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Popular vegan activist Earthling Ed gave a rousing speech to a record crowd at this weekend’s Animal Rights March.
The event, which attracted a reported 10,000 people, was the biggest since it started in 2016 when 2,500 people took part.
Following a march through London, Earthling Ed took to the stage in Hyde Park, alongside speakers including Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch, and 12-year-old Aiyana Goodfellow.
‘The change that is coming’
Earthling Ed opened his speech saying: “Can you feel it as it flows and as it cascades? Can you feel it as it transmutes from something we only used to be able to dream of, to something that exists in front of us, something we can see – something that is tangible?
“Change. The change that is coming. It is palpable. It exists in the hearts and minds of each and every one of us. Feel it. Believe it. The change that is coming. The sun will one day set on this world and a new dawn will rise.
“Out of the ashes of violence, hope will rise. Now we as a movement exist in the millions of individuals but together we move as one. And as one, we cannot be stopped. We will not be stopped. And these industries, the ones that exploit others, they feel what we feel. And they fear it.”
Earthling Ed speaking at the event in London
The future
Speaking about the possibility of a vegan world one day, he added: “The future will one day speak of a seemingly small group of people – who saw the world for the violent place that it was – and said that they would no longer only talk about ending suffering and oppression.
“They would instead demand it. And the future will see that that small group of people grew larger and larger until one day their demands were met.”
‘Uplifting and emotional’
Numerous attendees of the march spoke about how powerful the event was. Chas Newkey-Burden is a leading vegan journalist, who has written a number of ground-breaking articles in the mainstream media including Dairy is scary. The public are waking up to the darkest part of farming in The Guardian.
He told Plant Based News: “As well as a potent public show of strength, the march was an uplifting and emotional coming-together for vegans – a ‘vegan pride’.
“Ed’s speech was truly a ‘Martin Luther King moment’ for the movement – and a heartfelt, growling shot in the arm for all who were there.”
