The Stealing of Soul Food
Yup. I chose to use a picture of a black child eating a watermelon. Someone might try to argue, “Black people and watermelon is a stereotype blah blah blah.” If you’re that person, let me stop you right there! It’s not a stereotype if its true. I have yet to see a Mexican uptight over oranges, an islander uptight over coconuts, an African uptight over mango, an Italian uptight over tomatoes…you get the point. ITS FRUIT! Most black folk I know love watermelon. So, what’s the issue? Perhaps mainstream media has taught you to feel ashamed. The image used in this article is one of many that were used to push their agenda and if you feel uneasy about it, unfortunately it worked on you.
Originally posted on March 6, 2015
One of the aspects of war is attacking our food because the food connects us to the land and the land connects us with the constitution…and the food connects us with economic liberation.
Soul food is one of the few things we support each other in and the mainstream media is playing a role in trying to stop it. Are you paying attention to how black culture is being hijacked? Our food (soul food), our music (Jazz, Rock N Roll, R&B, Hip Hop) our dance (twerking) and our language (our slang that was once made fun of) are the main four aspects of our culture that swipers are trying to swipe.
For years we were taught that soul food came from the scraps slaves were given. I would argue that this is a false narrative created to push blacks away from soul food so someone else can take the credit. If you refer back to two articles I wrote, Trans Atlantic Slave Trade a Myth and Blacks Were The First In The Americas, you will be able to better understand my argument. Many of us were already here in America. We were cooking soul food before the Europeans arrived.
A white and alleged racist, Paula Deen, is their new face of soul food. That’s like an Italian becoming the face of Mexican food. It’s not a unfamiliar concept, though. KFC’s white Colonel Sanders got his fried chicken recipe from a southern black woman, yet his face is on the logo.
Images went from this:
To this:
Placing black images on food cartons, boxes and bottles was their way of paying homage to the very people that created some of the best recipes they had ever tasted. Not to mention the originators of America’s only traditional cuisine, soul food.
Cultures all around the world cook and eat the pig from inside out, like Hawaiians for example. So, why are black people criticized for eating chitterlings, hog mogs, pig feet and neck bones? This is a form of mental oppression. If you dislike what you’ve come from, you might not care when others claim rights to your culture.
I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown in which he traveled to the Mississippi Delta to eat at various soul food restaurants. Bourdain went to soul food restaurants owned by both blacks and whites. At one point of the show, Bourdain sat down with two soul food restaurant owners, one black and one white. Bourdain asked the black gentlemen if he thought the right people got the credit for soul food. The gentlemen responded with, “Yes.” The white gentlemen then added, “Yes, they know. They know who is behind this food. Whether it’s called southern food, comfort food or soul food. They know.” I was pleased that Bourdain asked the question. I was even more pleased that the white restaurant owner didn’t deny it’s origins. I also noticed that the white owned restaurants had black cooks.
For a while I thought I was the only one who realized how soul food is being slandered in an attempt to be stolen until I came across a Youtube channel, Constenforcer. The vlogger made a video called Soul Food Character Assassination. I don’t agree with everything she says, but these comments below stood out (minus the name calling):
“The propaganda is easily perpetrated because you have so many black people that are [easily brainwashed]. They go around repeating the same propaganda like dumb puppets of the media weaponry. They’re saying, “Soul food is killing you, Soul food is slave food.” See “they” don’t have to use anyone else because they know dumb brain blacks are the first in line in the war against themselves.”
“Soul food is food processed by the sun. Yams, beans, rice, corn, potatoes, peppers, onions, fruits, vegetable is food the sun processes. This grows under the sun as opposed to man made processed food. This is behind the character assassination of soul food. There is a war against the sun and a war against God. Soul food is the liberation of black people.”
“How can food from the sun be killing you? Tell Trayvon Martin soul food killed him. Tell Sean Bell soul food killed him. Don’t tell that lie that soul food is killing when we have fast food, Chinese and foreign owned restaurants on ever corner in America. Only someone that is super stupid will believe that and a lot of you are super stupid.”
“Black folk are still making money from their soul food. We still know how to pick it, clean it and cook it better than anyone on the planet. Even the white owned barbecue restaurants have blacks preparing the food because it’s our culture, our way.”
Her mention of barbecue is interesting as sources say its roots are African, while other sources say the origins are elsewhere. If you were to ask someone over 50, they would tell you that barbecue was once seen as a “black thing.” In other words, blacks were regarded as making the best barbecue, barbecue sauce included.
” One of the aspects of war is attacking our food because the food connects us to the land and the land connects us with the constitution and the constitute connects us with our supreme contractual power and the food connects us with economic independence of liberation. They want to assassinate us from the land and culture and the identification of us having Americanism and Americanism is soul food and everyone knows it’s black.”
I once met a black person who said they would never eat fried chicken or watermelon in front of a white person. I was appalled by their comment, but later realized that that she’d been taught to feel that way by mainstream media. I don’t see Mexicans ashamed to eat tacos or Italians ashamed to eat pasta. Every culture has food traditions. Embrace it and be proud.
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