![\"Martin](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.animals24-7.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Picsart_25-01-19_19-51-20-470-e1737345116872.jpg?ssl=1\")
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<\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Traditionally,\u00a0 ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> has marked Martin Luther King Day by reposting one of our very first offerings, \u00a0What animal advocates owe to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n For 2025,\u00a0 eleven years after that article was written,\u00a0 ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> is offering not just one main article and several on related topics,\u00a0 as we usually have,\u00a0 but instead posting easy access to our entire Black History & Animals Archive<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0 with a new introduction\u2013\u2013or reintroduction for many readers\u2013\u2013to the content.<\/p>\n <\/a> From left: Dexter King, Yolanda King, Martin Luther King Jr., Bernice King, Coretta Scott King, and Martin Luther King III, in 1966.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n What animal advocates owe to the legacy of Martin Luther<\/a><\/strong> spotlighted that while Martin Luther King Jr. himself never had direct involvement in animal issues,\u00a0 his teachings and leadership had a profound influence on many of the leaders who built the animal rights movement that rose to national and global prominence in the two decades after his death.<\/p>\n These leaders are introduced,\u00a0 and what they learned from Martin Luther King Jr. is explained.<\/p>\n Martin Luther King Jr. was in his own turn profoundly influenced by several long forgotten African-American evangelists who were also animal advocates,\u00a0 more prominent during their lives for their animal advocacy than for their work that helped to lay the foundations of the civil rights movement that King and many others built upon.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Corrie J. Carroll & Richard Carroll portrait)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong>,\u00a0 in the days before and after Martin Luther King Day each year,\u00a0 has also spotlighted these African-American evangelists and their accomplishments,\u00a0 by posting and reposting Four black leaders who built the humane movement<\/a><\/strong> and Black humane history found in great-grandpa\u2019s attic near a town called Ark<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Usually ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>has followed these brief history lessons with an updated edition of\u00a0A black-and-white issue that the humane community has yet to face<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0 further spotlighting the enduring influence of Martin Luther King Jr. on animal issues,\u00a0 both in the U.S. and in Africa,\u00a0 and pointing out how despite the instrumental contributions of African-American leadership to humane progress,\u00a0 U.S. humane leadership remains for the most part stubbornly,\u00a0 determinedly,\u00a0 self-defeatingly self-segregated.<\/p>\n <\/a> F. Rivers Barnwell of the American Humane Education Society with the Pontiac (1926-1932 vintage) that he drove on his rounds throughout Texas and adjoining states.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> African-American leaders were deliberately and systematically purged from humane leadership roles at about the same time the U.S. entered World War II,\u00a0 through the influence of just two individuals,\u00a0 Eric Hansen and William Alan Swallow.<\/p>\n Hansen and Swallow were the leadership team at first the American Humane Association and then the Massachusetts SPCA and the American Humane Education Society.<\/p>\n Hansen and Swallow not only put African-American humane leadership out of work,\u00a0 but wrote them out of humane history,\u00a0 and Jewish humane leadership too,\u00a0 \u00a0in Swallow\u2019s 1963 book Quality of Mercy,\u00a0 <\/em>which passed for the next half-century as the definitive history of the animal cause.<\/p>\n Unfortunately,\u00a0 ANIMALS 24-7<\/strong> recognized Swallow\u2019s considerable deficiencies as a historian several years before fully appreciating the insidious extent and effects of his racism.<\/p>\n (See How \u201cQuality of Mercy\u201d Swallowed the humane movement [part 1]<\/a>)<\/u> and How \u201cQuality of Mercy\u201d Swallowed the humane movement [part 2]<\/u><\/a>.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> Martin Luther King Jr. was on June 18, \u00a01964 placed in a police car in St. Augustine, \u00a0Florida. \u00a0A German shepherd police dog was then put into the car in an apparent attempt to intimidate him. \u00a0Instead, \u00a0King and the dog promptly became friends.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n The harm done by Hansen and Swallow on multiple fronts,\u00a0 but especially to African-American animal advocacy, \u00a0remains conspicuously unrectified.<\/p>\n Further,\u00a0 merely posting and reposting old ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>articles,\u00a0 on or close to Martin Luther King Day each year,\u00a0 barely makes a start toward undoing the damage that segregation did,\u00a0 and continues to do, \u00a0to the animal cause.