Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Eubanks.
Hi Christopher, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and was raised in East Point, Georgia. At an early age, I fell in love with hip-hop and art and used them as ways to express myself and as a resource to learn about various social issues. As I grew into adulthood, I became more aware of the various systems of oppression e.g., colonization, school to prison pipeline, white supremacy, etc… that plague Black and brown communities and searched for ways to take a stand against these systems. After reading the autobiography of Malcolm X and learning of his dietary habits, I was inspired to become vegetarian. This was the starting point that would lead me down the path towards veganism and viewing non-human animals as individuals that deserve the birthright to be free from abuse and exploitation. As someone who sees how the same systems that exploit animals through factory farming also exploit Black and brown communities through environmental racism, I felt compelled to help others make this connections. In 2021 I developed my non-profit A.P.E.X. Advocacy (Animal Protection Equality Intersectionality), our goal is to increase the amount of people of color advocating for animal rights.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been various struggles throughout my experience through starting a nonprofit. When I began doing animal activism appx five years ago, I was a freelance wedding videographer living slightly above the poverty line. I volunteered all of my free time doing animal activism organizing local events for organizations like PETA, The Humane League, The Animal Save Movement, etc… all while being self-employed so essentially I felt like I was working two jobs but solely living off of one income for several years. During this time I partnered with two school friends in an attempt to grow my videography business but the partnership essentially destroyed my business with me losing appx $5000 in the process.
While still volunteering doing animal activism virtually full time I was able to begin working for a nonprofit centered around educating middle and high school students about eating plant-based options but appx 9 mos in covid struck and I was left with no job all while still recovering from my business debt. I continued to focus on doing animal activism and in one activism experience in Blairsville, GA protesting a rodeo I was constantly yelled at with racial slurs while my fellow protestors and I were surrounded by a small angry mob with eggs thrown in our direction after sunset, and several cars driving by draped with confederate flags. I detail this experience more in the book “Antiracism In Animal Advocacy”.
During this time I continued to do activism but became dedicated to starting my own nonprofit to make more space for BIPOC in animal advocacy. At the start of 2021, I received a small micro-grant for my nonprofit and developed a small team but those funds quickly ran out but my team continued to volunteer even as we had no funding. My luck would turn around this summer as my non-profit received a grant that allowed us to operate for a full year which has allowed us to grow our team and work on three campaigns.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am currently the executive director at my nonprofit Apex Advocacy and we have three campaigns, Black Vegan Everything, No Backyard Slaughter and the Global Majority Caucus. Black Vegan Everything is a website dedicated to Black-owned vegan businesses. Blackveganeverything.com is dedicated to giving more exposure to small to medium Black-owned vegan businesses. Our No Backyard Slaughter Campaign is working to remove illegal backyard slaughterhouses from Black and brown residential neighborhoods. Backyard slaughterhouses decrease poverty value of surrounding homes, is a public nuisance to the community, contribute to environmental racism and causes immeasurable suffering to animals.
Our third campaign is called The Global Majority Caucus. This is a program where we recruit animal rights advocates of color into our online community and provide them personal and professional development. We have monthly community check-ins, book club meetings, fundraising training, in-person community events and more. The Global Majority Caucus aims to connect more BIPOC animal rights advocates with each other in their area and help them become stronger advocates. All of our campaigns can be seen at www.apexadvoacy.org. While there are several organizations working on animal rights I’m not aware of any other organizations that are intentionally working to create a community of BIPOC animal advocates that oppose all forms of animal cruelty. Our board of directors are all BIPOC and have an intersectional approach in how we advocate for animal rights.
What were you like growing up?
In my early teenage years, my family was one of the many casualties of the crack epidemic which threw a grenade into our lives and forever altered the trajectory of our family. In 1996 my mother moved my sister and I back to her hometown of Cincinnati for a fresh start but during that time I felt homesick and Cincinnati never felt like home so we returned to Atlanta later that year to regain our lives. During this time I went to Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Ga where I was in the magnet program for video production. While we were able to regain some sense of normalcy, the happy family of four that I was raised in as a child was long gone as my mother worked multiple jobs to raise me and my sister during my late teenage years. But even through the childhood trauma, my upbringing was filled with fond memories of me playing baseball with neighborhood friends in the street as a kid, going to the arcade at greenbriar mall, taking family trips to six flags and so many more wonderful moments that live forever in my memory.
Contact Info:
- Website: apexadvocacy.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soul_eubanks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apexadvocacy
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/apexadvocacy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxm_fHiiMNKS_kv_btSbK5Q
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apex-advocacy/
