With Cold Brew Coffee, Oyster Mushrooms, and Free Burritos, These Vegan Restaurants Are Helping to Fight for Black Lives

This week, many vegan restaurants, chains, and cafés across the country are taking action to support the ongoing fight for racial justice, which was reignited by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed by Derek Chauvin and three other ex-police officers on May 25 in Minneapolis, MN. Protesters have taken to the streets nationwide—and in some cities internationally—to march for justice for George Floyd and for the dismantling of the racist system that led to his death and the deaths of countless others due to police brutality. Many vegan businesses have denounced racism with public posts on social media while others have taken action, in whatever way they could, to support organizations fighting for long-term systemic change. These are just a few of the vegan businesses that are fighting for Black lives this week:

• Dark Hall Coffee: the woman-, POC-, and LGBTQ-owned café in Phoenix, AZ is donating proceeds from all cold-brew coffee sales this week to (and taking online donations for) The Black People’s Justice Fund because: “Cops don’t keep us safe. We keep each other safe.”
• Veggie Grill: the California-based fast-food chain donated to Equal Justice Initiative, an Alabama-based nonprofit that provides legal representation for prisoners. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen to side with the oppressor,” the company states, asserting that “in the long run, we’ll be working on more impactful ways to fight racism, inequality, and suffering.” 
• Timeless Coffee: the Oakland, CA café and coffee roaster is donating all coffee bean sales this weekend (June 6 and June 7) to East Oakland Collective—a 100-percent Black-led organization fighting for racial and economic equity—because: “Our hearts are heavy. We have always aimed to be part of the solution in this world we all share.”
• NadaMoo! Scoop Shop: the vegan ice cream brand’s Austin, TX scoop shop donated $1,000 to Black Visions Collective—a Black-, trans-, and queer-led organization that is committed to transformative, long-term change—because: “We stand in solidarity with our Black mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, friends, colleagues, and customers.⁣”
• Screamer’s Pizzeria: the Brooklyn, NY pizzeria donated 75 percent of sales on June 1 from both of its locations (for a total of $2,258) to National Bailout—an organization that works to bail Black mothers out of jail—because: “They are doing some inspiring work right now and we are happy to have the opportunity to donate, with the help of all of you.” On June 2, Screamer’s continued its effort on a local level, raising donations for Brooklyn Community Bailout Fund (which is fighting to end money bail and immigration detention) and Crown Heights Mutual Aid (a coalition of neighbors working together to help each other in time of crisis). 
• Next Level Burger: an Oregon-based vegan chain is donating all profits from June 4 until June 7 to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) because: “We hear you, we see you, we stand with you.”
• Above Ground: a new vegan pub in San Francisco, CA is donating all sales of its oyster mushroom appetizers this week to Planting Justice, a grassroots organization helping to empower incarcerated people through food-growing programs. “Before supporting us, please first show up in the fight for racial justice more directly,” the pub states. “And whether you’re out in the streets, sending money to on-the-ground activists, [or] using your voice to do whatever you can—thank you.”
• Block Party Highland Park: a bar and online vegan grocery store in Los Angeles donating 100 percent of its profits this week to the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter. “We also understand that that isn’t enough,” the bar states, “and we are urging other Los Angeles businesses to commit and contribute what they can.”
• Plant Power Fast Food: a vegan fast-food chain donating all weekend sales (June 6 and June 7) from its six California locations to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Black Visions Collective because: “To be silent is to be complicit.” 
• SunCafe: a Los Angeles-based eatery donating all profits for four days to Campaign Zero (working to end police violence) and The Bail Project (combating racial and economic disparities in the prison bail system) because: “Love will win.”
• WHyld Ass: an LGBTQ-owned vegan restaurant in Phoenix, AZ that donated 25 yam and lentil burritos, along with a dozen granola brownies, directly to protestors to help them march for social justice. “Equality should be a right not a privilege,” owner Keith A Wyatt, Jr., a gay man who was assaulated by police as a teenager, told VegNews. “Black lives matter, always have and always will. I will always stand in solidarity for equality. There is no room for hate.”