WEBVTT

00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:05.460
Dear Momma. I’m trying to remember you.

00:00:05.460 --> 00:00:12.150
You come to me in parts. Never the whole of
you at once. Just parts.

00:00:12.150 --> 00:00:18.960
Like your eyes. I remember your eyes. Those
impossibly big, round, sad eyes.

00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:27.029
The first thing I ever was those eyes. I opened
mine for the first time and met yours. I could

00:00:27.029 --> 00:00:33.070
see myself reflected back in those eyes. I
could see my own eyes, and my face, brand

00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:34.570
new and so small.

00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:40.790
And I could see them. I could see them coming.

00:00:40.790 --> 00:00:42.410
They came and they took me away.

00:00:42.410 --> 00:00:45.489
And that’s when I started forgetting you.

00:00:45.489 --> 00:00:59.120
Momma, I remember your tongue. As big as my
head, that tongue. So rough but so gentle.

00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:04.540
I was born slick and wet and you cleaned me
with that tongue. Or at least you started

00:01:04.540 --> 00:01:10.500
to. That tongue was the first thing I felt.
And it felt like love.

00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:17.939
And then I felt them. I felt their hands grab
me. Rough but not gentle. No love in those

00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.369
hands.

00:01:20.369 --> 00:01:27.130
I remember your smell, Momma. Warm and earthy.
My first breath was of you.

00:01:27.130 --> 00:01:35.060
But there were other smells. Filth and fear.
And them. I could smell them. Their scent

00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:38.939
overpowered yours. They took you from me in
more ways than one.

00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:45.299
The sound, Momma. I remember the sound of
you breathing. That was the first thing I

00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:51.369
heard, that breathing. Deep and steady. Measured
but labored.

00:01:51.369 --> 00:01:58.430
It seemed such a task, breathing. A low, rasping
hum, in and out. The whole of you expanding

00:01:58.430 --> 00:02:04.420
out and collapsing again. I could listen to
you forever.

00:02:04.420 --> 00:02:11.560
But then there was yelling. So loud, that
yelling. It hurt to hear it, Momma.

00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:16.760
And then they were there. The Takers. They’d
come for me with their loud yelling and their

00:02:16.760 --> 00:02:20.599
strong smells and their rough but not gentle
hands.

00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:24.520
They came and they took me, Momma and I started
to lose you.

00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:31.849
And now I don’t know where I am. It’s
small and dark and I can’t move. There’s

00:02:31.849 --> 00:02:37.530
something around my neck and it hurts. I can
hear others around me. They’re hurting too.

00:02:37.530 --> 00:02:42.319
We’re all hurting.
The Takers come sometimes with their rough

00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:48.080
not gentle hands and their yelling so loud
it hurts to hear. And they take again. They

00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:52.180
take some of us away. I don’t know where
they go.

00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:58.200
I’m trying hard not to forget you, Momma.
Please know I’m trying.

00:02:58.200 --> 00:02:58.200
---

00:02:58.200 --> 00:03:08.440
My dear child. I’ve lost you. They came
and they took you. It’s happened again and

00:03:08.440 --> 00:03:10.340
I can’t stop it.

00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:15.690
I carried you inside me, just like your brothers
and sisters before you. I could protect you

00:03:15.690 --> 00:03:19.129
then. I wanted to keep you there forever.

00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:26.080
But then you came. You came and you were beautiful
and you were mine. So small and brand new.

00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:28.510
So fragile.

00:03:28.510 --> 00:03:33.409
I cleaned you up for your new world. I tried
to keep you close and quiet. But they knew

00:03:33.409 --> 00:03:37.140
you’d come. They always know.

00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:41.170
I wanted to hide you back inside me and keep
you safe always, but they came, my child,

00:03:41.170 --> 00:03:45.180
the Takers came for you. They always come.

00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:50.680
My body’s so tired, my child. I couldn’t
fight them away. I tried the first time. And

00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:54.739
the next. And the next. And the next. And
the next. And on and on and on. And now, my

00:03:54.739 --> 00:03:56.830
child, I have nothing left.

00:03:56.830 --> 00:04:04.959
I’m empty again. And I’ve lost you. Again.
And soon they’ll try to fill me back up.

00:04:04.959 --> 00:04:07.819
But I’m so very tired.

00:04:07.819 --> 00:04:14.430
I cried for you, my child. I yelled your name
for days. Did you hear me? I wanted you to

00:04:14.430 --> 00:04:19.790
know I was here. I wanted you to find me.
But now I have no voice left. And you’re

00:04:19.790 --> 00:04:21.220
not here.

00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:26.430
You must be hungry, my child. I have milk
for you but they take it. Every day they take

00:04:26.430 --> 00:04:26.830
it.

00:04:26.830 --> 00:04:35.040
It hurts so bad. The cold, hard suction. I’m
swollen and aching. And I’m empty.

00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:37.870
What will I feed you when you come back?

00:04:37.870 --> 00:04:41.169
I have nothing left to give, my child. I’m
so sorry.

00:04:41.169 --> 00:04:49.440
They’ve taken everything. My children, my
milk, my fight, my life. The darkness is coming,

00:04:49.440 --> 00:04:56.050
my child. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.
Please know I tried.

00:04:56.050 --> 00:04:57.720
---

00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:03.710
Momma I’m tired. They’re coming again.
They’re coming and this time it’s for

00:05:03.710 --> 00:05:05.400
me.

00:05:05.400 --> 00:05:11.419
I see them, Momma, with their small cold eyes.
They’re coming.

00:05:11.419 --> 00:05:16.620
They take me again with their rough not gentle
hands. And I think of your warm tongue.

00:05:16.620 --> 00:05:24.430
I’m upside down, Momma. We all are. I smell
blood and fear. Something’s wrong.

00:05:24.430 --> 00:05:30.169
I’m moving, Momma. There are Takers all
around us. And the noise. It’s so loud.

00:05:30.169 --> 00:05:32.820
I can’t even hear my own scream.

00:05:32.820 --> 00:05:36.940
Can you hear me? They’re coming for me,
Momma.

00:05:36.940 --> 00:05:42.419
The Taker has something shiny. And there’s
blood. So much blood. I’m getting closer.

00:05:42.419 --> 00:05:49.090
And I can see myself, Momma, in the shine.
My own face, still so small and brand new.

00:05:49.090 --> 00:05:54.060
And I think of your impossibly big, sad eyes,
the first thing I ever saw.

00:05:54.060 --> 00:06:00.889
And then, Momma, and then…darkness.

00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:00.889
---

00:06:00.889 --> 00:06:06.949
This is the story of a dairy cow and her baby
sent to the veal industry. This is where your

00:06:06.949 --> 00:06:13.690
milk comes from. This is not an isolated incident.
For more information, please see the videos

00:06:13.690 --> 00:06:18.810
linked here as well as in the video description
below. You can find all the resources on the

00:06:18.810 --> 00:06:23.949
blog post for this video, which is linked
below in the description as well. Please like

00:06:23.949 --> 00:06:29.069
and share this video to help give a voice
to the mothers and children of the dairy industry

00:06:29.069 --> 00:06:34.360
and subscribe for more vegan content every
Monday, Wednesday and some Fridays. To support

00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:39.190
messages like this please see the support
links in the video description below, or click

00:06:39.190 --> 00:06:45.110
the text here or the link in the sidebar.
Now go live vegans, ditch the dairy, and I’ll

00:06:45.110 --> 00:06:45.800
see you soon.

00:06:45.800 --> 00:06:46.000
Subtitles by the Amara.org community