The Militant Vegan

From the introduction: The Militant Vegan was a low-production-value, limited-circulation, photocopied publication that never enjoyed much of an audience outside the vegan straight edge Hardcore scene of the mid-1990s (although music scene references were entirely absent, its origins and target demographic were clear). While I expect few will see the historical value of this collection, I have a deep reverance for The Militant Vegan as my first window into the world of direct action and the ALF. Try to imagine the historical context from which The Militant Vegan arose: The Animal Liberation Front had carried out its most strategic campaign to date, targeting weak points in the fur industry in a multi-state liberation and arson spree called Operation Bite Back. The media was all but silent. There was no internet, so activists outside the small media markets where these raids happened were unaware this campaign was underway, and many of the raids weren't reported by the media at all. The Animal Liberation Front (again, pre-internet) had little-to-no platforms to which they could disseminate their communiques, rally the movement to join them in taking action, or let the world know of their victories. It was from this void The Militant Vegan emerged. To quote issue #1, The Militant Vegan is being released because there has been a media blackout on direct action on behalf of enslaved animals. Before the internet, animal liberation news could only be spread through photocopied documents like The Militant Vegan, distributed person-to-person, and seen by few. Reading The Militant Vegan was like a window to a secret history you watched unfold in its pages. I sent for my first copy after a review in Maximum Rock N Roll (the long-running punk fanzine). Some time later, The Militant Vegan #5 arrived in the mail. I approached it as a curious and supportive voyeur (I wouldn't become vegan until several months later, or carry out any direct action for another year beyond that). In the summer of 1994, while I had yet to throw myself into the frontlines of the animal liberation movement, I remember reading issue #5 and having the sense that the vegan revolution was actually underway. Issue #1 was published just as Operation Bite Back ended, and as the net was closing in on one of its architects, Rod Coronado. Among other ALF activity, these issues document the unfolding of that investigation and Rod Coronado's flight (and eventual arrest). While dominated by re-purposed material (such as ALF primers and newspaper clippings), there is some notable content, ALF history, and other direct-action themed rarities contained in these pages. Some of it I have never seen elsewhere. The Militant Vegan published some of the first publicized fur farm addresses - several of which would go on to be raided by activists. A communique for the Malecky Mink Farm arson (also part of Operation Bite Back) is a rare piece of ALF history. And even the grainy newspaper article reprints can't be downplayed, in a time when to not live in an area where an ALF action had occurred was to never know it happened at all - were it not for The Militant Vegan. Word of ALF actions were almost impossible to come by in this period, and The Militant Vegan offered impact just in revealing the work of these anonymous activists (even news of a broken window offered inspiration to this 17 year old, who had yet to meet another vegan). Appropriately, the final issue concludes with the closing of one chapter in the story that The Militant Vegan opened with: the arrest of Rod Coronado, and a letter from him written in jail. To the anonymous editors - whoever you are - you had an impact. An this book preserves the history that may be lost had The Militant Vegan never existed. -Peter Young