Hip Hop Fridays: Does Little Brother Endorse PETA? by Andy J. Solages

Last week I came across a news story which announced that members of North Carolina’s Little Brother had recently spoken in favor of vegetarianism and against animal abuse in an exclusive interview with Petaworld.com.

I thought, “hmm….another one.”

While I have no issue with vegetarianism, I think it “looks” odd that PETA has several Black celebrities and public figures who work with and endorse their organization. According to the aforementioned news story, as found on All Hip Hop.com, other celebrities who have worked with PETA include “Masta Killa, Dead Prez, Common, Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliot and Russell Simmons.” You can check out Common in PETA’s “Think Before You Eat Campaign” on PETA’s website.

PETA grabbed my attention in recent years with two displays that increased my consumption of curry chicken and has me debating (still) whether a purple Cam’ron style fur would be a good look for a Black Electorate.com editor (send me an email if you would like to contribute to my "Black Man in Chinchilla Fund"). The first was their “Holocaust on Your Plate” project, which compared the treatment of chickens, calves, and pigs, as “unworthy lives” to the Nazis’s treatment of Jewish, Gypsy, and Homosexual Human Beings, as “unworthy lives,” during the early 20th century. The second display was last year’s “Animal Liberation” which compared the treatment of horses, cattle, chicken, and pigs to the treatment of Black Human Beings who were enslaved, tortured, and otherwise oppressed. We’re at a point of irreconcilable differences. I don’t agree with the idea that animals and Human Beings are equal. I am not going to react in the same way to watching someone step on a bug as I am to a story about a human being who was murdered. Also, call me vain, or a “speciesist,” but I would care for a fugly human baby way before I would care for an adorable puppy (even if it is a purebred). In my mind, comparing Black People to animals makes PETA a worthy recipient of the kooky and insensitive White Folk award (at the very least). "Animal Liberation," in particular, makes me feel that any Black person's public involvement with PETA, at this point, "looks" odd.

We’ll revisit this issue again soon, as I would like to speak to some of the involved parties before really getting into this, so for now let’s return to Little Brother. As I mentioned earlier, it had appeared that Little Brother had joined the ranks of the Black celebrities who endorse PETA. Well, last night I came across Little Brother’s Myspace blog, and it turns out that the interview on PETAWORLD was old, and that in fact Little Brother does not endorse PETA "in any way shape or form." Phonte, of Little Brother, has also fallen off the wagon and may be trying to get at some chicken wings as I write this.

What was interesting is that some unknown party had messed with Little Brother’s blog so that if you clicked on the post where Phonte addressed their issues with PETA you would be brought to “a website the meat industry doesn’t want you to know about.” I found this out when I attempted to include the link to Little Brother’s post in Black Electorate’s culture/sports section. In any case, Little Brother has reposted their statement, and since it amused me, here it is for all of our viewers to enjoy.

http://blog.myspace.com/littlebrother

*Editor's note - After this article appeared, Little Brother's blog was "adjusted" again so that their post concerning PETA would redirect visitor's to an anti-meat movie. You may read the text of Little Brother's post here

Andy J. Solages is Contributing Editor of Black Electorate.com. He can be contacted at andy@blackelectorate.com

Andy J. Solages

Friday, March 31, 2006