In 1982, at the age of 25, I began seeking and embarked upon a quest to experience the spiritual truth about myself and my life. Shortly thereafter, I found a personal path of spiritual development that follows certain protocols including a lacto-vegetarian diet, abstinence from alcohol, drugs and tobacco, a moral way of life, and the practice of daily meditation. I've been following this way of life for 33 years. Vegetarianism is at the very foundation of this path because it is important to eat as low on the "karmic food chain" as possible. Given that, and for optimal health, I now follow a vegan diet.
My first step toward veganism actually happened long before that time. While in college, I had a summer job as a hog pusher at a slaughterhouse in Los Angeles. One day during my break, I witnessed the slaughter of dozens of hogs. They struggled and screamed as their throats were slit. It was a horrible experience. I quit shortly thereafter and never ate pork again. Years later I made the connection and stopped eating all animals. In fact, when our children Londale Jr. and Kamaal were young and asked why our family did not eat meat, I told them, "Animals are our friends and we don't eat our friends."
As you can imagine, being vegan in the '80's (and African American!) was quite a rarity. Because of my work and athletic build, I've shattered so many myths (some that still persist today) about strength and endurance of vegetarian and vegan athletes. I was a police officer for over 20 years and during my time in the academy, I won the award of merit for physical fitness by scoring a perfect score on all of the rigorous physical training tests. I was the only recruit in the class that won the award and the only one that did not eat meat.
Although being vegan is foremost based upon spiritual values, I have been blessed with excellent health as well and feel years younger than my chronological age. I have never had any diseases associated with the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). My wife and daughter are excellent vegan cooks and I don't feel like I'm missing anything at all since their recipes are "veganized" versions of foods I grew up eating. Currently, I (along with my son Londale Jr.) am an actor and having home-cooked vegan food with me during the day when I'm on set or traveling to auditions makes a huge difference in how I feel and perform. Our website, Veggie Soul Food, has some of our favorite recipes as well as our family's cookbook, The Vegan System.
It is wonderful to see the growth in awareness of the many benefits of vegan living. We've come a long way but still have far to go. Thank you Black Vegans Rock for this important work!
Londale's website: LondaleTheus.com
SPECIAL OFFER FOR BLACK VEGANS ROCK READERS
The Theus family is offering BVR readers a $5.00 discount for their downloadable book The Vegan System. All you have to do is enter the coupon code bvr2016. It is active now and may be used anytime. Go towww.veggiesoulfood.com to download your copy today!
