably his greatest strength is his ability to stay focused on what will actually help animals in the real world. Especially in this time of social media and filtered feeds, it is incredibly easy to focus on what is popular with people who are already vegan. Tobias, however, looks beyond his likes and retweets, and instead stays focused on the bottom line—reaching new people with the message of compassion.”—Matt Ball, author, The Accidental Activist, and coauthor, The Animal Activist’s Handbook

“If the meat industry had to pick one book they don’t want you to read, this would be it.”—Sebastian Joy, founder and director, ProVeg International

“Big-hearted and level-headed Tobias Leenaert shows us how we need both idealism and pragmatism in the animal rights movement, and that we can make greater, more strategic strides in through collaboration, inclusiveness and meeting people where they’re at. Listen to Tobias.”—Jo-Anne McArthur, photojournalist, author, We Animals and Captive

“Tobias Leenaert makes a very convincing argument for why a ‘food first’ approach should be an essential part of the strategic toolbox of the animal advocacy movement. A refreshing, compelling, and ultimately very positive book that should be read by everyone who wants to help animals.”—Bruce Friedrich, executive director, The Good Food Institute

“Drawing from the research on successful behavior change as well as his own extensive experience, Tobias Leenaert has created an essential tool for anyone who wants to change the world for animals. How to Create a Vegan World is thoughtful, pragmatic and provocative. It’s also packed with useful tips that are likely to make your advocacy more effective than ever.”—Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, author, Vegan for Life, and coauthor, Even Vegans Die

“Tobias’ pragmatism in this book is refreshing. Any method that leads to reduction of used resources, greenhouse gas emission and animal suffering, should be pursued. Personally, and to illustrate Tobias’ points in this book, as a habitual meat-eater, my inclination to become vegetarian or vegan is boosted more by eating in a spectacular vegan restaurant, having a vegetarian daughter and meeting rational people like Tobias, than my professional endeavors or my encounters with proselytizing vegans.”—Mark Post, creator of the stemcell based hamburger

“Through a rational, strategic approach, this book shows the reader how we can all play a part in ending factory farming and sparing billions of animals from suffering.”—David Coman-Hidy, executive director, The Humane League

“Tobias Leenaert is the meat industry’s worst nightmare: a triple-threat visionary who is also utterly pragmatic and who writes well. His book is stuffed from beginning to end with great advice that’s backed up by research and common sense, and is well delivered. If you care about saving the animals, read it.”—Hillary Rettig, vegan activist and author, The Lifelong Activist

“In a movement charged with emotion, pragmatism can often be overlooked. Tobias takes a critical look at how to create change in our modern society, and his thoughtful viewpoints teach valuable, evidence-based approaches to achieving victories for animals.”—Jon Bockman, CEO, Animal Charity Evaluators

“How to Create a Vegan World is a thoughtful plea for pragmatism in the vegan movement. Drawing on effective altruist principles and social psychology research, Leenaert explores how our biases can blind our advocacy for animals. He makes a powerful case for dropping conventional wisdom and leaving our comfort zone, and instead starting from first principles in our quest to best help animals.”—Lewis Bollard, farm animal welfare program officer, the Open Philanthropy Project

“People don’t do anything when they think they have to do everything. This helpful book provides a practical outline for guiding people to take positive steps and for being the type of activist who asks the question, ‘Do I want to be right or do I want to be effective?’”—Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge

“Written with precision and clarity, How to Create a Vegan World provides sophisticated and unflinching insights that encourage animal advocates to utilize context-driven, unconventional, and often counterintuitive strategies. Tightly-woven layers of thought-provoking ideas champion a broad range of tactics and potential allies intended to sharpen our critical thinking and maximize our impact.”—Dawn Moncrief, founding director, A Well-Fed World