<\/p>\n Much more is required to restore to the collective consciousness of animal advocacy that the humane,\u00a0 animal welfare,\u00a0 animal rights,\u00a0 conservation,\u00a0 ecology,\u00a0 green,\u00a0 and plant-based movements have always grown from multi-cultural roots,\u00a0 even if most of the participants have never known of the branches on the other side of the family tree.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage).<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n For more than a decade now,\u00a0 ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>has worked to recover the lost history of African-American contributions to animal advocacy.\u00a0 Additional examples include Charles Henry Turner proved Darwin was right about animal sentience<\/a><\/strong> and Best Friends & MOVE: cults, \u201cwhite privilege\u201d & the rise of animal rights activism<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n In particular,\u00a0 our work has included bringing to the attention of animal advocates the ongoing efforts of African-American leaders to advance plant-based vegan and vegetarian eating,\u00a0 beginning even before the end of slavery and organized animal advocacy.<\/p>\n See <\/strong>Sojourner Truth, her vegetarian Adventist friends, & the White lady<\/a>;\u00a0\u00a0Dick Gregory, 50 years a vegan activist, dies at 84<\/a>; \u00a0Vegan advocate Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 62<\/a>;\u00a0 and\u00a0Veguary re-introduces Afro-Americans to plant-based eating<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Important as ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>believes this work to be,\u00a0 equally important,\u00a0 we believe,\u00a0 is pointing out the extent to which defenses of slavery in the U.S. distorted the evolution of many of the views,\u00a0 presumptions,\u00a0 and erroneous concepts now enshrined in law and even science that today hinder animal advocacy.<\/p>\n See Why the Second Amendment does not protect hunting animals<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0 Why mass shooters sometimes sound like conservationists<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 One African-American journalist\u2019s view of John James Audubon<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Audubon: brand recognition trumps what J.J. Audubon actually did<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 and\u00a0Range war over diversity, equity, & inclusion in wildlife management<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Echoes of the slavery era reverberate in animal issues to this day,\u00a0 illustrated in Galveston mock lynching may hasten police horse era to an end<\/u><\/strong>;\u00a0 When dogs mauled children outside the White House<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Echoes of the Old South in pigeon-shooting lawyer\u2019s promotion to judge<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Hurricane Dorian helps to solve the mystery of the extinct Abaco wild horses<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 and SHARK fights pigeon shooters where black man was hunted for sport<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Comparably problematic are the lingering influences of the Ku Klux Klan,\u00a0 now remembered mostly as a bedsheet-wearing creepy clown act,\u00a0 but responsible in their heyday for more than 5,000 murders, \u00a0arguably more influential in much of the U.S.,\u00a0 both \u201cred state\u201d and \u201cblue state,\u201d\u00a0 than either the Republican or Democratic political parties.<\/p>\n See,\u00a0 for example,\u00a0 Cullman County, Alabama: combatting cockfighting in a KKK stronghold<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Dogfighter runs for office in North Carolina, backed by cockfighting money<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Did the Omak Suicide Race start with a horse massacre & the KKK?<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Stoney Greene tries to lose dogfighting & cockfighting tail<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Cockfighters \u201cwin\u201d from delay of hurricane aid to Puerto Rico<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 \u201cDog Fighting Awareness\u201d: what the ASPCA ignored<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 What was No Kill Nation founder Debi Day doing in Charlottesville?<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 and End of Debi Day for Nathan Winograd follows Charlottesville debacle<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/a> Elijah McClain.\u00a0 (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Long after the \u201ccivil rights era\u201d broke overt Ku Klux Klan influence,\u00a0 institutional racism continues,\u00a0 seldom actually recognized as such,\u00a0 often including the use and misuse of animals.<\/p>\n See Five tried, 3 convicted for killing vegetarian shelter volunteer Elijah McClain<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 The USDA \u201cmilk mandate\u201d: a black-&-white issue on school lunch trays<\/a>; \u00a0California bill would halt use of unleashed K-9 dogs in arrests & crowd control<\/a>; Police dog attacks on black children soar in Baton Rouge<\/a>;\u00a0 <\/strong>and \u201cAnimals & thugs\u201d: horses, dogs, police & the George Floyd protests<\/u><\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Discussion of the Ku Klux Klan,\u00a0 institutional racism,\u00a0 and the self-segregation of animal advocacy inevitably comes around to the reality that while African-Americans are only about 14% of the U.S. human population, \u00a0African-Americans are twice as likely as other Americans to be killed or disfigured by dogs,\u00a0 especially pit bulls.