Credits: Article from National geographic by Catherine Zuckerman

It’s likely that something you ate or drank today was first brought to North America “or even Europe” by slaves.

African Food Routes to North America

“Before they became staples in North America, many African foods made their way over via the transatlantic slave route between the 16th and 19th centuries, with coffee taking the most circuitous route”

At the National Museum of African American History and Culture, opening in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, nearly 37,000 objects will go on display in collections that range from clothing and communities to segregation and slavery, stitching together a tapestry of suffering, triumph, and tradition.

Some of these artifacts, like an oyster basket used by African American oystermen and a large stockpot that was once used for cooking collard greens at D.C.’s famed Florida Avenue Grill, will be part of an exhibit that looks at African American foodways across three distinct regions: The Agricultural South, The Creole Coast, and The North.

The museum’s restaurant, Sweet Home Café, will focus on ingredients and dishes specific to these regions—plus one more region called The Western Range—with offerings like shrimp and grits (Creole Coast), buttermilk fried chicken (Agricultural South), oyster pan roast (North), and “Son of a Gun Stew” (Western Range).

Says Sweet Home Café executive chef Jerome Grant: “Each of the four regional stations demonstrate the migration of African American people and culture through foodways.”TODAY’SPOPULAR STORIES

Indeed, many of the fruits, vegetables, and legumes we now take for granted came to the United States from Africa through the Atlantic slave trade.

Among the most important of these, says African American foodways author and scholar Jessica B. Harris—whose research helped shape the Sweet Home Café menu—are black-eyed peas, okra, watermelon, kola nuts, and coffee.

UCLA professor of Geography Judith Carney agrees. In her book, In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa’s Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World, she outlines the origins and trajectories of each of Africa’s major native crops that were brought over to the U.S. on slave ships.

“The story of African crops is little known and poorly understood,” she says. “To look at these plants is to engage the organization of the slave trade as corridors for the diffusion of African plants to the Americas.”

After all, how often do we consider, when selecting the ripest melon for our summer fruit salad, or ordering a café latte with breakfast, that these things originated and flourished on a completely different continent? Even more important, how often do we consider that it was an enslaved population that brought them here?

To look at these plants is to engage the organization of the slave trade as corridors for the diffusion of African plants to the Americas.

JUDITH CARNEY, UCLA PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY, AUTHOR OF IN THE SHADOW OF SLAVERY: AFRICA’S BOTANICAL LEGACY IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD

It doesn’t help that white, southern chefs often receive credit for showcasing certain “heritage” foods on their menus without noting that they’re actually native to Africa. A particular low point was when Paula Deen, a white chef from Albany, Georgia, built an empire around her brand of “southern cooking” and then made headlines in 2013 for admitting to using racial slurs.

The African American museum aims to change that by helping “all Americans see how their stories, their histories, and their cultures are shaped and informed by global influences,” according to the website.

In that spirit, here’s more on the origins of some popular American foods:

Kola nuts, Cola nitida, West Africa: “Two of the most widely consumed beverages in the world today are based wholly, or in part, on plants ancient Africans domesticated,” says Carney. One of these plants is the kola nut, whose “level of caffeine considerably exceeds that of coffee,” writes Carney, and was once a key ingredient in Coca-Cola.

Slaves used the nuts to freshen the fetid water available on the ships on their voyages across the Atlantic, which “undoubtedly contributed to the early presence of the kola nut in New World plantation societies,” says Carney.

Okra, Hibiscus esculentus, West Africa: “Wherever okra points its green tip, Africa has been,” writes Jessica Harris in this essay on the slender, spear-shaped pod. “In the South, where enslavement lasted longer and climate made Africans and their descendants most at home, it is revered and treated with respect. It’s an ingredient in the southern succotashes of many states and reigns supreme in many of the gumbos of New Orleans and southern Louisiana. Southerners just seem to know (or perhaps have learned from African-Americans) how to savor the slippery juice that the tender pods exude when they are cut.”

Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus, Africa, region unknown: The ancestor of the watermelon we know today first grew in Africa, but “its prototype was originally a bitter melon that was grown on arid savannas for its edible seeds and as a storable form of moisture,” says Carney. (See The 5,000-Year Secret History of the Watermelon.)

