GRIOTS REPUBLIC - AN URBAN BLACK TRAVEL MAG - SEPTEMBER 2016

SEED
KEEPERS
NATIVE SEED
CONSERVATION
BLACK
FOODIE
INTERNATIONAL
CUISINE MEETS
THE BLACK LENS
DINE
DIASPORA
ORGANIC
FARMING
THE BLACK
WWOOF
EXPERIENCE
CHEF
AHKI
HONORING DR. SEBI’S
LEGACY THROUGH FOOD

Welcome to our Global Food issue!
We could have gone sixty different ways with
a food issue, but in true GR style we tried to
bring you as many articles and people reflecting
the varied interests of black travelers
as possible.
From eating at community tables in South
East Asia to beer in Palestine and the dietary
benefits of a traditional African diet,
we’ve covered quite a few continents. We’ve
also snuck in a few fantastic chefs and food
bloggers for you foodie-types. Also, for those
interested in going into the culinary industry,
do not miss Aris The Chef’s honest and
straight forward advice!
Not into food? We’ve still managed to chock
this issue with dope music festivals, travel
conferences, and information on how to
make money while traveling (WWOOF).
As usual, we do hope that you enjoy magazine
and we’d love to hear your feedback.
Visit us at www.GriotsRepublic.com or on
social media and leave us a message!
• Celebrity Chef Ahki
joins us to talk about
the health benefits of
veganism.
• Check out the interview
with Jessica Gordon
Nembhard about
Black Co-Ops.

• If you enjoy everything
about wine from the science
to the taste and
you’re looking for some
girlfriends to travel
and sip with, then absolutely
read the article
on Black Girls Do
Wine and contact them.
• Seed keepers is a concept
that we knew nothing
about until we interviewed
Matika Wilbur
back in January. She
mentioned Sierra Seeds
and the work they are doing
around Native seed
conservation and we’ve
been on the lookout for
their director, Rowen
White, every since. If her
words don’t make you
think twice about your
relationship with your
food, then read it twice!
• Last year, our Editor went
to Oktoberfest in Palestine
and she’s been raving
about Taybeh Beer
ever since. We finally
nailed down an opportunity
to talk to this amazing
family. They’re a very
hardworking and tight
family and their success
is quite inspiring.

OCTOBER
8th & 9th
By Brian Blake
If you like reggae and wine, you will
be sure to love Linganore Winery’s
signature event aptly named the Reggae,
Wine, Music & Art Festival.
Held tri-annually (Spring/Summer/
Fall), this celebration of good vibes will
take place over two fun-filled days on
October 8th and 9th from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. If the fall edition is anything like
the summer event that Griots Republic
attended on July 16th & 17th, you
are guaranteed a good time minus the
scorching temperatures.
Live reggae music coupled with food

and wine always present a great
time; as the undertone of the bass
guitar to the chords of the piano
and the beat of the drum will always
connect you to the natural
mystic, flowing through the air.
Linganore also provides guests
with complimentary tours and
tastings; learn about the process
of turning a small yet powerful
fruit into a variety of tastes from
merlot (a dry, full bodied red wine)
to dessert wines (sweeter & fruitier).
The wine at Linganore is sweet
and fruitful and has enough bite
for you to relax and enjoy the music.
In addition to the reggae and wine,
there are a variety of vendors to
indulge in a bit of retail therapy.
From arts & crafts, paintings,
clothing, jewelry and good eats;
there is something for everyone.
Remember it doesn’t cost you to
take a look as you may be surprised
what your eyes behold.
The food is delicious and essential
as your body will need a dampening
agent from all the wine you
drink. From jerk chicken to seafood
to barbeque and many offerings
to satisfy a sweet tooth- you
are sure to obtain a belly full!
With that said, if you are in or
around the area or want to plan
a local getaway, then Linganore’s
Fall Reggae Wine Festival is a must.
See you there!

The Nomadness Travel Tribe is well
underway with finalizing plans for their
2nd Annual #NMDN ALTERnative Travel
Conference to be held Saturday, September 24,
2016, at Punto Event Space in New York City.
#NMDN is the brainchild of Nomadness Travel
Tribe founder, Evita Turquoise Robinson,
and has been dubbed an ALTERnative Travel
Conference to dispel any ideas that this is just
another travel conference. Rather, #NMDN
is an experience that attendees immerse
themselves into. After recognizing a clear lack
of diversity of all kinds amongst existing travel
conferences and expos, Robinson and her
team sought to integrate a broader definition
and demographic of what the current travel
market looks like. Simply put, Robinson saw
important conversations not being had by
major travel brands and created the space for
these conversations on her own terms. Catering
to more than just the casual vacationer, the
one-day conference brings travelers, nomads,
and aspiring expats alike together to explore
travel on a deeper level within the realms of
international art, music, food, beauty, social
justice, entrepreneurship, and more.
Having successfully sold out last year’s

conference, this year’s theme focuses on getting
“Back to the Future: Of Travel” with a push on
bridging the gap of travel generations in order
to learn from the past while “bracing ourselves
and supporting the movers and shakers of the
travel future.”
#NMDN 2016 features an impressive panelist
of millennials and seasoned travelers who have
established themselves as way makers in their
respective industries like Kellee Edwards, On-Air
Travel Expert for FOX5 San Diego, adventurer,
and pilot.
As is the mission of the conference, panelists
will be speaking on a variety of topics that blend
travel, diversity, and creativity as it relates to
addressing concerns and the current needs
of today’s urban millennial traveler. Whether
you want to learn ways to travel smarter and
safer, or you want first hand perspectives on
living abroad as a person of color in a world
where people are searching for a place where
#BlackLivesMatter, the #NMDN Alternative
Travel Conference will have something for you.
The conference will have panels and workshops
covering various topics such as “Travel 911”,
where panelist will discuss the best ways to
prepare for and deal with emergencies abroad
from the perspectives of medical care providers
and from the first-hand experiences of travelers
that have had emergency situations abroad and
lived to share their story.
Another panel, “LGBTQ Travel” is a much needed
conversation moderated by revolutionary and
anti-oppression trainer YK Hong, that will
address the concerns and nuances of traveling
while lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender.
The conference will wrap up with a keynote
panel entitled “Life & Lessons” featuring the
travel wisdom of some of Nomadness’ 50+
aged members who have lived, loved, and
traveled.
All ticket purchases and conference
information can be found on the #NMDN
website, www.nmdnconference.com. Follow @
NMDNconference on twitter to stay up to date
on available workshops and featured panelists.
THE PANELS
Here’s a taste of some of the panels at the
2016 NMDN conference.
LGBTQ TRAVEL
In 2015, nomadness facilitated its first LGBTQ
Nomadnessx trip. We learned that there are so
many nuances to traveling while being apart of
this community. Here we are creating an honest
dialogue on traveling while gay, bisexual, and
transgender.
HACKERS
What are all the travel hacks that you need to
know. From where to secretly store your money
on the beach, to using all the credit card points you
have to your advantage.
THE FORUM
A conversation on black lives, both domestic and
abroad - in the aftermath of numerous police
shootings of Black Americans, and the unique
safety concerns of black travelers, we are featuring
this panel as a forum to facilitate an open, nonjudgmental,
necessary dialogue on the state of
black travelers while home and abroad.
LIFE & LESSONS
Travel wisdom from our 50+ aged travelers -
it’s not the age. It’s the energy. Nomadness
reveres the wisdom it has from it’s older
traveling members. This panel is a feel good,
no stone unturned, real life conversation with
our ‘tribe wisdom’ as we call them. This panel
is not to be missed

Nestled at the busy intersection of
Constitution Ave and 14th Street in NW
Washington, D.C., there’s a new neighbor
to the variety of Smithsonian museums waiting
to open its doors.
The National Museum of African American
History & Culture (NMAAHC) will take guests on
a journey throughout the nation’s history and
how it shaped Black culture as we recognize it
today. Congress passed legislation during the
Bush administration to establish the museum in
2003. It was originally slated to open in 2015,
but the dedication was delayed until this year.
The museum features an ‘Oprah Winfrey
Theater’ that will host museum programs, a
robust exhibition from Essence Magazine and
contributions from well-known artists and
celebrities including Michael Jackson, Prince,
Nat King Cole, Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington,
Ray Charles, Paul Robeson and more. Visitors
will also get to see the countless contributions
members of the black community have made to
Hollywood and American film. If it all becomes
too overwhelming, guests can take a break
and gaze out of the museum windows at the
Washington Monument and the Smithsonian
Museum campus from the Concourse level.
The museum’s director, Lonnie Bunch, was
inspired to start the museum by his experiences
as a young black boy in a predominately
white neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey,
the state’s largest city. Bunch spent nearly
11 years traveling the country fundraising for
the museum that will have the largest display
of artifacts and contributions from America’s
Black community. When the museum opens
33,000 items will be on display out of about
37,000 collected so far.
As Bunch observed photographs, pictures and
other types of memorabilia to assemble the
museum’s collection, he says he often compared
his own experiences with the racial anxieties he
felt in his less than diverse neighborhood. In his
reflective moods he would often wonder what it

was like for African Americans to live in America
at that time in history, if they were happy and if
they were treated fairly.
Bunch is also hoping that the nascent museum
will be received fairly by the public but knows
that some of its exhibits will be controversial.
Comedian and actor Bill Cosby will have an
exhibit there without detailing his recent
sexual abuse allegations scandal. The museum
will show highlights of President Obama’s
presidency and chronicle the Black Lives Matter
movement into the country’s sociopolitical
narrative. One of the touchier subjects that’s
sure to cause some visitor reaction is how
the museum treats slavery. Bunch says he
documented the experience in a balanced way
that honors those who’ve made sacrifices, yet
does not exploit the often gruesome institution.
Yet, the museum is grounded by slavery,
literally. Guests start their visit below ground
in an exhibit called “Slavery and Freedom.”
Artifacts include an auction block where for
many, was the start of their journey during the
transatlantic slave trade.
The museum has also published a series of
companion books with some of the exhibits
called “Double Exposure” that’s being sold
online. The visually captivating series highlights
some of the challenges and dynamics of
African-American life through photography
while highlighting some of the most prominent
activists, writers, historians and photographers
in modern history. The photographs span from
portraits taken from the pre-Civil War epoch
to modern digital prints. The images capture
scenes from the religious and oral traditions
emanating from Shiloh Baptist Church in
Washington to the Alabama march from Selma
to Montgomery in 1965. The showcased
photographers captured pieces of history that
shaped so much of American culture.
The NMAAHC is the 19th and newest museum
of the Smithsonian family. It officially opens to
the public on September 24th.

