My main issue is that "soul food" is treated like a pathology. "Soul Food" is elastic not static. It is not born of bad ingredients...thats feeding into the false premise. And by the way quinoa and avocado are Native food not white food..no matter how they have been taken.
The main idea here is true. Collectively we have a lot of health issues many are related to diet. But y'all soul food does not equal junk food and MANY WESTERN FOODS healthy or not are NOT GOOD FOR BLACK BODIES.
What about stressors....racial, economic, gender, etc. People eat fun food as a cheap escape. The rich part of soul is CELEBRATION food not everyday food.
No mention of Africa? Come on....
When u see what survived from Africa&what was compromised u have a more complex view of how African American vernacular cuisine developed.The original "white food"was being forced to assimilate into a comparatively unhealthy Northern European diet in the 17th and 18th centuries.
I was a Revolutionary In Residence at @colonialwmsburg I take exception to this part of the Atlantic article. The voices of Black living history professionals matter. I agree with the majority of the piece but this part needs context.
WE NEED MORE AFRICAN AMERICANS VISITING HISTORIC SITES RELATED TO ENSLAVEMENT AND RESISTANCE!
AFRICAN AMERICAN INTERPRETERS NEED TO BE PAID COMPETITIVELY TO REMAIN ON STAFF AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
The ppl I celebrate splashed on Florida water cologne&crushed dark bricks for blush.They chose their children's names by Bible prophecy or by season or day of the week. They resisted white supremacy by making irresistable music genres.Their doors were painted "Haint Blue..."
Their grandparents were the Antebellums.They had hog bladders for firecrackers.Names were based on whispers frm Africa.Jesus wasn't official&spirit in the trees weren't obsolete.Cotton tobacco rice&sugar defined life.They fought&prayed.They paid an enormous price for our freedom.
Their great grandparents were the African exiles.They were America before America.They brought the light of the supposed "Dark Continent."They seeded a civilization w/ other untouchables.They left treasure maps in words, ingredients, DNA, names and talk of pots silencing laughs.
I really cannot stand it when people obscure the histories of Washington D.C. and Maryland and call them Northern. To do so is to obscure the powerfully deep role that enslavement and segregation had in shaping not only the region but American History.
I would argue we stop making the word "Condederacy" synonymous with "The South."
Many Southern folk cultural elements dominate Maryland's Appalachian Highlands, it's Southern coastal plain and The Eastern Shore. Central Maryland was built by trade in enslaved grown tobacco, wheat, corn and later the export of Black bodies to the west and south.
When I was in an abusive relationship my ex who is white would use the I'm going to call the police on me all the time and did once and even started screaming that I was attacking him even though I was outside and was screaming for help and called the cops myself.
The dispatcher was Black. She told me to have empty pockets and hands. She saved my life.
I was terrified of this man and now I'm really angry I allowed him to use a particularly vicious aspect of systemic racism to try to kill me.
Black historical interpreters are not slaves. They interpret the lives of our Ancestors. Without them our past lacks a critical voice bolstered by our contemporary experience.
When you say "play" it assumes that I'm cosplaying. NOPE. Dressing in period clothing is not easy or fun. I'm also not an actor or reenactor.