Scholars debate where exactly on the continent the fruit came from, but it was cultivated widely in ancient Egypt, where it was buried in pharaohs’ tombs to provide hydration for their journeys to the afterlife.

Black-eyed peas/Cowpeas, Vigna unguiculata, Central and Southern Africa: High in protein with leaves that are rich in minerals, black-eyed peas grow quickly, suppress weeds, and improve yields of other crops. The legumes were used as a provision on slave ships and, later, also used to feed livestock in U.S. (hence, the alternate name, cowpea). Black-eyed peas are associated now with New Year’s Day in the American South and are a key ingredient in Hoppin’ John, a dish made with greens and pork that symbolizes good luck.

Coffee, Coffea arabica, Ethiopia: Many people associate coffee with South America, but “Ethiopia is the birthplace of the world’s premier coffee,” writes Carney. Legend has it that a goat herder named Kalbi discovered it when his herd became particularly boisterous after eating berries from a tree.

Whether that’s true or not, “How to take a coffee bean, know when and how roast it, and turn it into a delicious beverage involved a deep cultural knowledge system of growing and brewing varieties from the Ethiopian highlands where it originated,” says Carney.

“When Europeans reached East Africa, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates in the 16th century, they encountered coffee houses and culture around the drink. But given the racial prejudice against Africans honed during the transatlantic slave trade—and the fact that coffee had become so central to Muslim culture—Europeans attributed the art of making the drink and the profusion of coffee houses to Muslim societies.”

Carney says in her book, “The popular image of Africa today is of a hungry continent.” Yet it’s because of African crops and slaves’ agricultural practices that we eat what and how we do in America.

As with so many other origin of food stories, it’s complicated.

The stories of Black and brown people are multifaceted – there is not one narrative that fits all and the world needs to prepare for that. In order to stop magnifying one type of truth. So as we see a world matching for Black lives matter – whats next? Here are three things that needs to happen otherwise all these protests are simply meet and greets with some vandalism done in some parts of the world- here are some things that need to happen in order to ensure change. Let me know your thoughts and where we can team up to drive action…

1. Slicing the elephant and not the tail.

The last days have had so many issues been mixed up together. Police brutality, Racism, Ethnicity discrimination, Nationalism, Capitalism, Crime, socioeconomics, macroeconomics … all more so right because these are somehow interconnected. Some of which are symptoms to some of the harshest and difficult issues across the globe. What we should understand is that- this fight goes beyond human dignity. Everyone can be nice to people – however we touch on equality and the long lasting consequences that some groups of people face because of the treatments they encounter. We need to slice the issues and core problems at hand and not the symptoms. We are talking about systematic and constitutional power houses that need to be deconstructed. Ask 3 people what the problem is of the same experience from their point of view – and you will come back with 3 different problems/symptoms. In order to move forward we need to slice the core issues. We are talking about constitutional degradation of groups of people and if you dig deeper you will find hidden worms of where the actual issues are – and surprisingly most of these institutions have been silent. If you need something to see some real life every day cases see : “when they see us”; “12 Angry Men”; “Dear white people” ; and then to life from a black family narrative view without seeing the thugs and poverty stereotype “Americas Black-ish”; “Nigerias Africancity”;”SABC Generations”

2. Addressing each slice

Once you slide the elephant – it stinks and the worms are alive and more than decades of rot will surface! We are still scratching the shiny surface. Addressing each slice – will be more that just voting in a new president or mayor or whomever. Addressing these stinky slices will require the participation of everybody – particularly the powerhouses. We are talking about addressing the very reasons why we have inequality, poverty- hunger which all lead to the road we are matching today. It is these things that cause the socio-economic gaps that lead some black and brown people to be in comprising situations that might be having them encounter more police controls or simply more stigma. Each slice has representative that needs to outline what they are doing to close the gaps we have. Here are some slices:

• State/Public Media : – how are we ensuring we have multiple narratives of what being black and brown is really ? The narrative of thugs, poverty , disease are getting stale. Whats` happening to the narrative of normal black people?
• Family unit :- Kids are the most innocent creatures ever. I have seen kids being curious of my skin color because they have never seen a person like me before ( in the 21st century) there is no excuse of our children to be subjected to one narrative of what the world is, this for me is the first place that change needs to occur! Representation matters and children need to have that diversity from early on where they are taught what inclusion means. it`s not about being nice – it`s allowing kids to interact with each other at an equal level with even adults from early on.
• Schools :- How are we ensuring that education is accessible to all groups of people. The education systems is the core fundamental of human development, already there we stretch the inequality gap!
• Government :- an audit of policies should be done particularly on what security means for all people, on migration, on labour markets.
• Industries :- Diversity and inclusion goes beyond quotas – you cannot care for a people that you do not understand or take time to learn their stories. How are you having diverse groups involved in strategic discussions and listening to the people – which stories are magnifies and how do your decisions take place? Inclusion truly means having people partake in the decision making process. Company policies and decision making matrixes should be audited and revised to ensure diversity is going beyond to true inclusion. Are you going to increase sponsorship to ensure inclusion.
• Banks :- the interest rates of the world bank has been questioned before for example ? Why is it that struggling nations with black folks have the highest interest while the rich keep getting richer ?

3.From voting to equal playing ground

The actions need to go beyond voting – voting is simply ensuring we have the right leadership in place. However even the best leadership in swampy nasty playing grounds as we see above will not be able to bring effective change. The playing ground that adults play in need to change. Black and brown folks go beyond America – we have black and brown folks everywhere across the world. Very powerful socio and economic powers have so longing dominated by white males that the grounds are so conducive for people of similar backgrounds. I would like to hear how we will be ensuring the playing grounds are levelled!

The last week was immensely intense, because for the first time in history after a very long time every single person across the world was able to be part of the day to day struggle of people of color. It hurt to see live the injustices, for others it was an aha moment of the inequality and the impacts or grave consequences it has for some citizens of the world because of non other than the color of their skin. Millions have since then flooded the streets in protest and the question remains – what happens after or what can you do to use this momentum to turn around the systems of injustice?

This is so crucial because the outcry is beyond Goerge Floyd, it goes beyond America? It is a global issue that affects everyone – particularly minorities, marginalised groups, the vulnerable and people of color. This goes beyond the criminal justice systems – it sips into the cracks of the day to day life.

This calls for everyones attention and a big applause to those who have remained steady and peaceful during this time despite the rumbling anger felt.

I understand the violence, however the consequences will be bared by the very people we are protesting for – so think twice when you have to become violent. Some of the most vulnerable peoples stores who depended highly on these, have been destroyed.

Thats not something we must celebrate – rather the united forces and that most protests have been a loud voice of courageous people across the world and that in itself is commendable. Lets keep on!

What this shows, is that the way will be paved and is being paved by those who are taking action.

Protesting is just the beginning – what is to follow is so crucial and is in our hands as young leaders across the globe with a voice.

Have been grateful for the last months as well, because it is a time that allowed the entire globe to slow down and reflect about the current status quo. I believe it is why the moment is so right for us to take action beyond the protests happening across the world.

As we reflect about the past days, may we also take time to educate ourselves about how the systems work and who is influencing these. This will be crucial to address the right decision makers and bring the change in the community level, institution level, city level and wider to country levels starting from the smallest nucleus of decision making bodies. As you go forth ask yourself how much you know about the systems you want to change and understand the organisation structure of these as well as the deeper issues at hand beyond the iceberg at community level.

Dear young leaders, we have to organise ourselves strategically in ways that reflect an understanding of where the change needs to be and by whom it will driven by in order to bring about the modelling and election of good leaders and hold accountable where the leadership you expected is not fulfilled.

THERE IS CERTAINLY HOPE GOING FORWARD AS ALL YOUNG PEOPLE UNITE. THERE IS MORE TO DO BEYOND THE PROTESTS. LETS:

I) GET INFORMED

learn about the various systems in place where injustices occur and dissect the drivers of these – who are the main decision makers and how to they get there?

II) TAKE ACTION

Whenever one needs to build a high performing team – the team structure matters- so take action to remove the bad apples after learning where the core drivers are and remove them from power. The more we are, the more our voice counts.

III) UNITE AND ENGAGE

The more we are, the more our voice counts. discuss and sparr with other young people.