DINE D
PORA

IAS-
Dine Diaspora is a contemporary lifestyle
and events company that creates dynamic
experiences around food, culture, and heritage.
Through intimate gatherings, their
Signature Dinners connect African diaspora
leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators
to grow their networks with like-minded
peers across various sectors while celebrating
the diverse culinary expressions
of the African Diaspora.
Dine Diaspora also offers a speaker series,
Dish and Sip, that provides a platform for
discussion and insight into the lives, experiences,
and impact of global leaders
while enriching connections through food,
culture, and heritage.
The company also provides corporate
event planning services to various companies.
Whether you are hosting a social
event or your next fundraiser, they will work
with you to develop and execute an event
strategy that is tailored to your needs. For
more information, visit www.DineDiaspora.com
(Bio Taken From Their Website)

Taybeh Brewing Company is a family
owned and operated brewery In Palestine.
Yes, you read that correctly,
Palestine. Taybeh Brewing Company was
created in 1994 in the last Christian village
in the west bank of Palestine. The
founders of the brewery, David Khoury
and Nadim Khoury, were inspired to create
a business in their home village of
Taybeh after living in the United States for
over 20 years. The business they established
is the first brewery in the Middle
East. Their goal was to build and create a
substantial boost to the local economy by
following the German standard of brewing
hand-crafted beers with no preservatives
while creating a nationalistic feeling
of pride in their home land of Palestine. I
had the distinct pleasure of interviewing
one of the trailblazing founders, Nadim
Khoury.
GR: How did the Taybeh Brewing Company
start for you?
NK: I developed a love and interest for
home brewing back in Boston, MA. It was
a hobby that I truly enjoyed and had a passion
for. My brother and I would go back
home to Palestine every year to renew our
Identification and my father wanted us to
come back home permanently. He spoke
about building something here in Palestine
and that was where the idea first
started.
There were no breweries in 1994 when we
started. Not just in Palestine, but nothing
like this in the entire Middle East. We
began brewing and selling dark, amber
and white beers. We also brewed a non-alcoholic
brew for the Muslim population,
since many Muslims don’t drink alcohol
for religious reasons.

The Palestinian Central Bureau
of Statistics estimated that
the Palestinian population of
Muslims makes up approx. 80–
85% (predominantly Sunni).
Consumption of any intoxicants
(specifically, alcoholic beverages)
is strictly forbidden in the Muslim
teachings of the Qur’an.
GR: With all these predominantly religious
factors opposing alcohol consumption,
were you fearfull of the reaction of
other Palestinians?
NK: It wasn’t very easy and we faced many
obstacles, but our goal was always to make
a change. A change in our community, to
build tourism, to build a sustainable business
and to change the world’s perception
of Palestine and its people. People don’t
believe that Taybeh beer, brewed in Palestine,
could be as good or better than other
beers of the world, due to people only seeing
negative images, violence, bombings
and uprisings when the news reports on
Palestine. We are trying to change this and
show the world we live in peace with our
neighbors. We are humans, we have the
right to enjoy life, supply our needs and
celebrate the freedom of Palestine.
GR: To what do you owe the credit or motivation
to do what most people thought
was an impossible undertaking of building
a brewery in Palestine?
NK: I credit my father. He worked in the
travel and tourism industry. In Palestine,
it’s customary for a son to follow the father’s
trade - like if your father was a carpenter
you would become a carpenter to
continue his business and maintain his clients.
When I decided to open a brewery
and brew beer, my father supported me
because in his years in the travel industry,
he had seen business travelers and other
types of tourist partake in drinking at
meetings and for recreation. He saw it as
a way to bring interest and boost tourism
here in Palestine. My father had a strong
work ethic and I run a tight ship because
of his example. I hope my children pass
that on to their families.
GR: There have been a number of breweries
that have been created in your region
and followed the path that you have laid.
How do you feel about these new breweries?
NK: I feel that it is great for our company
and the beer culture of Palestine as
a whole. More consumers are becoming
educated in what beer can be. I support
healthy competition in business and if
people can be successful creating a larger
group of tastemakers and craft beer enthusiasts,
I feel that it can only benefit us
all.
GR: Many of the ingredients common to

eer production are not indigenous to Palestine.
How do you obtain the ingredients
necessary to make Taybeh Beer?
NK: Many of the ingredients that we use
in our beer brewing are imported from
Europe. We only want and use the best
ingredients available to us to create the
best beers possible. We take pride in using
Palestinian wheat and many natural Palestinian
ingredients from the surrounding
areas, which give Taybeh Beer its distinct
flavor and notes.
GR: Taybeh is a family owned and operated
business. How does working closely
with your family differ from working for
someone else?
NK: It can be hard at times, but they care
more about the company because it is truly
ours. I am so very proud of my children.
My daughter, Madees Khoury, is the first
and only female brewer in Palestine and
my son, Canaan Khoury, manages the boutique
winery division of Taybeh. My brother’s
daughter manages our green, energy
efficient hotel which is the first of its kind
in Palestine and we are very proud of it.
We work hard and we work together as a
family.
GR; Why is Taybeh branching into such a
different market like wine production?
NK: The demand for wine is very high and
we answered this demand with creating
the first boutique winery in Palestine. Palestine
is home to 21 different varieties of
grapes that have never been used in mass
wine production, so the decision to start
this market was clear. Building the identity
of Palestine’s wine and beer culture, using
quality ingredients that are natural to our
region, was something that was undeniable
and had to be done.
GR: Taybeh also hosts a large beer festival.
Why did you bring Oktoberfest to Palestine?
NK: Oktoberfest is celebrated all over the
world, so why not in Palestine? I worked
with my brother who was the mayor of Ty-

ee, to put together a true Oktoberfest for
the people to enjoy and celebrate beer and
beer culture.
Two years ago we had to cancel due to a
number of issues, but the festival is back
and bigger than ever. We have a goal and
will not be deterred from it. Oktoberfest
is the #1 festival in Palestine. This year
the festival will be held September 24th
through the 25th, but will still be an amazing
Oktoberfest.
GR: What are the core goals of Taybeh as
a brand?
NK: To continue to increase tourism to Palestine
and the Taybeh area. To continue to
educate consumers worldwide. To make
great beer in many varieties like our very
popular brew created with oranges from
the world’s oldest city, Jericho. To ultimately
share products all over for the world to
enjoy.
GR: What is something you would like the
world to know or take away from Taybeh,
whether it be drinking one of your beers
or visiting your location?
NK: Palestinians are normal people. We
make our own way. We make good beer. We
celebrate our freedom and share peace in
developing the entire country.
GR: What’s next for Taybeh Brewing?
NK: We are enthusiastic to continue creating
quality products that represent Palestine
and its people in a positive manner. We
are looking into opening Palestine’s first liquor
distillery, adding to the Taybeh portfolio
and producing many different types
of spirts like vodka, rum and whiskey to
name a few.
Taybeh Brewing is an exceptional company.
The fine quality of beer and wine that
they create is something that should not
be overlooked. It is definitely a must try
for the novice enthusiast to connoisseurs
alike. The only thing that can over shadow
the quality of the extensive line of Taybeh
products they create, is the true emotional
connection and philanthropic drive they
have to do better and build more, leaving
a lasting legacy for the people of Palestine
and the world.
For more information about the Brewery,
check out their website at taybehbeer.
com.
Bruce “Blue” Rivera, The Urban Mixologist,
is an accomplished mixologist with over
16 years of bartending, wine and spirits
experience. Boasting an impressive resume
that spans across 12 countries with many
award winning cocktail recipes to his credit,
Bruce “Blue” Rivera teaches the history and
cultural application of bartending and has
been featured on Spike TV’s Bar Rescue and
the Wendy Williams Show, to name a few.
To learn more about The Urban Mixologist
check out www.TheUrbanMixologist.com

As a teenager, Rowen White accidentally
stumbled onto a job that would light a
fire in her powerful enough to brighten
any room she stepped into.
On an organic farm at 17, she was shocked to
learn that heirloom tomatoes came in multiple
varieties; she found it even more profound
that each variety could be traced to a particular
tribe of people, a lineage of caretakers,
and the stories of deep relationships between
these seed keepers and the Earth over generations.
Today, Rowen is the Director and Founder of
Sierra Seeds where she focuses on reviving
indigenous agricultural practices among communities
affected by long histories of displacement,
colonization, and forced acculturation.
“Every bite we eat traces back to a seed.” You
might be familiar with the term ‘farm to table’,
but Rowen is dedicating her life’s work to
rediscovering the journeys of seed(s) to table.
Cultivating seeds requires able bodied hands,
a deep knowledge of what conditions are
needed to optimally grow the plant, and then
a tender tilling and gathering process before
the food is ready for preparation and consumption.
Cultivating foods is not easy even
with the industrial agricultural methods of
our time. For Rowen, to know the ways her
food comes to be is to know her people. “People
from all over descended from people who
were seed keepers at some point. Seeds are
an intimate part of everyday life.”
Growing up, her parents bought food from the
grocery store like everyone else on the reservation
where she grew up. With no awareness
about where food came from, nor an understanding
of the ways in which food and agricultural
traditions embodied the wisdom of
her people, Rowen was aggrieved to find she
was a Mohawk woman without a connection
to this “cultural bundle of knowledge” as she
called it.
Discovering these foodways for herself and
then creating immersive educational pro-

gramming for others to do the same is one
way that Sierra Seeds is helping to accelerate
the movement for food sovereignty across Indian
country.
By reclaiming ancestral ways of connecting
with food, Mother Earth, and community, Rowen’s
work is a kind of radical protest against
generations of whitewashing that have separated
many Native American communities
from the ways of their ancestors. “When you
consider what’s happening across the globe
with multi-national corporations and patenting,
planting and growing your own seed is a
form of activism.” She’s referring to the industrialization
of our entire food system, including
the patenting of genetically modified
seed varieties that farmers all over the world
have taken to cultivating and subsequently
abandoning organic and naturally occurring
varieties.
Some of these varieties have cultural and spiritual
significance to indigenous people like
Rowen’s who utilize several types of corn for
different ceremonies and rituals for example.
“To many indigenous communities, seeds are
a relative. Certain corn for certain ceremonies.
If we lose them and the ability to steward and
care for them, we lose part of ourselves.” By
conserving various seed varieties and continuing
to harvest them outside of the industrial
food system, tribal communities can ensure
the survival of crops that play a central role in
their lives.
“Every seed you plant is a tiny prayer of love,
action, and hope for the future.” Rowen speaks
about the relationship between humans and
the places we inhabit with such compelling
depth and seriousness that you are likely to
ponder about your own ancestors’ ways of relating
to food and the life-source that is Earth.
Rowen is assertive in her conviction that today’s
seeds hold the wisdom of the past, of

the struggle for growth, and the gift of life.
To her, seeds represent a profound and resilient
hope. In a world of war, oppression, and
Trump, gardening is both a coping mechanism
and an act of resilience. “It is a way to connect
with the benevolence of Mother Earth who is
always giving to us time and time again.”
It is indeed remarkable that indigenous communities
all over the world have been cultivating
food on the same lands as their ancestors,
utilizing methods passed down for generations.
This sustained stewardship of natural
resources over time requires resilience in the
face of shifting weather and climate conditions.
“The wisdom those traditional communities
have to offer us about cultivating in climate
change is a gift to the planet in the face
of extreme weather shift. We’re going to need
to look to the indigenous communities of the
world.”
Rowen is currently writing a book about her
journey to discover the seed songs of her people.
Her story is not unlike many others who
have ever wondered about the ways and traditions
of our ancestors. For many Americans of
color, we would not know where to begin the
journey of finding answers. To that she would
advise that you begin with thinking about the
foods your ancestors would have eaten. Think
about the pervasive health problems we have
in this country and reflect on how your diet is
a departure from what was normal to eat hundreds
of years ago.
Think about where you live and the access you
have or lack to staple ancestral foods. Find opportunities
to connect with the source of your
food as it will undoubtedly give you a deeper
appreciation for what it took for that food to
arrive on your plate. And finally, when you’re
short on hope and inspiration, find time to
plant and be among the abundant gifts of life
sprouting from the ground all around you.

