Invisible Vegan Roundtable Interview of Jasmine Leyva
with Marlene Narrow and Alfee West
Producer and filmmaker Jasmine Leyva is the featured guest in this roundtable interview with Marlene Narrow of Vegan Nation radio show and videographer/educator Alfee West for Compassion Arts. This is a co-partnered zoom event with Unity of Central Massachusetts for their Friday Night Spiritual Practice programs, co-hosted by Arlene Dorischild for UCM and Ellie Sarty of Compassion Arts.
This is a free zoom event.
Advance sign-up is required by November 19
For questions, email info@compassionarts.org
THE ROUNDTABLE
JASMINE LEYVA
Jasmine Leyva is in her own words “unapologetically an artist.” A creative advocate for plant-based living, health and wellness, social justice, and compassion for animals, she is the filmmaker of The Invisible Vegan, a documentary about her personal journey with veganism.
Hailing originally from Washington DC, Jasmine moved to Los Angeles for college and career. Then with a Bachelor of Arts in TV, Film and Media and a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting, she worked as an associate producer on a NAACP winning docuseries Unsung, and was a writer and producer on Being, a docuseries highlighting dynamic entertainers in film and music. For several years Jasmine followed a successful mainstream career where she was featured in television shows, films, commercials, and print ads, but over time came to realize that she needed to tell her own stories and develop her own projects for giving voice to these ideas. So she left her former work behind to focus on creativity and a new path.
In 2019, Jasmine and partner Kenny Leyva released their own feature length documentary, The Invisible Vegan. The film, which they produced, directed and created, chronicles Jasmine’s personal experience with plant-based living. It explains how plant-based eating is directly linked to African roots and how African-American eating habits have been debased by a chain of oppression stemming from slavery, economics and modern agribusiness. The film is a revealing , thought-provoking, and unwavering examination of these realities both past and present, but ultimately ,offers hope for the future through raising the conversation for a new narrative of food empowerment, respect for all, and joyful veganism.
Jasmine is currently in pre-production for new projects to come.
MARLENE NARROW
Marlene Narrow is the creator and radio host of Vegan Nation a program of Vegans Rising, a health and social justice intersectionality initiative for plant-based living, nonviolence and compassion for all beings. Marlene has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Health Education and is a World Peace Diet Facilitator, as well as a member of World Peace Writers – a collective of Vegan writers.
ALFEE WEST
Alfee West grew up in Mississippi, moving to Massachusetts at age 18 to attend Berklee College of Music. A singer, songwriter, stage performer and producer, Alfee recently found a new outlet for her "voice" and artistry as a mini-documentarian during this time of pandemic. She works as a domestic violence prevention advocate educating youth on healthy relationships and healthier ways of being; she also acts as the Women's Health Specialist for the YWCA of Central Massachusetts. Alfee is a parent, a partner, and an activist. Mx. West pulls together every part of her being into a passionate response to the times. She has performed for Compassion Arts Festival since 2017 and has been vegan for the animals for two decades.