Soul, Black Women, and Food

1. Soul, Black Women, and Food Author: Marvalene H. Hughes (yes, an African American Woman) Presenter: Frank Doering (not an African American woman)

2. The Womens Liberation movement and sex revolution marked a period in U.S. history in which people searched back in time for answers to their identity, or “roots.” • The author, Hughes, believes the show Roots largely contributed to this new-found personal “quest” to learn one’s own ‘ancestral culture and genetic origin.” • African Americans use “soul food” as an essential device in search of “roots.” • Black history has been handed down through oral tradition--at family events—where soul food is prepared and served • A black woman’s “meal preparation conveys her expression of love, creativity, patience, historical struggles, and her own “African heritage.”

3. Defining the “roots” of soul food • Roots--stabilized in the dirt, beneath a plant—represent what “soul food” is • Actual plant roots—yams or sweet potatoes– have been the staple of African American diet since the 1500s. • Throughout the slave trade Africans stowed seeds to carry their tradition of root foodstuffs • Some of these African native seeds have become as American as apple pie (southern states, mostly) • Watermelon, okra-an essential seasoning in gumbo • Cherishing their native seeds through slave trade transportation may be the most symbolic representation of preserving African American ethnicity through “soul food.”

4. Pride in cooking and robust tummies • Classic soul foods originated from the white man’s “throwaways” –pig’s feet, chitlins, hog jowl, etc… -Black women were able to make something delicious out of nothing • Black women gain self-confidence in watching family, friends, consumers, even white folk devour their cooked meals full of “soul” • A “plump” midsection proves a black woman’s skill and craft in the kitchen • “Big is beautiful” to Black Americans -represents health and prosperity • Receiving praise from children/grandchildren is much appreciated by a black woman…feeding family makes a black woman the “happiest”

5. Black Women in the American Kitchen • Started as illiterate slaves needing recipes read to them • Relied on basic senses, “soulful intuition” and “cultural knowledge” • No measuring…dashes, pinches, a scoop • Therefore, recipes passed orally • Allowed creativity • Mixing of African traditions with white cooking techniques • secretly passes slave tastes into white mouths

6. Home cooked soul-food still observed, even culturally preferred in a world of “eating out” • Less eating out stereotypes a black family as economically deprived, though • Suburban black families will even travel to the “ghetto” in search of fresh soul food • Whether you live in the ghetto or in the suburbs, the same foods are still served at your barbeques • The core of black culture is expressed in soul food • “soul” is part of African American origin that has been culturally consistent throughout history • After human layers have been peeled the impenetrable “sapphire” shines…that is soul! • Fresh fruits and veggies • Black women cultivate a seasonal garden full of soulful fruits and veggies like: squash, watermelon, string beans, green peas, radishes, beets, sweet corn, tomatoes

7. Personal fulfillment of planting and harvesting a garden • A sense of pride • Takes on back to family roots • Can become “reconnected with African culture in a private, intimate, and historical sense • Provides a “spiritual” connection to the earth • Serves as a “channel” for African respect for land and living things

8. Western culture confusing Blacks • American culture is full of labels: • Good v. bad, black v. white, pretty v. ugly, educated v. uneducated, privileged v. underprivileged, etc… • When blacks accept these labels, they are perpetuating black oppression • Even using these labels on one another • Opposing labels portray an intolerance toward African roots as westerners impose their will and culture over the African American culture (any non-white culture) • No such thing as a “melting pot” in America • We do not blend cultures • No matter prepares it, though, soul food is soul food • Just as blacks adopted western techniques, Americans have adopted black kitchen behaviors

9. Cooking as a profession • Blacks tend to not gain any strides toward economic development • Gap between professional advancement has widened • Many blacks, mostly women, still working in white kitchens (privately or commercially) • still nurturing the white folk and still destined for poverty • a continuation of slavery

10. Soul Food and Religion • Unlike many religions, food and religious/spiritual rituals go hand-in-hand • Eating during a ritual religious experience describes a special celebration for blacks • Spiritual=soulful; African Americans, without soul food, would not be who they are today • The black preacher is very special person • Responsible for passing oral history • Always gets first choice at the meal part of any religious doings

11. Sharing • Due to social discriminations, blacks could not go into restaurants until the 60s • Packed lunches and shared with one another • A core of black food celebrations is sharing • Ex. A hog killing is a community event in which all partake • One of few events that constitutes clear gender roles

12. Gender roles • Cooking is a role of both men and women because it is an essential occupation in black economic survival • Black women sometimes have to take on the role of economic provider for herself and family • She is still the dominant character in the kitchen

13. What’s for dinner, momma? • When a black man asks this question, he is “paying her the highest possible compliment” • No perverse connotations with this expression • It implies that “momma” is providing the nourishing food for the spirit and physical individual

14. 3 daily meals in the black kitchen: • Breakfast- morning- homemade biscuits, grits, ham or bacon, molasses, fresh milk, fresh eggs, fried chicken, or pork chops • Dinner- around noontime- collard greens with “pot licker” bread, potatoes, fresh-squeezed lemonade, meat, cobbler (canned or fresh fruits) • Supper- a lighter meal in evening- creamy fruits, biscuits, ice cream, fried chicken, creamed potatoes, fresh buttermilk • Snacks: cornbread, baked corn, fresh fruits and veggies

15. Nutrition • Most foods served in any of the 3 meals are nutritious • Inherited from Africa and emphasized by slave masters (wanted their salve machines to be running well) • Can be viewed as an economic choice • Although mostly nutritious, soul food is sometimes connected to high blood pressure and other diseases among blacks • But Hughes suggests that those diseases are more correlated with social and economic settings

16. Black, female body • The stereotype- “Aunt Jemima” • Although the white ideal is a slim and petite body on a woman, this plays no importance to a black woman • Hughes is 5’4” 120 pounds and her mother is consistently worried about her weight • With constant oppression from the surrounding society, food can become an escape for black women

17. Pleasure of eating and feeding • Black women may “stuff their mouths full of food” to escape the oppressive realities she lives in • This act is has been defined as a coping device for a psychological “feeling of emptiness” • Overeating to cope with emotional stress • Feeding family and loved ones has become one of very few pleasures a black women may experience in the severely deprived and economically depressed black community she lives in • Soul food preparation and indulging may only be a short-term pleasure, but short-term pleasure is better than no pleasure • The soul shall live on