Tiffany Em is a trained dancer
currently studying international
urban planning and development
at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. To combine her
love for travel, culture, and social
justice she began writing about
urban development, curiosity, and
tourism on her personal blog www.
theroadlessinquired.com. She
hopes to one-day work with artists,
businesses, and local residents
to develop sustainable tourism
enterprises around the world, but
especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The idea that you can dig a hole in
the earth and make it to the other
side has been theorized by many,
but what if you found out that that was
actually possible? No, you can’t tunnel
your way to your destination, but you
can dig, pull weeds, sow seeds, plant,
garden, and more in exchange for a
place to stay, meals, and a knowledgeable
guide to all of the best kept secrets
in your dream travel destination.
This was possible for Brie Johnson,
who was able to work and live in three
countries through her involvement in a
program called, “World Wide Opportunities
On Organic Farms” also known
as WWOOF. The organization which
was originally called “Working Weekends
On Organic Farms,” was started
in 1971 by Sue Coppard, a secretary
in London who was looking for a way
to see the countryside and participate
in the organic movement. She was able
to find a farm willing to host her in
exchange for labor. Soon, the organic
farmers became interested in the concept
of providing accommodations to
others in exchange for a few hours of
work during their stay.
The organization has grown into farmers
in several countries all over the
world. WWOOF allows for farmers,
and perspective volunteers (WWOOFers)
to connect. The length of a volunteer’s
stay on a farm is determined
by the volunteer and the farmer, and
can last a few days or several months.
Though the cost of living is provided
by the host, volunteers are responsible
for a small membership fee, their
visas as needed, and travel expenses
to and from the host country. Many,
consider it a small price to pay for the
experience, the chance to learn new
skills, and be of assistance to those
who are committed to producing organic
foods. In addition to traditional
farms, WWOOFers can also choose to
volunteer at locations that make wine,
cheese, and bread.

Brie’s first WWOOFing experience allowed
her to assist organic farmers in Japan. Her
decision to become a WWOOFer came from
her interest in being more fluent in Japanese.
The icing on the cake was that she
would be able to make a positive impact on
the country while immersing herself in the
culture. After three months in Japan volunteering
on a rice farm, a strawberry farm,
and a bathhouse, Brie was able to communicate
with Japanese natives without the help
of a translator.
After Japan, Brie spent time WWOOFing on
a traditional farm for three weeks in France,
and a garden for two weeks in a temple in
India. In France, her tasks included tending
to the animals. She milked cows, collected
eggs, groomed the horses, and “chased
down chickens.” In India, Brie worked in a
small garden that was used to support the
hosts, the temple, and was also a source for
their personal food. Her host family helped
her to turn her self-described “black thumb,”
a tad bit greener.
Brie returned back to the states after volunteering
with more than just a firmer grasp
on a language she was interested in. Her experience
allowed for growth in both her personality,
and her palate and cooking skills.
As a “terrible cook,” she made a conscious
effort to learn her way around the kitchen.
Her host in India made it a personal mission
to teach her how to cook in order to “get a
husband.” Of course she was happy for the
lessons for the purpose of being able to feed
herself better home cooked meals, but she
now proudly lists on her dating profile that

she can cook. Her skills came in handy on
a recent date, though according to Brie, the
Indian spices may have been a bit much for
him.
The opportunity to grow her own food
changed her eating habits and naturally, her
shopping habits as well. Brie now frequents
farmer’s markets for her food, only visiting
grocery stores for items she can’t find at the
market. An international market she loves
to visit, allows her to continue to make the
foods she grew to love abroad, which include
almost every variation of rice due to her time
in Japan, and spicy food recipes she learned
in India. “You learn the impact of shopping
with smaller farmers as most of them are
struggling and being pushed out by bigger
farms that may use other unknown methods
to grow their food.” She goes on to say, “It
makes me feel good knowing that I’m buying
food from people who feed the same things
to their families.”
She recalled that her own experience accompanying
her host in India to the farmer’s
market to sell the extra vegetables they
grew at the temple, helped her understand
the industry, but also helped her to understand
more about herself. “It was quite competitive.
We had to get in people’s faces in
order for them to buy the food, which was
the opposite of my personality.” Also, being
an African American in another country with
a “curly afro” meant that she couldn’t necessarily
hide as she could do more easily at
home. In many of the small areas where she
stayed the people have not met many people
who looked like her. Not being able to hide
helped her to assert herself more at home.

Though WWOOFing allows travelers to
stay in non-traditional spaces while
they visit other countries, it is not
to be confused with Airbnb or similar
companies. As Brie explains, “If
you are looking to get into it, make
sure your letter to prospective hosts
describes who you are, your skills,
highlights why you want to WWOOF,
and states that you are a hard worker.”
Brie goes on to stress that “they
are looking for someone who is hardworking,
and not just looking for a vacation.”
WWOOFing is ideal for those that
would like to become a part of the
culture in the countries they visit.
They can literally get their hands
dirty, and get knee deep into the
foundation of each land they choose
to visit. For foodies, the opportunity
to help cultivate food takes the term
“organic food” to another level. Brie’s
future plans to WWOOF may include
visits to New Zealand, Australia, and
some countries in Africa including
Cameroon.
Also, learning how to communicate in places
where she spoke little of the language
helped her to be able to better express her
needs.
To get more information on WWOOFing,
visit www.wwoof.net and follow them on
Instagram at @wwoof.
Simone Waugh is a writer prone to wanderlust.
A city girl with Brooklyn in her
heart and Paris on the brain. Crossing
potholes, puddles, and ponds while planning
to cross more oceans. You can find
her riding shotgun on frequent road
trips ignoring the GPS and hogging the
radio. Follow her adventures across the
keyboard and the eventually the world
on Instagram and Twitter @MoniWaugh.

“Chef Ahki”, CEO of Delicious Indigenous
Foods is a celebrity chef, natural foods activist
and nutritional counselor. Raised by four
generations of medicine women in her native
Oklahoma, Ahki uses seasonal, organic,
fresh (non-hybrid) fruits and vegetables
to create living, healthy recipes designed to
heal bodies and enhance lives. From vegans
to health nuts and budget moms to foodies,
her message of non-hybrid and electric
foods is a way of life.
Her brand is the new voice of the young generation
who is f’n pissed at big agricultue
and its mono-cropping frenzy, science lab
food and GMO corporate food tyranny all
resulting in an obese, sick and nearly dead
generation of parents who outlive their own
children.
Chef Ahki’s latest cook book, “Electric!,
A Modern Guide to Non-Hybrid and Wild
Foods” is why celebrities like Lenny Kravitz,
Bradley Cooper, Curtis Martin, COMMON,
Waka Flocka, and Lee Daniels fell in love
with Ahki’s cooking. For more information
visit www.gochefahki.com.
(Bio taken from her website and Facebook
page)

By Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District

Lincoln Park Music Festival’s organizer,
world traveler, and “house-head”
extraordinaire Anthony Smith makes
sure it is no secret that Lincoln Park is
the mother of all music festivals in New
Jersey and it has spawned other festivals
not only across Jersey but, across the
world.
Having worked in the trenches of the
then budding Essence Music Festival
years ago, Anthony took his learnings and
experience and began to formulate a plan
not only to bring the music to a revitalized
Newark, New Jersey crowd, but to create
an event that would drive people to travel
from across the globe to visit, stay, shop
and of course party in the city where he
grew up, went to school, partied and still
calls home.
Anthony cant help but take pride in seeing
his model emulated, even duplicated in
sister events in Mexico and Florida (and
even Europe).There is the annual Miami
House Music Festival, which has grown to
a week-long event, and now there is the
ever growing Mi Casa in Playa del Carmen.
He knows he is on to something and also
knows the best is yet to come.
Funny enough, the very first Lincoln Park
Music Festival looked nothing like it does
today. In 2006, Newark hosted it’s first Hip
Hop/Punk Rock Festival in Lincoln Park .
Today, it has become a three-day music
festival consisting of jazz, gospel, and
house. While a fan of all genres of music,

The history of
Lincoln Park Music
Festival’s iconic
House Music Day
[...] cannot be told
without talking about
the lendenary Club
Zanzibar.
house is where his heart is. Of the average
60,000 attendees that congregate over a
3-day weekend, nearly half descend on
the South end of downtown’s Newark’s
Broad Street for House Music Day.
The history of Lincoln Park Music
Festival’s iconic House Music Day,
typically held on the last Saturday in July,
cannot be told without talking about the
lendenary Club Zanzibar. Most recently,
at a pop up photography exhibit entitled
“Lincoln Park Music Festival: Decade
One” at City Without Walls Gallery, it was
imperative that a section was dedicated
to this iconic venue for house music.
In the 2nd year, the festival opened with
a reception and photo exhibition entitled
“Music Speaks: A Celebration of Spirit and
Dance”, which documented performances
featured at Newark’s legendary Club
Zanzibar. Photographs included Phyllis

Hyman, Eddie Kendrick’s, Grace Jones
with Loleatta Holloway, Sylvester and
numerous others photographed by
Vincent Bryant, author of Unforgiveable
Moments - A Journey Through the House:
Photo Memoirs of Club Zanzibar.
“It was great to collaborate with Lincoln
Park Coast Cultural District on this
great exhibit which accurately depicts
the origins of House Music Day. It
was without question that we added a
section entitled ‘Where It All Began: Club
Zanzibar’. We are always excited to bring
more art and culture to the community,
and be historically accurate.” states Malik
Whitaker, Interim Gallery Director at City
Without Walls.
Club Zanzibar, which closed in the early
90’s, was known for their impeccable
Richard Long sound system and as a
place where the who’s who in the NJ scene
and metropolitan area would flock to hear
the latest sounds and groundbreaking
artists in an unplugged atmosphere. The
luminaries who attended the club each
week were social change agents using the
mediums of music, art and fashion to
shape popular culture.
Dubbed the “New Jersey version” or
“sister club” to NYC’s Paradise Garage
where the resident and legendary DJ
Larry Levan played and was featured on
selected Wednesday nights, it had one of
the best DJ rosters in the region including
DJ Tony Humphries, Larry Patterson,
T-Scott, Hippie Torrales, Françios K. and
more. The pulse of Club Zanzibar runs

straight into Lincoln Park with many of
the DJs, performers, record producers
and attendees who bless the Lincoln Park
Music Festival’s outdoor sanctuary on
House Day.
In fact, Miles Berger, the former owner of
Club Zanzibar, is still a supporter of LPMF
as was the late Shelton Hayes, former
manager at the club and the original host
of the House Music day in Lincoln Park.
There are so many griots still around
like Larky Rucker, Carolyn Byrd, Abigail
Adams, Gerald T, Merlon Bob and Darryl
Rochester, to name a few, who can share
their experience of this incredible time in
the history of Newark. This is just a snap
shot of the evolving rich story that helped
shape and mold the culture of Newark
today.
The main stage on Festival Saturday
has become the “Holy Mecca” for house
music. With so many DJs clamoring to
rock the 30,000+ crowd, festival executive
producer Anthony Smith says its makes
decisions very difficult.
“We look to book local, regional and
internationally known artists and DJs
who are a direct reflection of the artistry
that graced the stage and played at

the club during its tenure as an iconic,
transformative place that launched many
careers in music, fashion and the arts,”
states Smith.
Additionally, the legendary Lincoln Park
Music Festival House Music Day has been
captured in the documentary “Hands To
The Sky” by Domingo Canate, which is a
film about the DJs, musicians, fans and
feelings inspired by outdoor house music
dance parties.
“With so many looking at our festival and
House Day as great content, LPCCD is
taking the lead and will be producing its
own documentary project that will capture
not only House Music Day, but the entire
festival to include jazz, gospel, hip-hop
and the history of Lincoln Park within the
context of Newark, New Jersey’s history,”
states Smith.
“Moreover, we will use our now iconic
stage as a vehicle to showcase artists,
DJs and live musicians that represent the
entire African Diaspora and this creative
placemaking tool to shape the historical
Lincoln Park area and the future of arts
and culture in Newark.”

We daresay that adventure and not variety
is the spice of life. In other words,
adventure; that feeling of doing the
unusual and the daring, is the special ingredient
with the potential to enrich our overall
quality of life. Adventure is to life what spice
is to food.
The willingness to experience life’s adventures
does not always translate into openness towards
trying new foods. There are people who
would happily go bungee jumping but whose
culinary experiences remain restricted to the
safety of what they are used to. There is one
potential solution to this unenthusiastic attitude
towards food adventurism. Spices! Spices
have the ability to open the mind (as well
as the palate of course) to new culinary experiences.
In a sense, learning to use spices (fresh or
dried) in cooking helps to challenge and expand
our cultural boundaries while providing
a richer culinary experience. A savory meal of
pulao rice cooked with cinnamon sticks, cumin,
cloves, and black cardamom will transport
even the most hesitant to the vast tea plantations
of Nuwara Eliya or the windy beaches of
Negombo, Sri Lanka.
The ability of spices to extend and expand cultural
and culinary boundaries dates back to
the origins of the spice trade itself. The global
spice trade was once a backdrop for many
historical encounters including the revelation
of many ancient civilizations to Europeans by
Portuguese explorers such as Vasco da Gama
and Ferdinand Magellan. At different points in
history, the utility of spices for flavouring, food
preservation, medicine and fashion increased
their commodity value beyond that of gold.
From the overland Silk Road to the Ocean Spice
Trade routes, the struggle for their control was
often a key driver for changes in the balance in
world trade and a factor in the establishment
and decimation of empires. It was once said
that “He who is lord of Malacca (an ancient
Malaysian spice trade hub) has his hand on
the throat of Venice.”

With many of the world’s most famous spices
long associated with nations and territories
around Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the
very mention of spices conjures the image of
the exotic. For example Zanzibar, an island
state off the coast of East Africa, was once the
world’s leading producer of cloves. Other examples
include nutmeg (Banda Islands, Indonesia),
saffron (Iran) and black pepper (Malabar,
South India).
There are many islands in the world that bear
the title ‘Spice Island’. Of particular interest
is Sri Lanka. Until recently, Sri Lanka was little
more than a transit stop for travellers to the luxurious
islands of the Maldives. Formerly known
as Ceylon and located in South Asia, this Indian
Ocean island nation has for many generations
lived in the shadow of India, her economically
stronger, north westerly neighbor.
Now peaceful, after emerging from a thirty year
civil war that ended in 2009, the government
of Sri Lanka is looking to rebuild and modernize
the economy. However, with technology,
tourism and large infrastructure development
projects being the main economic policy focus
of the current government in Colombo, Sri
Lanka’s spice industry, the tenth largest in the
world, has somewhat taken a backseat.
Notwithstanding, Sri Lanka remains a significant
contributor to the global spice market.
Her rich soil and agreeable climate allow spices
such as cinnamon, pepper, cloves, cardamoms,
nutmeg, mace and vanilla to thrive across the
island. According to the Sri Lanka Export Development
Board, as of 2016, approximately
56% of Sri Lankan agricultural exports consist
of spices with cinnamon being the largest.
Regardless of the debatable contribution of
spices to Sri Lanka’s export economy, the more
significant discussion surrounds their impact
to Sri Lankan cuisine and food adventurism.
Apart from the surfing, wildlife and history, no
visit to Sri Lanka is complete without a visit to
a local spice farm. As she rebuilds her economy,
Sri Lanka is proving to be the place where
food and adventure collide to provide a sensory
experience.

Sri Lankan food itself consists of staples such
as curry powder, rice, rice flour, flatbreads and
coconut milk and draws influences from Sri
Lanka’s historical South Indian, Portuguese,
Dutch, Arabic and British interactions. Compared
to the more globally famous North Indian
cuisine, Sri Lankan cuisine is lighter and
combines complex yet complementary flavors
thanks to the generous use of herbs and spices.
British author, traveller and Chef Jon Lewin in
his extraordinary book titled: The Locals Cookbook,
features vibrant recipes which he learned
and developed during his extensive travels
across Sri Lanka. He says that at first, he found
the sheer amount of spices in the dishes to be
an assault on the senses but soon, his taste
buds adapted. That process of adaptation
birthed his love affair with Sri Lankan cuisine, a
passion exemplified in his do it yourself, twelve
spice roasted curry powder recipe. This recipe
is an adventurous and hedonistic mix which
includes ground coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek,
cardamom, mustard, peppercorns,
cloves, cinnamon, chillies, dried curry leaves
and lemongrass!
When it comes to food, our tastes and preferences
are shaped by what we know and what
society conditions us to accept as ‘normal’.
However, true adventurers constantly test their
limits. Spices provide a platform for creative
expression through food. In the process, our
senses are applied and indulged, and instinct
is called upon.
Perhaps through spices and food adventurism,
we can not only build bridges between cultures
but also push our self imposed limits and in the
process, add variety to our lives. Indeed what
would life be without adventure, and what would
food be without spice?

Eulanda & Omo Osagiede are London
based freelance writers, photographers
and content creators. They run the UK
award-winning travel, food, and lifestyle
blog HDYTI (Hey! Dip your toes in).
Their life experience combines careers
in technology, education and dance with
their personal experience of living and
working across three continents: Africa,
America and Europe. In their spare
time, they enjoy spending time with
family and feeding their curiosity with
culture, music, art and soul food.

Seeing the headlines demonize
‘soul food,’ I am on a mission
that reclaims the health and
spirit of our culture of the ‘original
soul food’, which is the African heritage
diet. The western or standard
American diet has failed the African
diaspora community resulting in diet-related
diseases and premature
death, which is now robbing our youth
of vitality. For example, the U. S. Office
of Minority Health reports the death
rate for African Americans was higher
than Whites for diet-related diseases
in 2009. Heart disease over homicide
is the number one killer of African
American women. Oldways Preservation
Trust reports people live better
with traditional foods and culture.
By growing up in an African diasporan
household, I recognized that the
African American community, like its
food, is not monolithic. I met a woman
from Cameroon who shared how a
caucasian dietitian didn’t know how
to educate her grandmother on how
to modify her African foods to become
compliant with a diabetic diet. That’s
why since 2012 NativSol has offered
community based nutrition and cooking
classes, Pan African catering, lectures
and workshops in America and
Africa for more than 2,000 people.
Since taking the African Ancestry DNA
test in 2010, I began my journey to
trace my African heritage through
food and travel. This summer I returned
from Nigeria where I lectured
and learned about my Fulani heritage
and its foodways of northern Nigeria.
The foods I share, such as the baobab
and hibiscus, can be found in northern
Nigeria and are part of contemporary
life in Africa.

HIBISCUS
Travel to any open-air market from west,
north to east Africa and you are sure to
find dried or fresh roselle (a hibiscus
flower) ready to prepare a classic tropical
sipping sensation, hibiscus tea.
Quenching the thirst of many Africans,
the West African native roselle is a show
stopper compared to the market’s newcomer—soda.
range of flavors from garlic, ginger to
cloves to this healing elixir.
Beyond beverage brewing, the flower,
its stems and leaves are used for salad
making among Nigeria’s Hausa community.
Also in some parts of Africa,
the oil-containing seeds are eaten.
In Nigeria, it’s called Zobo. In Ghana, it’s
called Sobolo. In the Gambia, it’s called
wanjo. It’s known as Dabileni in Mali. In
Cote d’Ivoire, it’s known as Bissap and
in Egypt and Sudan, it’s known as Karkade
and in the Caribbean, it’s known as
Sorrel or agua de flor de Jamaica. How
did the roselle (known as sorrel in the
Caribbean) get to the Caribbean and
South America? Historians believe the
seeds may have been brought by slaves
taken from Africa.
Called by many names, this delicious
drink from the ruby red roselle’s color
gives a clue to the heart health benefit
it shares with other naturally red plants.
Drinking hibiscus tea daily has been
found to lower blood pressure in people
with hypertension, according to a U.S.
research study. The beautiful dark red
colorful hibiscus is packed with anthocyanins
(a type of flavonoid) which have
many health benefits like fighting colds
and flus.
Packed with the cancer-fighting antioxidants,
Vitamin C and other minerals,
the hibiscus drink can be sweetened
naturally with fruits like pineapple, watermelon
or strawberries. Want to make
a symphony in your mouth? Then add a
Whether it’s a hot day in Cairo or a chill
day in Accra, you can drink hibiscus tea
hot or cold. Unlike hibiscus, dehydrating
soft drinks have no nutritional value
to offer while robbing calcium from
your bones. So in countries already
facing malnutrition, soft drinks are the
last thing to reach for in hydrating your
body.

