Johanna Eeva found it hard to feel accepted as a person of color in vegan circles, so she did what any smart woman with writing chops and a desire to engage with her community would do: she started her own blog. The 31-year-old New York City-based blogger launched Vegans of Color in late 2007 as a reaction to the frustration she experienced not having enough online discussion centered on veganism and AR from a people-of-color perspective. “There often hasn’t been a sense that people understand and value the issues that I deal with,” she says. “It’s vital for vegans of color to realize that other vegans of color exist, and to be able to discuss these issues in a space that focuses on their own experience.”

Today, Eeva’s blog attracts readers, commentors, and bloggers of every stripe who are interested in subjects as varied as veganism and white privilege, adoptable animals, cultural imperialism, and other important issues we should all be talking about in our everyday discourse-online and otherwise. One blog entry might discuss the conundrum of whether or not to attend a work-related event that just happens to be held at a zoo, or whether AR groups should use the holocaust as analogy for the plight of abused and exploited animals. Whatever the topic of the hour may be, you can be certain that it will be relevant to any critically thinking, 21st century vegan.