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I first ran across Hillary Rettig’s work while researching my first book. Her book, The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way, guides activists to maximize their motivation and effectiveness. A few years later, I was excited to see her work again on Vegan.com. Her article “Local Vegan Activism” is a how-to guide to building a vegan-friendly community. Her advice inspired me to adapt her approach to my much smaller and less vegan-friendly community.
Hillary is a thoughtful activist. She understands her passion, uses her best skills, chooses an activism method that she enjoys, and evaluates whether she is impacting her cause.
Since we can all learn more about how to create a vegan-friendly community, I asked if I could profile her for Vegan Blount County. I’m thrilled she said yes!
Creating a Vegan-Friendly Community: An Interview with Hillary Rettig
Why did you choose veganism as your activism cause?
I have been involved in many social justice causes over the years – labor justice, feminism, etc. – so it’s not my only one. It’s true, however, that once I “discovered” veganism, at a 2002 animal rights conference, it spoke to my heart like no other.
In one sense, my veganism is an outgrowth of my love, since childhood, for all animals. In another, it’s just a great cause to be involved with. One reason is because the time is right – in social justice work you’re often fighting against the tide, but for now, the tide right now is “with” veganism. So there’s lots of successes, and it’s just amazing and inspirational to be part of all that.
Another reason I love veganism is that, with every vegan meal, you’re solving many problems at once: animal cruelty, ecological destruction, labor abuse, etc. Plus, you’re helping your own health! It’s just a fantastic solution to so many problems all at once.
Why did you create vegan-friendly Vegan Kalamazoo instead of pursuing other ways to support veganism?
I just kind of fell into it. I had just moved to Kalamazoo to be with my partner, and wanted to build the local community. Turns out that Kalamazoo was, and is, pretty vegan-friendly. We have three universities, and a couple of big health care companies here, so it’s an educated, health-conscious community.
Initially, I thought we’d be lucky to have a couple dozen people, but our community – on and off Facebook – now numbers close to 5,000! (Not all vegan, some are vegan-in-progress.) Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of that success, especially in the midwest!!! It’s why I encourage everyone to start or join a local vegan group – because there are probably many people in your area who are vegan or vegan-curious. For them to find other vegans in town – and for you all to work together to make vegan options available at more and more restaurants – is fabulous activism.
Also, remember that the most impactful thing you can do is create other effective activists. We’ve had a few people in Vegan Kalamazoo go on to do their own campaigns, or join other groups, and that is amazing.
What advice do you have for new activists?
I’m glad you asked! I did write a whole book on advice for new and experienced activists, The Lifelong Activist. You can order a paper or e copy here: https://lanternpm.org/book/the-lifelong-activist/ Note: I highly recommend this book.
The advice I would have is to play to your strengths. Activism is an ecosystem with many niches, so don’t feel like you have to do something you don’t want to do. Some people are great with graphics, others great with words, others great with organizing events, etc. Pick what you’re good at (which is often also what you like to do) and really focus on that as your main activist work.
One caveat to the above – we have a zillion people who are posting recipes on the Web, and a zillion others who are online vegan warriors. We absolutely need some of that, and if that is your true strength then go for it. But if you’re just doing it because you don’t know what else to do, then I would encourage you to find a local group and work with them.
Someone who’s a really good example of finding a niche and then rocking it is Karen Dawn of Dawnwatch. She sends out alerts on animal- and vegan-friendly (or unfriendly) news stories, so people can write letters to the editors. She has a great record of helping animal /vegan-friendly letters to the editor and other coverage in newspapers around the world. It’s great, and important, visibility for our cause, and if you like to write it’s a great activist opportunity
Finally, I would advise you to always work in community, and with people who are effective, compassionate, mature, etc. Burnout happens when we feel we’re not accomplishing enough, and there are too many “hyperactivists” out there. Hyperactivism is a term coined by legendary animal rights activist Henry Spira to refer to people putting in a lot of time, effort, heart, etc., but are not working with a strategy, so, for all their efforts and sacrifices, they’re not accomplishing much.
Try to work in isolation, or surround yourself with ineffective people, and you’re likely to find your activism very challenging. It’s a quick road to burnout.
In contrast, surround yourself with the right community and mentors, and your activist mission and life can be not just fulfilling, but a joy.
Any other advice?
Filter your social media inputs. Too many vegan activists post endless images and videos of animal suffering. You don’t have to watch them all, and shouldn’t. It’s important to stay informed, but constantly traumatizing yourself with graphic images of suffering – especially when they show up in your feed without notice – isn’t helpful.
Thank you, Hillary, for providing excellent resources to create a vegan-friendly community in our town! Here are links to the Vegan Kalamazoo Community:
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.vegankalamazoo.com/ – for lists of local vegan-friendly restaurants, food stores, health professionals, and other resources
Read my blog post about how I am gradually incorporating these techniques in Blount County, Tennessee:
How To Increase Vegan Options in Your Hometown
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