BABA
BAOBAB TREE
Calling Africa its native home, the baobab
is the ‘baba’ of trees giving life to
all and can be found in 32 African countries.
Like an old healer, the baobab
is at the heart of traditional remedies.
Also it can live long in age, up to 5,000
years; so we call it ‘baba.’
From South Africa, Madagascar, Nigeria,
to Burkina Faso, the sacred tree
stretches across Africa’s sub-Saharan
arid savanna. Serving as a meeting
place in villages, it holds a spiritual
reverence among the people; therefore
many people and animals choose to
live near the tree. Beyond that, did you
know the baobab tree is a high quality
source of nutrition?
The raw ‘monkey bread fruit’ of the baobab
is incredibly good for you and is an
excellent source of vitamin C, calcium,
potassium, thiamin, fiber and vitamin
B6. The fruit has one of the highest antioxidant
capacities of any in the world,
with more than double the antioxidants
per gram of goji berries and more than
blueberries and pomegranates combined.
The many uses of baobab range from
sprinkling it in your oatmeal and yogurt
to all manner of tasty treats. From
sauces, smoothies to seltzers, baobab
is the go-to super fruit for flavor filled
nutrition. Want a little flavor to your
sparkling water? Swap out sugar for
a teaspoon of baobab powder in your
next cup.
No lemon or vinegar? That’s fine, we got
baobab. For tangy flavor in your sauces,
a scoop of baobab better adds a citrus
kick. For smoothie season, blend mango
and pineapple with two scoops of
baobab powder with coconut water.
Honored as the 2014 “National Geographic
Traveler Magazine’s Traveler of the Year” and
“Nutrition Hero” by Food & Nutrition Magazine,
Tambra Raye Stevenson is an inspiring speaker
and nutrition justice advocate leading a new
initiative called WANDA: Women Advancing
Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture to inspire
a new generation of women and girls to lead
the farm to fork movement in Africa and
the Diaspora. Before WANDA, she founded
NativSol Kitchen with a mission of reclaiming
our health through African heritage foods.
Learn more at nativsol.com and iamwanda.
org. Facebook\Twitter: @iamwandaorg @
nativsol @tambraraye

SOUL SOC
A marketing executive who has worked
at notable media companies for over
10 years, such as Pandora Radio, ES-
SENCE Magazine, Complex, VIBE and
AllHipHop.com.
Rondel is currently Co-CEO of Creative
Genius Branding, a boutique marketing
and branding firm that specializes
in non-profit, small business and entertainment
clients.
Business and pleasure have provided
Rondel the opportunity to travel frequently
both domestically and internationally,
often dining out and opting for
the “local” approach to travel versus
being a tourist – making many friends
along the way.
In 2012, Rondel started sharing his
travel and foodie experiences on his
blog, Soul Society 101, and continues
to travel, try new recipes at home and
taste new cuisines and cocktails while
dining out. For more information, visit
www.soulsociety101.com.
(Bio taken from website)

IETY

A
good deal of my travels in
Southeast Asia involved eating
with strangers. Often times
there were two to three people who
came to sit or I came to sit with at
tables in various eating arenas. This
concept does not seem bizarre, until
you think about how the US and
many other Western countries tend
to isolate ourselves in individualism
or take up a table for three with one
person. Southeast Asia has no guidelines
in that sense. Instead, eating
becomes a community event in which
anyone can partake in and meet a
new friend.
Within the tourism baby of Myanmar,
I was able to have a seat at a variety
of food market stalls that had random
people already eating at them.
One of these instances, I sat down
for a bowl of mohinga with the serving
lady and a stranger. I didn’t know
any Burmese and no one knew any
English, but the stranger, the lady
chef and I all knew mohinga.
As I began to eat, the stranger gesticulated
how to eat the delicious mohinga
and the chef knew what to do
for payment when I was done with my
meal. Thismoment of community eating
would occur in Vietnam, Cambodia,
Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Thailand and Indonesia.
I began to relish having a meal with
people I didn’t know. Sometimes they
had conversations with me or simply
educated me on the manners of eating
in their countries. For instance,
the Malays would demonstrate how
to eat food with your hands instead
of utensils. They discussed how this
enabled sharing amongst families,
friends and communities who could
all enjoy each other’s food.
In the case of Cambodia, students
would go home to enjoy their lunches
with their families instead of having
a quick cafeteria meal. Even people
who were visiting from another country
in the region would be welcoming
and inviting. This was most apparent
when two Hong Kong women had
zero issues sitting with me in Chiang
Mai for a bowl of khao soi. As such,
my Blackness was not seen as fearful
to the people of this region, it was a
non-entity
How can
we have a
culture
of food if
we don’t
even take
the time to
enjoy it?
and their
curiosity
came from
me being a
solo traveler.
People had
no qualms
over this
racial difference
and sat
next to me
because
there was a
free seat or
ignored me because they had to get
somewhere. Southeast Asia is a community
and that means you follow the
ebb and flow of it whether you are
from their culture or not.
By the time I got to Hong Kong, this
phenomenon began to push me to eat
slower and enjoy my food as well. We
frequently rush to have quick lunches
or eat our food while walking instead

of sitting and talking with the community
around us as we enjoy a good
meal. There were even occasions
where I ate with languor on purpose,
as being in the community mattered
more than the rest of my agenda.
These moments enhanced my immersion
in Southeast Asian culture, as
eventually someone would say “hello”
whether they knew English or not.
The idea of eating as a community is
lost in America. We all want our slices
of the pie instead of sharing. This
ends up highlighting the culture of
our country, in how we often want to
always do our own work without help.
By contrast, Southeast Asia’s culture
of enjoying the people who are breaking
bread with you harkens back to an
American past that has been long lost
in our haste to Instagram a picture of
our meal before we eat it. How can
we have a culture of food if we don’t
even take the time to enjoy it?
As with many of the lessons I learned
on this Southeast Asia trip, I hope
that those of us in the US can take
the time to truly respect food and be
comfortable in letting new people sit
at our table who want to enjoy eating
as much as we do.

Mike Haynes-Pitts is
the writer and blogger
behind multiethnicmastery.com
a blog
providing education
in financial literacy,
mentorship, tutoring,
cinematography, and
solo travel.
Follow him and his
travels on instagram
@mhptonyc.

BLACK
CO-OPS

An interview with Jessica Gordon Nembhard
By Beverly Bell and Natalie Miller
Interview Originally Published by Otherworldsarepossible.org

BLACK COOPERATIVE
ECONOMICS DURING
ENSLAVEMENT
Black cooperative history closely parallels the
larger African-American civil rights and Black
Liberation movements. After more than 10
years of research, I’ve found that in pretty much
all of the places where Blacks were trying to assert
their civil rights, their independence, their human
rights, they also were either practicing or talking
about the need to utilize cooperative economics in
one form or another.
Asa Philip
Randolph
I’ve put together a continuous record of collective
economics and economic cooperation [practiced
by U.S. Black people] from the 1600s to the 21st
century. They span informal pooling of money to
more formalized mutual aid societies and other
kinds of economic collective relationships, to what
we would now call actual cooperative businesses.
Initially, people pooled resources to buy each other’s
freedom when we were enslaved. This was simple,
but meaningful, as we didn’t own ourselves.
Most people didn’t have a way to earn money, but
sometimes there were skilled laborers who were
allowed to earn a little extra money on a Sunday.
We have some records and some testimony of African-Americans
who talk about saving that money
– first buying themselves, then buying other family
members, or contributing to helping someone buy
themselves. Enslaved African Americans also gardened
together on small plots of land in the slave
quarters to add fresh vegetables to their meager
rations.
Booker T.
Washington
After this, we became much more formal with mutual
aid societies, which are some of the earliest
independent Black organizations. The first Black
mutual aid society started in Newport, Rhode Island
in 1780. Then, the Free African Society in
Philadelphia – the same group that started the African
Methodist Episcopal Church – was formed in
1787 as a mutual aid society.
The earliest cases usually started with burial mutual
aid. Enslaved, even freed people, can’t often

afford to bury their dead. The African American
community revered their dead as joining the
ancestors, and needed to properly bury them.
With a mutual aid society everybody puts in a
small amount per year and then there is a pool
of money. When somebody died in your family,
you could go to your mutual aid society and
they would cover the burial. The second type
of beneficiaries of mutual aid societies were
widows and orphans; and then all kinds of other
needs.
A lot of the fraternal organizations (brotherhood
and sisterhood societies such as Masons,
fraternities and sororities) and
churches either sponsored
mutual aid societies or developed
out of mutual aid societies.
Many of the early social,
political, and community activities
during enslavement
were all connected in this way
- sharing resources to do the
things that would make you
human. At a time when people
were enslaved and dehumanized
in every other way, these
were ways that they worked
together to have the money
that would allow them not just
to survive, but also to assert
their humanity.
Another interesting connection
with mutual aid societies
is that they were places/spaces
where Black women were
able to have leadership. By the early 1800s,
most of the mutual aid societies were started
and run by women. This leadership was then
able to keep developing in other areas, continuing
past the Civil War. For example, Callie
House organized the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief,
Bounty and Pension Association, a group that
called for reparations of back wages for formerly
enslaved people. They called back wages
pensions, and they fought for the right to
receive pensions for the work they had done as
enslaved people. The association was a full mutual
aid society pooling members’ resources
to provide for many daily needs, in addition to
engaging in political lobbying for the pensions.
Initially,
people
pooled
resources
to buy each
other’s
freedom
when
we were
enslaved.
The Underground Railroad was another example
of people pooling resources, in this case
often to help others they didn’t know – and an
inter-racial effort. There were basically three
components: First, you had to have safe houses
properly equipped with a secret basement. Second,
you had to have people who were able to
secretly get people from one house to the next.
Finally, you had to have a coded language so
that people knew when it was safe to run away
and how to get to the first safe house, without
the wrong people knowing. People would give
money to make sure that the safe house was
properly built and equipped,
and had food to feed the fugitives,
clothes for them, and
blankets, etc. So this was
economic cooperation.
Some of the money that people
shared was for the conductors
– the people who shepherded
fugitives through the woods
and from one house to the
next. The conductors needed
a wagon, a horse, some food,
and a gun. There aren’t a lot
of records about how this was
done, but we know that people
donated. That is what we
would call a gift economy. It’s
not clear that it was a donation
of outright cash, but you
shared your wagon, horses,
food, and the knowledge of
how to get North/to Canada.
This Underground Railroad -cooperation, intercooperation
and planning among an interracial
group of people for Black liberation - is another
example of early tendencies toward a cooperative
and solidarity economy that transcended
racism, sexism and classism.
An important part of the Underground Railroad
is the underground sharing of the quilts.
Certain patterns of quilts had codes that indicated
when somebody was going to be there to
conduct you away or which path to go on to get
out of town. A quilt hanging out in the backyard
might have one pattern that would tell you “Not
today, but tomorrow,” or another pattern would

and a tunnel to the Mississippi River.
This all depended on connections between
people who could trust each other;
and knowing who would help and
could be trusted, who couldn’t, who
would dig a cellar and not tell. This was
all about sharing and pooling resources
to the mutual benefit of many.
W.E.B
Du Bois
say “It’s going to be tonight, but take the left
fork.”
These systems had to work in town after town
throughout the South when people just had to
get to Philadelphia, New York or Boston. After a
while, you needed this to happen in the North,
too, because people had to get all the way to
Canada, because the laws were strengthened
so that if fugitives were caught anywhere on
U.S. soil, they would be sent back to enslavement.
The collective language, in addition to the
shared resources, made the “railroad” work.
The gifting came from slaves in the South and
their allies, who were free Blacks or white people.
One of many interesting stories is of one Jewish
merchant in Memphis, which was on one of the
routes to Canada. He secretly built a cellar under
his house. He did this by building a slaughterhouse
next door. While everybody’s attention
was on the slaughterhouse construction, he had
trusted people digging his underground cellar
Each of these examples show how crucial
the sharing of resources was to
survival and to augment and leverage
what any one person or family had.
They are also examples not just of finding
ways to survive, but also of cooperating
to benefit the entire community.
Pooling of resources enabled people to
leverage what they and their community
had in order to provide more, AND
to solve problems such as hunger, how
to bury your dead, to help the sick, to
escape enslavement. Economic cooperation
also contributed to enabling African
Americans to assert their humanity,
fight for their freedom, and argue
for political/civil rights. Also these examples
establish a legacy of economic
cooperation among African Americans
and show that they have early and continuous
cooperative traditions just like
Europeans. African Americans have a long and
strong tradition of economic cooperation, even
during enslavement. There is a Black cooperative
movement in the US.
THE BLACK CO-OP
MOVEMENT: THE
SILENTPARTNER IN
CRITICAL MOMENTS
OF AFRICAN-
AMERICAN HISTORY
The Black cooperative movement has been a
silent partner to many significant moments in
Black history in the US, from survival in economic
depressions to the union movement to

