Thereās no doubt that this year has been different from anything weāve ever experienced before. But despite the adversity weāve faced as a global community and as individuals, Students Opposing Speciesism (SOS)āthe PETA-backed, youth-led revolt against human supremacyāhasnāt missed a beat in furthering its mission of ending speciesism.
Our SOS leaders and members attended training sessions, shared eye-opening videos and cruelty-free how-to guides, and even posted their own hard-hitting memes on Instagram. They joined book club meetings, participated in Netflix Parties, brainstormed on Discord, attended the first-ever SOS virtual summit, and hit the streets in powerful protests around the country. Theyāve reached and influenced countless people, and itās hard to believe how much the program has accomplished and grown in 2020!
These students and other young people are true leadersābringing the issue of speciesism to their communities, high schools, and campuses (in person and virtually). Check out some of the ways they got loud for animals this year.
They protested East Fork Farms and using animals for food:
SanAntonioxSOS
CUBoulderxSOS
SanJosexSOS
UCLAxSOS
ClevelandxSOS
They protested Urban Outfitters brandsā use of leather, wool, alpaca fleece, silk, down, cashmere, and mohair:
Ā CUBoulderxSOS
Ā UCLAxSOS
UCF (Knights 4 Animals Rights)
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They protested the National Institutes of Healthās (NIH) monkey terror experiments:
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UCLAxSOS
Other Actions SOS Has Taken
SOS activists also utilized the programās other resources and platforms to speak up for animals. They called clothing stores and asked them to stop selling animal-derived materials, called NIH and asked it to stop funding monkey terror experiments, worked with their schools to cut out dissection, urged Walmart shoppers not to buy Great Value eggs (or any other eggs), stickered their cities, and so much more. Hereās just a small glimpse of the things hubs all over the U.S. and Canada have been up to this year:
Ā RaleighxSOS
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JenningsHSxSOS
MilkenxSOS
LongIslandxSOS
TampaxSOS
CatalinexSOS
AshevilleNCxSOS
NCStatexSOS
OceansidexSOS
OneontaxSOS
CUBoulderxSOS
Ā KansasCityxSOS
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SOS not only spread awareness of speciesism but also helped others identify and reject their unconscious assumptions about animals. Weāre so proud of all that these young activists have done to help people realize that animals arenāt ours to useāand that if we want equality, we must respect their desire not to be harmedāand weāre so excited about everything theyāll accomplish in the coming year. SOS is working hard to dismantle human supremacy and paving the way for a speciesism-free future.
Thank you, SOS, for all youāve done this year. Get ready for an even bigger and louder new year!
If youāre between the ages of 13 and 24 and you havenāt joined SOS yet, weād love to have you on our team going into our second year: