What is the first image that comes to your mind when you hear the word “vegan”? Is it the image of a skinny white kid, wearing a PETA shirt, going around trying to be a superhero and fight for animals? This is a huge misconception. Vegans make up 0.5 percent of the U.S. population and less than one-third of that are black. Veganism amongst blacks is seen as uncommon, and even considered a rarity, due to the historical unhealthy diet that the majority of Blacks follow, yet the more educated and aware that some of us become, the more likely we are to change our diet. Many idols in the Black community are vegan, such as: Waka Flocka Flame, Venus and Serena Williams, Erykah Badu, Carl Lewis, Dick Gregory, Dexter Scott King, Leona Lewis and many more.

The tasty, lip smacking soul food is the go-to diet for the Black community. We, as the Black community, have become so indulged by soul food, have ignored all health risk and act nonchalantly towards them. The history of soul food starts during the times of American slavery, back when slaves would be given table scraps, and parts of animals that the slave owner had refused to eat and found disgusting and degrading, these include: pig feet, chitlins, fatback, pork rinds, hog maws, neck bones and many more. Now in recent years, Blacks have an ever increasing rate of attracting degenerative disease, constant cell changes that will increasingly deteriorate over time due to normal bodily wear or lifestyle choices such as exercise or eating habits.

The best way to rid our community of these deadly traits is to change our eating habits to a plant-based diet. By eating a plant-based diet, we are giving our bodies what it needs in order for our old cells to be replaced with new cells. When eating a plant-based diet; we are consuming less saturated fats, no fatty meats, more fiber and increased nutrients.

The Black community is purposefully not targeted when it comes to a healthier lifestyle, have you noticed that a health food store is never in a majority black neighborhoods? Have you noticed that the cost is extremely high for a healthy diet? Instead, we find fast food, grocery stores that sells GMO foods and fried chicken spots. Yet, we often see that the more wealthy a person in our community becomes, the better they eat. Let's take Future, a rapper, for an example. In January of this year, Future told the world that he isn't a drug addict, and that he eats gluten-free chicken strips and drinks asparagus water. We, as a whole, should educate ourselves to become healthier through a vegan diet because the healthier we are, the stronger we become.