<\/p>\n Worse,\u00a0 African-American children are more than three times more likely than Caucasian children to be killed or disfigured by dogs,\u00a0 again especially by pit bulls.<\/p>\n Further,\u00a0 this has verifiably been occurring for as long as either the racial identities of victims or breed-specific identities of the dogs attacking them have been available.<\/p>\n Of particular note is that African-Americans,\u00a0 especially African-American children,\u00a0 are disproportionately killed and disfigured by dogs even though only 36.9% of African-American households keep dogs,\u00a0 compared to 51% of Caucasian households and 75% of Latino households.<\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Of additionally disturbing note is the extent to which lily-white animal advocacy organizations have long pushed,\u00a0 and continue to push,\u00a0 pit bull adoptions into African-American homes and neighborhoods,\u00a0 including with slogans suggesting that informed wariness of pit bulls is \u201ccanine racism.\u201d<\/p>\n See \u201cThe Conversation\u201d & the pit bull shit<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Why \u201cHuman races are not like dog breeds: Refuting a Racist Analogy\u201d<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 \u00a0Pit bull advocates owe Michael Vick bigtime, at victims\u2019 expense<\/a><\/strong>; \u00a0Pit bulls, \u201cbullying & backlash,\u201d & who is really threatening whom<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Alabama mauling: \u201cEmily\u2019s Law\u201d fails to protect public from pit bulls<\/a><\/strong>;\u00a0 Four-year-old killed by pit bulls because Miami-Dade law was not enforced<\/a><\/strong>; \u00a0and Severely injured Duane Eddie Vanlanham won a medal & a lawsuit,\u00a0 but no payout<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/a> Malcolm X.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n Also please check the most recent ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>coverage of recent fatal dog attacks listed on our front page on any given day.\u00a0 At this writing,\u00a0 six of the 18 fatal dog attacks occurring in the last 60 days were by pit bulls,\u00a0 killing African-Americans,\u00a0 two of them children.<\/p>\n Only two of the African-American victims were killed by pit bulls from their own households.<\/p>\n Civil rights leader Malcolm X,\u00a0 1925-1965,\u00a0 briefly addressed this issue in 1963,\u00a0 52 years before his daughter,\u00a0 not yet born at his assassination,\u00a0 was convicted on seven counts of abuse and neglect of a truckload of pit bulls.<\/p>\n Malcolm X,\u00a0 who often spoke about the importance of children growing up with a father\u2019s influence,\u00a0 would surely have had words to prevent any of that from happening.<\/p>\n See Malcolm X on pit bulls, other dangerous dogs, & betrayal<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a> (Beth Clifton collage)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n ANIMALS 24-7 <\/strong>has,\u00a0 finally,\u00a0 looked from time to time at the bizarre extents to which some white-run nonprofit organizations have gone to pretend to be \u201canti-racist\u201d at the same time as doing little or nothing to encourage real-life \u201cdiversity,\u00a0 equity,\u00a0 and inclusion,\u201d\u00a0 as opposed to practicing empty tokenism and sloganeering.<\/p>\n See \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d: stealing slogan to use for animal causes is not fighting cruelty<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong> and\u00a0ANIMALS 24-7 resigns from the Society of Environmental Journalists<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n45 links that open doors to perception<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nProfound influence<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nTeachers & preachers<\/h2>\n
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(Photo courtesy of granddaughter Evangeline Olive Morris.)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\nContributions erased from history<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nHarm still unrectified<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nRecovering the lost history<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nDefense of slavery distorted law & even science\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThe Ku Klux Klan is not dead yet<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nInstitutional racism continues<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nYes,\u00a0 dangerous dogs are a racial issue<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nWhy are honkies pushing pit bulls into African-American homes?<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nMalcolm X had a bit to say about dangerous dogs<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>\nReal-life \u201cdiversity,\u00a0 equity,\u00a0 and inclusion,\u201d\u00a0 not just tokenism & sloganeering<\/h2>\n