the civil rights movement.
In my research for Collective Courage: A History
of African American Cooperative Economic
Thought and Practice, I found Black cooperatives
in every period. But the most prolific
growth was during three major periods: the
1880s, the 1930s and 40s, and the 1960s and
70s. Why? What those periods had in common
was, first, the idea that the fight for political
rights necessitated economic independence
and economic democracy. Second, they also
were periods when large Black organizations
promoted cooperative economics.
Survival and Economic
Independence
What was similar between the 1880s and
1930s was the need for survival in horrible
economic times. It was hard for Blacks to find
work and feed their families, so they turned to
collective economics. They had co-op grocery
stores, gas stations, health insurance, worker
co-ops and credit associations — to get loans
and do financing in the face of discrimination
and exclusion in the credit market.
The Black cooperative movement was the silent
partner, not only to the Black civil rights
movement, but also to the growing union movement
in the 1880s. Labor organizers knew
that they couldn’t forward the rights of white
workers without including Blacks, or without
thinking about controlling the means of production
through worker co-ops. Still, the 1880s
integrated labor organizations were fighting
for their rights to own the mills, factories and
farms that they were working on, and for the
right to control their own work. They developed
co-op mills, co-op farming, and co-op exchanges.
Blacks were originally involved in these
labor struggles with whites, but also started
their own organizations and established co-op
exchanges and stores to obtain the supplies
and products they needed, and credit associations
to help members people get mortgages
or buy on credit without using the racist banks
or exploitative white stores.
Several large unions, like the Knights of Labor,
had Black and white workers before they
became segregated in the early 1900s. The
Knights started several worker cooperatives
throughout the country, but were not well received
by the powers that be and most had to
go underground and then disbanded. The Colored
Farmers National Alliance and Cooperative
Union, was a Black political party, union
and cooperative development agency that started
in Texas, and spread throughout the South.
It was so controversial that their leader was
actually a white man because no Black man
could have led it without being killed. Most of
the Black organizers were underground, organizing
secretly. They lasted less than 10 years
but it was the largest Black organization until
the Universal Negro Improvement Association
in the 1920s.
The Black
cooperative
movement has
been a silent
partner to many
significant
moments in Black
history in the US
It’s interesting to see how things changed between
the 1880s and the early 1900s in terms
of cooperatives and Black and white labor relations.
The unions could not stay integrated,
segregation prevailed, and most labor unions
gave up developing co-ops because it was too
dangerous. Nobody wanted workers talking
about owning their own enterprises and getting
rid of the capitalists. Separately Blacks continued
to do various small-scale cooperative
activity on into the 20th century, as did some
separate white organizations.

Major Black Organizations and
Cooperative Economics
In the 1960s and
70s, the majority
of civil rights
organizations were
quietly supporting
co-op development.
As for Black organizations’ involvement in cooperative
economics: In the 1880s, it was the
unions and the Colored Farmers. In the 1900s
several other groups evolved. The Colored Merchants
Association, a co-op of independent
Black grocers around the country, was started
by Booker T. Washington’s Black Negro Business
League in the late 1920s. The Young Negroes
Cooperative League held conferences
and trainings in the 1930s in their attempt to
create a small, interlocking system of cooperative
economic societies throughout the US. Ella
Jo Baker, hugely famous because for her work
with SNCC and NAACP in the 1950s and 60s,
was one of the league’s co-founders and executive
director in 1930 long before she became
famous. In the 1940s, it was the Brotherhood
of Sleeping Car Porters, the first official independent
Black union, that promoted co-ops.
The Brotherhood’s leaders, including A. Philip
Randolph and Halena Wilson (president of the
Brotherhood’s Ladies Auxiliary), read and wrote
about, promoted, taught, and started cooperatives
to keep resources circulating in the Black
community.
In the 1960s and 70s, the majority of civil rights
organizations were quietly supporting co-op development.
Co-ops were still considered communist
following the McCarthy era, so these
organizations did not publicly promote co-ops.
But if you look into the community development
efforts and how the organizations earned money,
and even where leaders were developed, they
were practicing cooperative economics.
In 1967, the five major civil rights organizations
(1) started the Federation of Southern Cooperatives
with initial grant money from the Ford
Foundation. The FSC developed cooperatives
throughout the South — mostly farming and
marketing and supply co-ops, but also credit
unions, housing co-ops, worker co-ops. The FSC
still operates today.
Another example of the use of co-ops in the official
Civil Rights era: After fighting for voting rights
for a decade, in 1968 Fanny Lou Hamer started
a pig banking program, and then in 1969, an affordable
housing program and a collective farm
called Freedom Farm. She explained her reasoning
something like this: When we registered to
vote, they — white supremacists — kicked us off
the farms, threw our things in the street, and we
had nothing. They retaliate against us economically.
But if we start by owning our own land,
growing our own food, owning our own homes,
then when we are politically active they are less
able to retaliate against us.
In addition, the Black Panther Party, Congress
of African Peoples, and other radical groups
during this time engaged in economic cooperation
and established cooperatives.
No Substitute for Studying
Cooperative Economics
Every Black co-op I have found so far started
with a study group. They came together to study
their situation, and eventually found and studied
cooperative economics. They tapped into all
kinds of co-op literature, from Europe and the
US, and even found essays written by the few
Black leaders promoting co-ops.
W. E. B. Du Bois wrote a book in 1907 called Economic
Cooperation Among Negro Americans.
He also was editor of NAACP’s magazine, “The
Crisis,” for about 30 years. As editor, he wrote
about Black co-ops and had James Warbasse,
executive director of the Cooperative League of
the USA, write an article in 1918 about why Ne-

groes should be interested in cooperatives. That
same year, Du Bois started the Negro Cooperative
Guild. Also, before he was a famous organizer for
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, A. Philip
Randolph edited a Black socialist magazine in
the 19-teens called “The Messenger,” where he
wrote a piece called ‘Four Ways Cooperatives Will
Help Negroes.”
In the 1930s, some of the Black cooperative study
groups started visiting other co-ops.One co-op in
Virginia visited a co-op in Indiana, and the one
in Indiana visited Harlem. The co-op in Indiana,
the Consumer Cooperative Trading Company,
was started by a teacher at a Black high school
in Gary. They started with a study group and grew
to have a co-op economics course offered in the
night school that had the largest number of students
registered than any other course. One of
their leaders, Jacob Reddix, later became President
of Jackson State University.
Several universities at this time offered courses on
cooperative economics and co-op development.
Black independent schools in North Carolina for
example, and some Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, taught cooperative economics,
especially in the 1930s and 40s.
Fannie Lou
Hamer
Columbia University had a summer institute that
organized a study tour to Nova Scotia, Canada to
study the Antigonish Movement. Nineteen of the
54 people that went were Black — in 1939. They
spent three weeks studying cooperative economics
and the cooperative education model at St.
Francis Xavier University. When the 19 returned,
they taught others about it.
In addition, as with mutual aid societies, religious
organizations supported and promoted cooperatives.
The Federal Council of the Churches
of Christ in America invited the foremost cooperative
leader from Japan, Toyohiko Kagawa, to
talk about co-ops in Harlem in 1935. The Federal
Council’s secretary of race relations then organized
several conferences among Black religious
leaders in the late 1930s. Also, the Harlem Unitarian
Church supported cooperative economic
development. Much of these details I learned in
a column by Althea Washington published in the
Journal of Negro Education. Her column focused
on cooperative education. It’s fascinating: I had
Pullman
Porters

no idea that in the 30s, the Journal of Negro
Education even knew about co-ops, let alone
had an entire column about it that ran for about
2 years.
Co-op education and training were critical to
the development of Black co-ops. Success often
depended on support from strong Black national
and local organizations, which almost all
co-ops had. Those strong organizational structures
promoted shared leadership and mutual
responsibility, and created opportunities to
learn and develop collectively. Success also depended
on those exchanges, with people sharing
ideas among their own group and studying
what other co-ops were achieving.
The co-ops were started, and thrived, because
members understood that they could make
more progress as individuals and as a race by
working together and sharing resources.
THE LEGACY
AND CURRENT
GROWTH OF BLACK
COOPERATIVES
When I first became interested in cooperative
economics, everybody, Black and white, told
me that Black people just don’t engage in cooperative
economics. But that didn’t seem right
to me. So I started studying it, talking to people
about it, and participating in the US co-op
movement. I found there were hardly any Blacks
involved, except when they were in agricultural
cooperatives in the South. None of the mainstream
co-op literature talked about Black coops,
and yet I was sure that African-Americans
must have been involved.
As a community economics specialist, I had discovered
that cooperatives are an excellent strategy
for real grassroots community economic
development. A friend and graduate classmate
of mine had studied W. E. B. Du Bois’ theory of
cooperative economics. So I studied his work
and found overwhelming evidence of Black involvement
in cooperative business ownership.
We had been involved in co-ops of every sort
in a continuous history. It was the beginning of
the journey. Slowly I found out more and more,
through a snowball effect, each lead connecting
me to new sources of information.
The original purpose of my mostly historical
work was to show that Black people do have
a history in cooperatives – a legacy – that we
should be continuing. Initially, I didn’t find
many current Black co-ops, but since I’ve written
the book, I continue to learn of more and
more groups that are doing this work. I often
get emails from a Black person who’s starting
a co-op or interested in doing so, or who has
some historical material for me. People are
learning about successful examples, seeing the
need for co-ops, and sharing. I think that’s why
the movement is growing now.
While the examples of using the co-op model
in any setting – rural, urban or suburban - and
any industry are sparse compared to what we
might want to see, there are some great examples.
Here are a few good current instances and
trends.
When I first
became interested
in cooperative
economics,
everybody, Black
and white, told me
that Black people
just don’t engage
in cooperative
economics
In 2013, Jackson, Mississippi elected a very
progressive mayor, Chokwe Lumumba, who actually
had planned to create a whole cooperative
economy in the city. It was very exciting.
His plan was to create co-ops out of many of
the businesses that the city had already privatized
and to help develop other co-ops. There

were going to be urban-rural co-op linkages.
There was a plan to have a year-long education
program to train many people in Jackson,
especially unemployed ones, in co-op development
so they could start a variety of them.
Sadly, Lumumba died [in February 2014, after
only eight months in office], but despite
this, the people in his administration whom he
had hired to start doing this are now moving
forward with a few of the co-ops, such as a
waste-management cooperative. They hosted
one of the largest co-op meetings in the US
[Jackson Rising, in May 2014] which attracted
about 500 people, predominately Black.
What I’m noticing right now is that the growth
is in food co-ops and worker co-ops, mostly in
Latino and some African immigrant communities.
During the Great Recession, a lot of Latino
communities started utilizing worker co-ops
when they couldn’t get work. This growth isn’t
happening as much in the Black community,
but there are some instances - and I am starting
to learn of more and more groups who are
interested in cooperative economics.
In the South Bronx, Cooperative Home-care
Associates is a worker co-op started by Black
and Latina home-care workers, which provides
full-time work, living wages, and benefits in an
industry that did not provide these. In addition,
the women-owners receive a dividend back on
their ownership share every year that the company
is profitable - which has been most years.
Recently the Southern Grassroots Economies
Project was established to support worker coop
development in the South, in coalition with
the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and
other groups. We’ve had three education conferences
and our plan is to raise money for a
revolving loan fund, as well as to support education,
policy and financing for co-ops in the
South.
There’s a growing interest in Black co-op farming.
Black people doing urban farming or
working on food security issues are now starting
either co-op farms or co-op food outlets,
connecting rural and urban farming, for example
in Detroit, Oakland, Boston, New York City,
Washington, DC, and Jackson. In addition, the
Federation of Southern Cooperatives has been
in existence since the late 1960s, supporting
rural farmers and marketing co-ops, housing
co-ops, and rural co-op development, as well
as Black land retention.
There also seems to be a growth right now in
secondary-level co-ops, which are co-ops of
groups of producers-owners that help them
buy goods, process, distribute and market together.
They use the co-op to back them up,
as a place to market their goods or do their
accounting, and share most of the costs of doing
business. An example of a collective marketplace
and secondary-level co-op is Ujamaa
Women’s Collective, in Pittsburgh. They are a
group of entrepreneurial Black women that
make cosmetics, food, and sewn goods. None
of the women alone could afford a storefront
or a kiosk even, but together as a co-op they
were able to buy a permanent space where
they each sell their goods, advertise together,
and practice collective business development
and management.
Another group, Us Lifting Us in Atlanta, is
working to create and collectively own a co-op
marketplace mall and an interlocking system
of co-ops in the Black community.
My research reveals a continuous thread of
cooperative activity and development among
African-Americans over the past two centuries,
because of both need and strategy. It often
happens in the face of economic and political
challenges and sabotage. Black cooperators
have been working together, studying together,
sharing resources, creating good jobs, providing
affordable goods and services, developing
leaders, and building economic solidarity. They
have developed successful models of every
kind of co-op, from farming to catering, food
production grocery retail, sewing and quilting,
nursing and health care, journalism, film, music
production, construction, energy and utilities,
education, and financial and credit cooperatives.
These co-ops have often been a tool
toward the elimination of economic exploitation
and the transition to a new economic and
social order.

Other Worlds is a women-driven
education and movement-building
collaborative. Other Worlds inspires
hope and knowledge that another world
is possible, and helps build it. We compile
and bring to light political, economic,
social, and environmental alternatives
that are flourishing throughout the
world, and inspire and help the public
throughout the Americas open up new
pathways to adapt and replicate them.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved
to eat. I would get so many puzzled looks
from new friends as they saw me, this
skinny Ethiopian girl, fill my plate to the max.
But that love of food is not surprising given
my background.
My mother’s family owned a spice market in
Asmara and my dad’s family owned a cafe.
They later ended up in a small city in Canada,
where I was born, and opened one of the first
Ethiopian restaurants in my hometown in the
90s. Strangely enough, although I loved injera
(the large spongey flat bread we use to scoop
up spicy stews), I always felt like it was something
I could only enjoy in the home. It was too
strange, too fragrant, too AFRICAN to bring
around other folks. Secretly, I was ashamed. I
think this is a sentiment many immigrant kids
can relate to. I mean, we all know our food is
bomb! But when that is never represented in
the media, it’s hard to imagine that we too
could have amazing chefs and foods worth
documenting.
So how did a girl, who was ashamed to showcase
African food, end up creating Black Foodie,
a platform to celebrate the food and voices
from the diaspora?
It took a negative experience to wake me up.
After having a pretty jarring experience going
out to a European restaurant where my
friends (a group of Black women) were treated
so poorly we had to leave, I started looking
at food and my decisions around food differently.
I asked myself questions like, “Why
had I chosen to dine there? Why didn’t I go
to African or Caribbean restaurants to celebrate?
Why did so many of my friends have
experiences similar to mine, where they felt
they had been treated poorly because they’re

Black?”
I knew that for me, as a Black foodie, things
were different. So I began searching the internet
for something; a central place where I
could find other people like me, Black people
who loved food, but added more to the conversation
than the mainstream’s dialogue. After
months of research, what I found was that we
were largely ignored.
Black Foodie was born to fill the gap and truly
explore food through a Black lens and celebrate
the cuisine, voices and experiences of
the diaspora. I knew we were out here and after
exploring many of the amazing African and
Caribbean food options in Toronto, I set my
sights abroad. First stop - the USA.
Black Foodie was born
to fill the gap and truly
explore food through
a Black lens and
celebrate the cuisine,
voices and experiences
of the diaspora
I remember walking down the streets of Washington,
D.C. and seeing crowds of beautiful
black people dressed to the 9’s on Sunday afternoon.
But they weren’t heading to churchor
the club, instead it was time for brunch. We
had our own social culture around food.
When I headed down to Atlanta where the
soulfood was plentiful, I fell in love with this
Black owned pizza lounge where I could get
my pizza with a beautiful rendition of Maxwell’s
classics. It was dope! Some of my best
American travel moments had to be eating
my way through New Orleans. It was there at
the Essence Music Festival whe,re I connected
with amazing celebrity chefs who not only
showed me how to eat, but kept me laughing
the entire time.
Next was Europe, where I began to learn
about my own history exploring the East African
restaurants in Rome; some of which
have been around for over 30 years. This was
where my father and other Ethiopian/Eritrean
immigrants like him found comfort and community
in the 80’s before journeying to North
America. In London, UK I ate amazing African
fusion and met Black foodies with British accents
who hosted an interesting supper club
in South London. During my most recent trip
to Montreal where I, of course, had plenty of
Haitian food, I was also introduced to Greek
West African food fusion in the city. People
across the diaspora have traveled and everywhere
I go I see how these travels have influenced
our palettes, events and businesses.
Within a little over a year, Black Foodie has
grown immensely. We have a growing list
of contributors from around the world and
events in several countries. Our events, Jollof
Wars, Doubles vs Patties and Injera and Chill,
have brought the flavor, talent and perspectives
of the African diaspora to the forefront.
Having received recognition from huge outlets
such as the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star and
Essence, we know that we’re on to something
great. The overwhelming response has proven
to me that our voices matter. Our food, chefs,
and perspectives are amazing and worth celebrating.
Up next we are moving towards more video
content in the form of a food and travel
web series. I grew up watching food and travel
shows and there were always older white
men as hosts and content that “otherized” the
communities they visited. We’re changing that
narrative. We want to know what an African
American thinks about Trini corn soup at carnival
or how a British Ghanian is changing the
Uk’s food scene.
If there’s anything this past year has taught
me, it’s that amazing things are happening in
our food world. So stay posted as the Black
Foodie team shifts the narrative and gives us a
voice in food and travel.

Eden Hagos is the founder of
Black Foodie, an online platform
that explores food through a
Black lens. She aims to celebrate
food from the African diaspora.
For Eden, travel is more than
just a passion - it helps her
connect with the leading Black
chefs, restaurants and food
entrepreneurs that are creating
magic in the food world.

Airis the Chef started out in college as a
Marketing major at Southern University and
A&M College with the intentions of graduating
and becoming the CEO of a Fortune
500 company. However, after cooking her
very first meal on two hot plates in her college
dorm room (Smothered Pork Chops
and Green Beans w/ Potatoes) and having
friends rave over it, Airis’ plans changed.
After receiving a B.S. in Marketing, Airis relocated
to New York City from New Orleans,
LA, and enrolled in the culinary program at
the Art Institute of NYC.
In the past 14 years, Airis has worked in
many genres of the food industry for greats
like Danny Meyer (Shake Shack), Gordon
Ramsay (Gordon Ramsay at the London,
NYC), Sue Torres ( Suenos) and Whole
Foods Market, to name a few. Currently,
Airis works/plays as a caterer, private chef,
consultant, avid world traveler and food
blogger. Airis brings all the flavors that she
experiences from around the world, mixed
with skills and technique and most of all
LOVE for FOOD and PEOPLE to all of her
clients.
For more information, visit www.airisthechefcooks.com.
(Bio taken from her website)

By Reuben Reynoso
PASTELES. POSTRES. GALLE

TAS. GOLOSINAS. DULCES.

Growing up in a Mexican family in East L.A.,
birthday piñatas and Halloween meant
candy, but not the candy most non-Mexican
kids were used to. That piñata would get
cracked open and down would rain super-sugary
showers of Dulce de Leche (Mexican white
fudge), pucks of De La Rosa Marzipan de Cacahuate
(Peanut Marzipan), and chunks of paper
wrapped Camote (Candied Sweet potato). This
was before hyperactivity was a thing, and many
a summer night escapade was fueled by these
pieces of dulce!
People know that chocolate came from Mexico
(yep, before us, there were no Toblerone chocolate
bars anywhere in the world), but don’t realize
how many other sweets come from there.
Mexican candy is usually a combination of sweet
and spicy, with some being covered in salt as well,
created with whatever was typically sourced in
an area; Tamarindo, which is commonly found in
lollipop form and made of sweet tamarind pulp
that has been dipped in salt and a smoky chili
powder, though it can also be found in strips; the
pre-fruit rollup. There’s also Chamoy, also made
out of various fruits and covered in a sweet and
sour coating that balances out the sweetness of
the candied fruit, which can be apricot or mango.
The number one Mexican candy though, and the
candy I would save all my allowance for as a kid,
is cajeta, which is a caramel made from a combination
of goat and cow’s milk. It’s sold in hard
candy form, sandwiched between galletas (cookies),
or (my favorite) in small tubs that come with
a tiny little spoon that could be used to shovel
this sweet, delicious candy straight down your
throat. The one thing they have in common, other
than being traditional Mexican sweets, is that
they are PACKED with sugar, so much so that my
non-Mexican friends who try it, claim they can
feel they’re teeth decaying as they continue to
eat these amazing candies!
Chocolate, as I wrote before, came from Mexico,
and before the “discovery” of the new world, this
amazing goodness was not known anywhere outside
of Latin America. It also was not the sweet
candy we all know and love today. The Mayan,
and then the Aztec, would ferment the crushed
beans from the cacao tree, and then pound it
into a paste that they would mix with hot water,
adding spices, including chile, into the mix as
they frothed it back and forth between cups.

