According to Food and Wine Magazine, “Black people in America have used food as a means of resistance, rebellion, and revolution since being forcefully brought here in the late 1500s. Food has always been a part of the culture and identity of Black communities and has played a role as a source of both comfort and strength for a people constantly subject to abuse, discrimination, and misunderstanding.”

In this session of Lunch and Learn, we are going to dig into some different ways food and the movement have intertwined to keep foot soldiers going. Women, and specifically in this case, Black women are such an integral part of many movements, yet their light isn’t as bright as some of their male counterparts. 

In honor of Mother’s Day and the many women who play nurturing roles in our lives, we will pay homage to a few of the folks who have fed the movement and pushed it forward in their own way. 

Remember, please read as many of the articles as you can, there isn’t a requirement to read all of them. 

General information:

• https://www.foodandwine.com/news/black-communities-food-as-protest 

• https://www.eater.com/2016/2/16/11002842/free-breakfast-schools-black-panthers

• https://www.eater.com/2020/7/10/21308260/black-women-and-the-legacy-of-food-and-protest-history

Georgia Gilmore:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/obituaries/georgia-gilmore-overlooked.html

• https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/01/15/577675950/meet-the-fearless-cook-who-secretly-fed-and-funded-the-civil-rights-movement 

Leah Chase:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/02/us/leah-chase-died.html

• https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/02/us/chef-leah-chase-death-trnd/index.html 

Fannie Lou Hamer:

• https://www.foodandwine.com/news/fannie-lou-hamer-food-activism-pioneer 

Virginia and Ben Ali:

• https://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bcb-full-history.pdf (general info) 

• https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/bens-chili-bowl-dc-protestors-virginia-ali 

• https://thedispatch.com/p/bens-chili-bowl-founder-on-civil

Register for this session of AJ’s Lunch and Learn here! https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkfu-qqz4iGNci9c_y2IvN9Fo2cfnX7G2t