“The kitchen is the gateway to Black American culture”
Meet the Creator
Dr. Christin D. Haynes, MSW
Founder of Black Family Scholar, INC and Assistant Professor in Social Work and Public Health Fellow at Virginia State University
An ode to Southern Black families and food
At its nucleus, Southern cooking embodies God, family, and hard work. Many Southern sharecroppers ascribed to these convictions in order to provide sustenance for their families. Sharecropping was slavery dressed in a different hat. This exploitative industry was relentless in its pursuits of acquiring wealth at the expense of newly freed slaves. Predatory business contracts often left many in debt versus making a profit. Yet, in spite of, the Black family blossomed. Many worked hard enough to buy acres of land to pass to future generations, while others began to educate their children past basic skill levels towards a college degree, or both!
Expressing God’s creativity
There's a divinely-rooted spark embedded within everything Black folks touch which activates the birth of abundance, in spite of lack. Equipped with this knowledge and "a charge to keep I have" etched in their hearts, each generation went higher and higher expanding beyond levels once thought impossible. The legacies of these tenacious people are alive and we pass on their spirit of conviction in the dishes we create. Food for thought: What’s your family’s delicious legacy and how has it contributed to the preservation of Black American cultural values through food?
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
