116: ”As people who are harmed - how can we possibly perpetrate harm?” - LoriKim Alexander - Sentientism

LoriKim (she/her/we/our) describes herself as an educator, organiser, activist, conservationist, abolitionist, naturalist & healer. Originally from Jamaica & now living in the Bronx, USA, LoriKim has dedicated her life to working for social & environmental justice specifically organizing around LGBTQIA+, Black, Brown & Indigenous communities. LoriKim’s work in anthropology & her training as a biologist has helped her work against environmental racism, in providing environmental education for People of Color & in working towards decolonialism & liberation through veganism for over 25 years. LoriKim works as a founder, facilitator and organiser with organisations including BlackVegFest https://blackvegfest.org/ & The Cypher.

In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the two most important questions: “what’s real?” & “what matters?”

Sentientism is "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is here on YouTube.

We discuss:

00:00 Welcome

01:26 LoriKim's Intro

- Educator, organiser, activist, conservationist, abolitionist, naturalist, healer

- "Black liberation practice" with "a queer & vegan lens"

02:38 What's Real?

- Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica

- "Being a Black country... what that means is that we had to really hold tight to our traditions, our histories that were muddled, were removed... because of slavery"

- "Highly colonised", stringent laws, highly carceral

- "Missionaries saw opportunity to come in and bring their various and sundry versions of the truth"

- Synchronising traditions into Christianity as the only way they could survive

- Growing up Catholic "A very white and blond Jesus... this is not someone I can relate to."

- "I never believed in Santa Claus"

- "Religion... as the framework I had to live under in order to go about my daily life"

- Communion, saying rosary, prayer

- "What I saw in the natural world did not reflect this idea that god created all of these things... I watched creation happen."

- Moving to the US at 13

- "This religion doesn't make any sense to me" & "bruk out" from church

- Coming out & stopping eating meat at 14

- "I could not equate this idea of loving all beings... and also eating them"

- "Yes - I'm an atheist... I don't believe any of this"

- "However, spirit moves you."

- Talking with ancestors "I thought that was me talking to myself, but..."

- "I would ask for things in my head & it would happen"

- "I never really strayed away from thinking about the world beyond"

- A multitude of universes & studying science

- "A hybrid of really being rooted in science... & there's so much more that's unknown that I know that I feel"

- "I'm an Aquarius & we don't follow anybody else's rules"

- Practising things that come from a lot of African ancestral traditions, "but not strictly"

...and much more. Full show notes at Sentientism.info.

Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at Sentientism.info. Join our "I'm a Sentientist" wall via this simple form.

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Thanks Graham.