45 Animal Rights Videos and Stickers/Stencils

Sweaty musicians. Lots of screaming. Youthful enthusiasm. Passionate idealism. A call to action. Last night was a shot in the arm. 

I hadn't been to a hardcore show since my previous band dissolved in early 2007. When Tamora ended I felt a mix of feelings about our dissolution, which has kept me from going to shows ever since. Our final show at the Che Cafe with the Hope Conspiracy was the last time we delivered information about animal suffering to the public. 

Since then, the boxes of animal protection literature (pamplets, stickers, buying guides, etc.) have been dutifully collecting dust in my garage. In addition to all the literature, I have been collecting and hoarding videos related to animal suffering. I acquired most of them when I spent the summer of 2003 working for PeTA2.com, but others were handed off to me by fellow animal advocates and teachers over the years.

Everything from dog labs and fur farm footage, to egg investigations and turkey production are documented on these tapes. Hundreds of hours of footage in all. They are hard to watch for most, and make it clear that humans destroy animals to satisfy even the most superfluous desires. This is obvious when people state, "I won't stop eating meat, I just like the taste too much." In the U.S., most would be appalled and outraged if they heard someone saying this about a dog or cat.

However, the punk and hardcore music scene has always made movement on these issues and still inspires people to become active in their communities. During the mid-90s it was bands like Earth Crisis that took a militant stand on issues of oppression, and last night the story continued.

I took a box of these videos to the show, along with stickers and stencils to leave out for anyone who wanted them. By the end of the show nearly everything was gone. I watched in quiet joy as members of Seven Generations walked away with a few videos each, and attendees stuffed their pockets with stickers and stencils.  

At the end of the night, Tyler, a fellow seer and information distributer, who spent the evening giving away Crimethinc posters and other materials asked, "Can I you give some money for this stuff?" I denied him immediately, and we got to talking about why. I explained that watching people take these supplies to help animals was payment enough.

(Photo: Singer of the band Hostage Calm from Connecticut - I took it during their very short set.)