00:00There's a woman at the dog park who would ask me every single time if my dog is a killer.
00:07I feel sad for her when she is excluded from things because of what she looks like and a stereotype of a breed.
00:16Ginger wears her emotions on her face.
00:19After we have interactions like that, I can see a change in her mood.
00:24When we're walking on the street near somebody and they might cross the street,
00:28I understand there are a lot of reasons why someone might not trust a dog.
00:31I also think that there could be underlying patterns that have to do with what she looks like and what I look like.
00:38I adopted Ginger in fall of 2020.
00:43The shelter that I adopted her from didn't use breed labeling.
00:47She just looked like a standard puppy.
00:49But as she started gaining more weight, that's when more people outside of me started identifying her as a pit bull.
00:59So I started doing research about pet ownership, especially for Black people.
01:05And I found a very complicated history.
01:08I know that in some states, especially in the South, it was illegal for Black people to even have dogs in the 19th century.
01:14There is a pattern, but that means that we can all work together to change the narrative and uplift each other.
01:22It's important to me to make a space where everyone can feel safe learning, even people that disagree with me.
01:29I know that talking about racism in the pet world can be a really sensitive subject and people might be afraid of saying the wrong thing.
01:37People often come to my Instagram page wanting to know what dogs have to do with race.
01:41So I do try to answer their questions and provide books and articles to read so that they can fact check me,
01:47but also so that they can go on the Internet and look up what dogs have to do with race on their own.
01:53I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
01:57I come in doing my best and hopefully we can make something even better.
02:01I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:02I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:03I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:04I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:05I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:06I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:07I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:08I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:09I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:10I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
02:11I try to give everyone the tools to be an anti-racist animal advocate.
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