Thou Shalt Eat Fried Chicken and Watermelon and Drink Kool-Aid (*in moderation) and Enjoy It
It’s a Commandment Now, So Act Like It.
I love food, especially good food, most especially the type of good food you have to eat sparingly to preserve your health. All of my favorite American Soul Food incontrovertibly falls into that category. And that is true without belaboring the point that the only truly endemic United States food is Black American Soul Food (excluding respectfully Native contributions which pre-date and coexist in parallel with the establishment of the United States as nation-state).
I’m the great-great-great granddaughter of enslaved Jamaicans whose descendants immigrated to the United States in the last 40 years and not of enslaved Black Americans. But while the culture around food is different and the seasonings we use vary somewhat— the inherent value placed on taste in both cultures, and in every Black food culture that I’ve had the privilege of eating, is unequivocal. I’ve traveled to New Orleans and Tennessee, and other citadels of Black American food to eat at Black owned restaurants that have invoked in me and my tastes buds a sense of celebration that is on par with the memories of my grandmothers’ cooking. I’ve sought the valued counsel of other people’s grandmothers on how to perfect my chicken batter or…
