INTERVENTION #4 #SWAPSPECIESISM – MEATOPIA, MANHATTAN, NY

By Lili Trenkova

An Open Letter to Anyone Who Crossed the South intersection of 12th Ave and 54th St in Manhattan on Sunday 10/19/2014 Between 3pm and 5:30pm

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.” – Gandhi

To Those Who Ignored Us –
You didn’t really ignore us. You may have tried your hardest not to look, but we saw you – the quick glances, the miniscule squints, the short grimaces – before you went onward to crossing the street.

You may have tried your hardest to forget us, but we know that next time you witness a form of cruelty – be it against a human or non-human – you will remember us. You will remember that violence is wrong, no matter who the victim is or who the perpetrator is. You will start questioning yourself and society. Is everything you’ve been taught right? Could it be that somewhere within the truths you’ve learned, you’ve also picked up some lies? Afraid so, yes.

To Those Who Ridiculed Us –
What exactly were you laughing at? Was it our performance? If so, we need to thank you – the greatest gift you could give a performer is a reaction, and laughter is one of the greatest reactions!

You know that animals are tortured, raped and killed so that you may consume their flesh and secretions, and you know that these practices are unethical and unnecessary. You know that you are perfectly capable of not only surviving but thriving without the consumption of animal “products”, and yes, you know that the only thing that’s stopping you is you. Maybe your excuse is your geographical location, or an advice from a doctor, or maybe it’s an I-can’t-live-without-cheese addiction. Whatever the excuse, you have one, but you know the difference between excuse and reason, and you know you have no reason.

Or were you perhaps laughing out of instinct because something in your nervous system got agitated and your body reacted before your brain did? If so, ask yourselves why that happened. Maybe your gut truly felt the connection our performance was making. Maybe deep inside you did understand that there is no moral difference between exploiting animals and exploiting humans. And maybe, just maybe, you took a step towards change.

To Those Who Fought Us –
You were not the first to fight us. You were not the first to argue that “God put animals on Earth for us”. You were not the first to attempt to discredit us by asking, “What about the children in the sweatshop that made the rubber mask you are wearing?” And you were certainly not the first to use the word “bacon” instead of taking the time to come up with an argument.

Can you guess what prompted you to say what you said? Guilt. Not the Catholic humility-based type of guilt either, but a bitter, self-induced type of guilt – guilt from knowing that you are wrong about something but preventing yourself from changing because of a certain personal reason. You know that animals are tortured, raped and killed so that you may consume their flesh and secretions, and you know that these practices are unethical and unnecessary. You know that you are perfectly capable of not only surviving but thriving without the consumption of animal “products”, and yes, you know that the only thing that’s stopping you is you. Maybe your excuse is your geographical location, or an advice from a doctor, or maybe it’s an I-can’t-live-without-cheese addiction. Whatever the excuse, you have one, but you know the difference between excuse and reason, and you know you have no reason.

To you we’d like to say: we hope the day comes soon when you can put your ego aside, look at the world objectively and see the harm we humans have imposed upon our fellow earthlings for nothing but selfish reasons. Only then will you be able to clearly see the beauty alongside with the ugliness. And only then will you be moved enough to take responsibility for your actions and live up to what you know is the moral and just. We know because we’ve all been there. We look forward to your joining us.

To Those Who Cheered for the Win –
Thank you! Thank you for not walking by in silence and for voicing your support. Thank you for speaking with us and encouraging us.

Thank you also to New York Farm Animal Save and Long Island Orchestrating for Nature for joining our effort in presenting the #SwapSpeciesism campaign, for recruiting volunteers and for helping spread the message that day.
And thank you to the many other organizations and individuals who helped out, in person or virtually. Thank you to Their Turn, for publishing our story. We are humbled and honored to have your support, and we will continue to offer our support in return.

Check out our video below.

Photo by Miriam Lucille