At the time the cacao bean was used as currency,
and so chocolate was seen as the drink of
the wealthy and of the gods. Once the Spanish
were introduced to it, they took it back to Europe,
where eventually the Belgians developed
chocolate liqueur, which they used in order to
create the chocolate we know and love today.
These chocolate bars aren’t very common in
Mexico, though you can find the ubiquitous
Nestle bar in most places. Chocolate is still
mainly consumed as hot chocolate and is either
frothed in hot water, or mixed with corn
meal to make champurrado, which is traditionally
consumed during Christmas.
Today, when one of my nephews or nieces
cracks open a piñata, what comes down are
those little Nestle miniature bars that can be
found everywhere and, at least to me, aren’t as
exciting or sweet as the candy I grew up with.
To find the candy of my childhood, I luckily
only have to travel down Sunset Blvd to Olivera
Street and hit up Lupe’s Candies (C24- Olvera
St, Los Angeles, CA 90012) where she carries
everything from Chamoya to cajeta, and even
blocks of the always delicious, but painfully
sweet, Dulce de Leche.
Next time you’re in Los Angeles, make sure you
take a side trip to her cart and have a taste of
candies there; you might just never look at prepackaged
candy the same again!

Reuben picked up photography
at the age of 14 and immediately
fell in love with the process
and the art. He became a dive
instructor in 2003 and began
mixing his two passions; being
underwater and photography.
Instagram:
@reynosophotography
twitter: @reynosophoto
website:
www.reynosophotography.com

BLACK GIRLS
DO WINE

Lush. Effervescent. Full-bodied. Attractive
and assertive. Supple, spicy,
sweet. Words describing the tastes
and aromas in a glass of vino are also apropos
for characterizing the women in the
traveling wine club, Black Girls Do Wine.
Once a year, an accountant, an educator,
a lawyer, and a pharmaceutical sales representative
descend on a region to swirl
and sip their way through a wine, culinary,
and epicurean experience. Professionally
and personally, the women walk different
paths: one loves techno; one wakes up
daily to the musical stylings of trap music;
one prefers intimate gatherings; one
diva delights in being admired. One loves
Louboutins; one fancies Birkenstocks.
What binds them is the wine.
This is not a travel club for Yellow Tail or
white zinfandel (if served either of these,
pearls would be clutched and fainting may
commence); this is a travel club for serious(ish)
bourgie(ish) black girls who prefer
boutique wineries with limited market
production. This is a club for, well, black
girls who do wine--big girl wine, not your
auntie’s Lambrusco.
BGDW grew from 1990s college-educated
black girls--girls raised on A Different
World, New Edition and School Daze. In
2009, after becoming too old, too worldly,
too grown to order apple martinis, and
too advanced to sip moscato outside of
dessert, three friends decided to take
wine seriously and invest in studying the
drink of biblical times. So, they took their
first trip to the Disneyland of wine: Sonoma
and Napa.
They visited the elegant Nickel & Nickel,
known for robust Cabernet Sauvignons;
the intimate Elyse winery with a diverse
collection of reds; and Gloria Ferrer,
perched on top of a hill with sweeping
views of vineyards, a premiere producer
of sparkling--while avoiding the heavily-trafficked
Kendall Jackson and Domain
Chandon. The next year, they added the
fourth member and named themselves
BGDW.
Decide you’re too
stuffed for dessert,
then order it anyway
because it’s some
tongue-pampering
combination of
sugar, local berries,
chocolate, cream
and unicorn tears.
After Napa came Willamette Valley, Oregon;
Mendoza, Argentina; and Santa Barbara,
California. The primary goal is to
learn about and taste the region’s star attraction--in
Oregon, the heavy hitter is pinot
noir; in Argentina, malbec. Accordingly,
appointments are set with wineries for
tastings-- some public, some private--with
the house sommelier. At each tasting, the
club learns about all aspects of production,
from ground to grape to glass. This
involves an explanation of soil, weather,
growing conditions, grape varieties, bottling
procedures, storing temperatures
and the notes in each bottle.
BGDW starts planning domestic trips
three months in advance; international

trips require about a year of planning.
Planning an excursion where the travelers
fly in from around the country requires
collaboration. Club members plan flight
times within two hours of each other for
domestic trips. For international trips,
club members meet in the port of exit,
like New York City, the day before the trip
begins and fly together, reducing confusion
and lost time.
Club members play to their strengths.
After all agree on a location, each performs
the task most suited to her. The
organized, logistical members research
costs, flights, and hotels and produce a
hard budget, including expected tips, exchange
rates, and side excursions. The
foodie researches restaurants and makes
reservations. The extroverts work during
the journey, connecting with new people
also interested in wine and finding additional
places to visit.
The club travels to places affordable for
all members and looks to reduce costs.
Groupon and Travelzoo highlight travel
deals. Instead of staying in hotels and
resorts, which often have high taxes and
fees, BGDW prefers home-sharing like Air
B&B. By grocery shopping and cooking
breakfast and lunch, members reduce
restaurant costs, maximizing the money
spent on restaurants, wine tastings, and

ottles. Shared tastings reduce tasting
fees. Hiring a driver or Uber is a must:
$100 a day per person is worth not being
ticketed for drinking and driving.
Trips are planned, but flexible. The itinerary
for any given day may look like this:
9:00 a.m.
Arise. Drink sparkling on the veranda. Eat
a light breakfast of cheese, croissants,
and fruit. Drink more sparkling. Discuss
current events and conclude that the
struggle is still real.
11:30 a.m.
Pack a lunch with sandwiches and fruit
from the local farmers’ market.
Noon
Get in the car with the hired driver to go
wine tasting.
1:00 p.m.
Visit the first winery for a pre-planned private
tasting. Learn about production, soil,
climate, and the region’s variety. Take
notes. Ask questions. Buy and open bottles.
Drink while admiring the sweeping
views of the vineyard. Think about life, say
“Won’t He do it?” at least once.
3:00 p.m.
Visit the second winery. Stand at the
counter and taste. Say, “This has hints of
anise and dark cherries” or “This smells
like feet.” Buy one bottle to pair with dinner.
Laugh. A lot.
4:30 p.m.
Visit the third winery. Realize your tongue
feels slightly fuzzy, but that’s ok. Sit at
the bar and taste. Ship bottles home.
7:00 p.m.
Have the driver take you to dinner. Order
a bottle from a winery you heard of,
but won’t have time to visit. Eat decadent
foods like foie gras, grilled oysters,
or goat cheese wrapped in puffed pastry.
Debate between the pork belly and the
lamb chops. Get both to share.
Start with a white, finish with a red. Decide
you’re too stuffed for dessert, then order
it anyway because it’s some tongue-pampering
combination of sugar, local berries,
chocolate, cream and unicorn tears.
11:00 p.m.
Uber to your lodgings. Sigh contentedly.
Go to bed. Your liver needs to rest before
tomorrow.
Though from Michigan, BGDW members
currently reside across the country.
During BGDW, they sharpen noses and
palates, and tune their senses to understand
the complexities in both flavor and
feel. One wine may feel heavy and supple
on the tongue; another may feel thin and
watery. A wine may taste tannic and bitter,
or rich and lush like ripe raspberries,
or alive with notes of grapefruit. During
BGDW, members seek to find wines with
character, wines that are unique, wines
that are balanced. At its core, BGDW connects
black girls who do wine--and friendship,
and food, and travel.
Each year, BGDW discusses membership
intake. If interested in BGDW, email
Blackgirlsdowine@gmail.com.

Miah Daughtery, Ed.D has
been an educator for fifteen
years in reading and English
for grades 6-12. When she’s
not thinking about issues
around equity, access, and
literacy, she is most likely
baking phenomenal chocolate
chip cookies, brunching,
wine-tasting, or traveling.
Follow her on Twitter at
DST6N01 for information on
all things literacy.

By Rodney Goode
A
30-year culinary veteran from
Newark, New Jersey, Chef Jesse
Jones started his journey in the
kitchen at home with his mother, whom
he says was a great cook in her own
right. From there, all of his future employment
would revolve around cooking.
He operated as a dishwasher, Food
Service Director for Aramark, supported
several professional chefs and eventually,
went to both culinary school and
business school. Rounding out his education
by graduating from Catherine
Gibbs School of Business was, “one of
the best things he could have done.”
He states, “I encourage any chef to go
to business school to ensure they understand
that when all else is said and

done, this is still a business.”
GR: So, what inspires a guy
from Newark to be a chef?
Chef Jesse: Watching my family
in the kitchen (my mother and
my aunt). My mother always
said I was a showman, so in the
kitchen is where I decided to
develop my showmanship. Not
only that, the gratification I get
when people take the first bite
of my food and go “wow” - that’s
why I do it.
GR: In every interview I’ve seen
on television, you mention your
grandmother. Tell us why she
was such an influence.
Chef Jesse: My grandmother…
She lived to the age of 92 and
was just an awesome cook. She
was always my biggest supporter.
No matter what I called her
with, in the end, she would state,
“It’s going to be all right” and it
usually was. Hannah Jones was
famous for her sweet potato pie
and her molasses pudding and
she was very skilled at using either
of them for incentives. In
my family they [her pies] were
better than money.
GR: Sweet Potato pie is an art.
It is part of our culture and history.
Tell us about yours…
Chef Jesse: My Sweet Potato
pie is mine! Is it the best? Arguably,
but I just want to leave a
mark. My pie is a derivative of

my grandmother’s style, but also my
education and research. I put my
potatoes through a ricer to get rid
of the strands, which makes those
potatoes nice and smooth; apply
some (secret) techniques I learned
from my tutelage under a master
baker; then get my very own version
that is one to be envied. All of the
rustic features and tastes are there,
but I take it to the next level. Gourmet
even.
GR: You have been seen on Basketball
Wives, Love and Hip Hop and
numerous news and food segments.
So when folks see you online they
automatically think celebrity chef.
Is that how you see yourself? Which
celebrity chef do you follow?
Chef Jesse: I love a lot of chefs on
TV and truly appreciate all they do,
but the one [chef] that most [people]
probably do not even remember
was a brother named Patrick Clark,
who passed at the age of 42. One
day, I’ll never forget, I walked past
the TV and there was an afro and a
white chef’s jacket. I did a double
take and I knew I wanted to be like
him.
This brother was on TV with Julia
Child on her cooking show. It
changed my life! He is gone now,
but he made me feel like we could
keep our food alive, relevant, and
elevated. So, it’s not about the celebrity
of it all for me, but more so
about my being happy in my niche.
I’ve found it. I cook, lay it out before
you and let you be the judge. Now
don’t sleep! I’ve got a lil’ personality

and that takes a chef a long way. I’m
happy with what I do and how I do it,
but my man, Patrick Clark, definitely
inspired me. He was the first celebrity
chef of African decent.
GR: You have amassed thousands of
followers on social media. How does
that feel?
Chef Jesse: It feels great. I was told
many years ago that I bring charisma
and character to the kitchen and that
always stuck with me. I don’t try to sell
myself. My food is an extension of me.
My food is ‘me’ on a plate, nothing more
nothing less.
GR: So from a Global Food perspective,
what is your favorite food?
Chef Jesse: Apart from elegant neo
soul food, French food is what I would
love to delve into next. My next journey
will, no doubt, land me in Paris real
soon to learn more about French cuisine
and the art of it all. Even now, when I
plate my own food, I have French cuisine
in mind as I arrange it. French food
is appealing to all the senses. It’s nice
to look at, smells great and it doesn’t
take mounds of it to satisfy your tastes.
That’s what I hope to achieve with my
food, only with a little more punch.