My Vegan Journey: Contemporary Poetry by Author and Hip-Hop Artist Abioseh Joseph Cole (vegan)

On today’s show we meet Abioseh Joseph Cole (vegan), a poet, animal-people rights activist, teacher, hip-hop artist, producer, recording engineer, and the author of a children’s illustrated board book, “I Am Not Food!” Mr. Cole’s initial exposure to a vegan diet arose when his father sadly passed away from colon cancer in 1996, leading him to question the cause and how to avoid this becoming his own fate.

After fully committing to veganism, Mr. Cole used his talent for poetry to become a voice for the animal-people. His poem “Dissonant Cognition” explains how people allow their minds to ignore the horrible truth behind eating our animal-people friends. Let’s hear excerpts from this impactful poem.

As a poet, musician and producer, Mr. Cole believes poetry can bring resonance to the public regarding veganism and effectively advocate for animal-people rights. Mr. Cole offers advice to those considering a plant-based lifestyle, commenting on their nutritional intake and on replicating known flavors. “If you really want to be vegan, there really is no excuse for you not being vegan. There’re just so many things that taste exactly like what you’re used to tasting. It’s just a matter of you being willing to step out of your comfort zone.”

Mr. Cole is convinced that stopping all killing and removing all animal-people products from our lives remains the most effective way to alleviate the climate crisis. With that mindset he published “I Am Not Food!” “The number one thing that we can do to make a huge impact, not just on the ecological environment, but on the social environment, on the political environment, on the economic environment, when it comes to making an impact on the environment, not killing would be number one.” “We can sustain ourselves without killing. And I think that awareness is starting to become more apparent and more normalized in today’s society.”

Mr. Cole reminds us never to stop sharing our passion for a vegan world. We will end our show today with an excerpt from Mr. Coles’ poem, “The Perfect Word.”