Apex Advocacy

The organization has expressed anti-Israel sentiments, arguing that “many manifestations of white supremacy, Zionism remains a spectacularly depraved example.” It has also claimed that people living in the Palestinian territories were “subject to an ongoing military campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” following the Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. ²

Background

APEX Advocacy is a left-of-center animal welfare organization that “centers BIPOC [Black, indigenous, and people of color] voices fighting for animals.” ¹ The organization aims to “increase the number of BIPOC” animal activists in the United States and states that it “spearheads BIPOC-centered animal rights initiatives and social justice campaigns.” ¹

According to its website, APEX provides activism training, events, mental health resources, and “safe spaces” for more than 350 “BIPOC vegan advocates.” ¹

The organization also created the “Animal Activism Starter Guide” for racial minorities. APEX claims that animal rights activism in Western society has been historically conceptualized and built around issues of “whiteness,” which, according to the guide, means “white thought leaders, white privilege, and the socioeconomic benefits that come with being white.” The organization also claims that “animal liberation as a social justice cause” that is “foundationally interlocked” with racial-minority “liberation.” ³

APEX also claims, in an introductory blog post, that veganism and advocacy for animal rights have been “associated with whiteness for far too long,” and that APEX resists the “colonial notion that veganism is white.” ⁴

Although APEX aims to increase the number of racial minority activists by “advocating for collective liberation through animal rights,” the organization also aims to “effectively eradicate animal industries.” ⁵

Anti-Israel Sentiment

APEX Advocacy claims, in a blog post titled, “Navigating Oppressive Ideologies at Activist Forums and Events,” that among the “many manifestations of white supremacy, Zionism remains a spectacularly depraved example.” The blog post continues by claiming that “anti-Blackness is global, systemic, and unrelenting.” ⁶

In a blog post titled, “Complicity & Selective Compassion,” APEX claimed that since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, Palestinian Arabs were “subject to an ongoing military campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” while claiming Israel had committed “75 years of brutal, racist apartheid.” APEX also claimed that people living in the Palestinian territories have been “subjected to wholesale annihilation by a white settler colonial occupier state,” adding that Israel was committing an “ongoing genocide.” ²

People

APEX Advocacy’s executive director is Christopher “Soul” Eubanks. Eubanks worked as an intern for the Humane League, an international advocacy organization dedicated to the cause of ending large-scale animal agriculture, from February 2018 until July 2018. It campaigns to pressure companies to make cage-free egg commitments, support laws that protect farmed animals, and make alliances to address animal agriculture globally. ^{7 8}

Financials

APEX Advocacy receives nearly all its money from contributions, gifts, and grants. ⁹

The organization’s total revenue for 2022 was $168,724, which decreased to
$83,612 in 2023. Its total expenses amounted to $74,093 in 2022 and increased to $154,057 in 2023. APEX’s net assets for 2022 amounted to $104,266, which decreased to $33,821 in 2023. ⁹

Funding

APEX Advocacy received several grants from nonprofit organizations and corporations in 2023. According to its website, APEX received $22,300 from cosmetics company LUSH Cosmetics, $2,500 from the Stray Dog Institute, $20,000 from Animal Charity Evaluators, and $10,000 from the William and Charlotte Parks Foundation. ¹⁰

APEX also received $20,000 from The People’s Fund, a grantmaking initiative of Mercy for Animals, an animal liberation group that seeks to abolish animal agriculture. ¹⁰