Our Projects & Ideas

May 2, 2022

Nonviolent Communication is for the Privileged

[© All rights reserved to Raffi Marhaba 2022. Article updated May 2022. If you wish to utilize this article for educational purposes, please reach out to info@collectivelyfree.org to discuss a usage fee. Copyright states that: you may not ...more

October 27, 2018

My Trip to Palestine and the Struggle to Decolonize Eastern Food Systems

by Yousef Shami Veganism has become significantly more accessible around the world in the past few years. As I prepared for my trip to Palestine, I didn't have any concern that I'd have to suffer or make concessions from my values. It ...more

June 7, 2018

Veganwashing and the Lie of Vegan Unity

by Chris Hendricks "Veganwashing" refers to a form of whitewashing meant to encourage positive association of a subject with veganism or animal rights. It occurs, for example, when a company introduces plant-based alternatives to their ...more

May 28, 2018

Emptying the Cages: For the Abolition of Prisons and Animal Agriculture

by Matthew Kelly, edited by Lilia Trenkova Trigger warnings: Sexual Assault Torture Violence Murder Racism Slavery Why are the cages here? Cages exist to petrify their inhabitants. If you exist within a cage, you cannot choose to ...more

September 22, 2017

Renouncing vegan birthright

By Julia Tanenbaum The new Vegan Birthright program sponsored by Jewish Veg and Mayanot Birthright exemplifies how Zionists so often exploit the struggle for animal rights in the service of colonialism. Since 1999 Birthright Israel ...more

July 8, 2017

The Intersections of Species Politics, Colonialism, Food Justice, and Gender in Okja

By Tori Lion, CF Toronto Organizer ​(Please note that this article contains spoilers.) ​Recently, after completing an intensive course, I finally had the opportunity to watch Bong Joon-ho’s new film, Okja, which has been ...more

April 30, 2017

Elsie Shrigley: the Woman Behind the Word Veganism

By Sarah W. Fox, CF Vancouver organizer Where Are the Women in the Animal Rights Movement? "Patriarchy is a social system in which males hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social ...more

February 27, 2017

3 Reasons Why You Should Become a Pro-Intersectional* Activist

By Lilia Trenkova, CF Co-Founder *Intersectionality theory was created by Kimberlé Crenshaw and other black feminists in the 1960s and 70s as a form of resistance to the predominantly white (read: racist) feminist movement and the ...more

February 8, 2017

Your Organizer Voted for Trump, Now What?

By Raffi Marhaba &  Lilia Trenkova, Collectively Free Founders Whether you're part of an activist community or an organizer yourself, chances are you have had to deal with conflict in your network. Conflicts come in many shapes ...more

January 18, 2017

Capitalism, White Supremacy, Patriarchy, and Anthropocentrism Are Killing Us: Why We’re Joining Disrupt J20

by Tori Lion, CF Toronto Organizer It is not a coincidence that Donald Trump rose to power at a time when open challenges to capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy have become commonplace. In 2011, during my first year of ...more