This was originally posted on blogger.

Well, it’s not everyday you chat with Ingrid Newkirk, head honcho of PETA.

Newkirk is somewhat of a legend in the animal rights movement. She started activism in the US in 1972 (three years before the publication of Animal Liberation) working in Washington DC’s dog adoption program, and founded PETA in 1980. She was one of the first abolitionists in America, going beyond “humane” treatment of animals and advocating an end to slaughter and commodification. Since 1980 PETA has grown to prominence, and, honestly, infamy. Most probably see them as animal loving buffoons, characterized by their stunts and inflammatory public statements about veganism.

I do think we have to give them credit. PETA’s first laboratory investigation in 1981 found horrendous conditions of macaques in Silver Spring, Maryland; and the exposure almost directly led to the 1985 amendment on the Animal Welfare Act, protecting animals from excessive abuse in research. The prominence of “cruelty-free” labeling on cosmetics (like shampoos), though problematically wording, is largely there because of the public pressure PETA put on select companies, stigmatizing animal testing for unnecessary use.

At the same time, I think PETA has made mistakes in their struggle for animal liberation. Some have called the promotion of “cruelty-free” chocolate disingenuous, ignoring the labor struggles of cocoa production facilities in the Global South. Few can forget PETA’s 2008 “Got autism” ad, which drew a tenuous link between dairy consumption and autism. There are numerous counts of objectification, fat-shaming of women’s bodies, which I won’t detail here. These instances make working with PETA… complicated. PETA has enough funding to run a super-bowl ad (and they have), higher over two hundred staffers, and have the most support for student activists out of other animal rights organizations. I want to build bridges and appreciate PETA’s support, but how can I when they have made ads comparing mothers in the dairy industry to those at the US-Mexico border?

“That was pretty shocking in retrospect,” said Newkirk about the. We spoke only through audio, but I could feel her head shaking. I was surprised – everything I had heard from this fervent leader of PETA suggested she was obstinate in her beliefs. But despite everything – we humble students had gotten on the phone with her. And she was listening.

Our conversation centered on an internal controversy at PETA about Martin Luther King Day. An email thread was leaked online that featured staffers at PETA – many of whom were people of color – voicing concerns about PETA protesting for animals on this day, particularly without acknowledging racial justice. As I mentioned to Newkirk, this particular debate was not the crux of our concern. More pressing was the way that it was dealt with: Ingrid Newkirk, the director of PETA, shutting down voices of color in her own organization. It’s unempowering for activists and harmful for the animal rights movement that needs to have pluralistic support to achieve success. We also brought up the way that PETA’s campaigns appropriating other movements are harmful in that same way – alienating activists for social justice in other areas.

Despite all the criticisms, we spoke to Newkirk as fellow animal liberationists. Peers in the struggle for animal rights, for a world free of suffering and domination of non-human creatures. I do have massive respect for Newkirk for shaping the American animal rights movement – in fact, even more so after our conversation. In her memo to us after, she wrote, “I take on-board your comments about some of the gimmicks, if you will, we have used in the past, probably more out of desperation to get the AR message heard than anything. I’m sure we will inevitably, inadvertently misstep again, but it won’t be for want of trying not to.”

I believe her. We all want PETA to be successful, and we all want students – including students of color – to be empowered in the movement. The animal rights movement is a small scene, and there’s nothing to be gained from in-fighting. I know where she’s coming from, and I know how hard and lonely it is advocating for animal liberation. By nature of existing in the burbling culture of Berkeley, I am always learning about the struggles of humans even in the United States – but not everyone is. Whether it’s police brutality, the threat of deportation, or the day-to-day struggle of homelessness, our world is full of systemic evils that people are working hard to address. I believe if we unite with others against common oppressor, change can be made for us all.