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Soul, Black Women, and Food Marveline Hughes

Soul, Black Women, and Food Marveline Hughes. American women’s search for identity in the 1960s coincided with the black quest through history for their origins

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Soul, Black Women, and Food Marveline Hughes

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  1. Soul, Black Women, and FoodMarveline Hughes

  2. American women’s search for identity in the 1960s coincided with the black quest through history for their origins • One of the most symbolic tools in the search for roots is soul food

  3. Soul Food Roots like yams and potatoes symbolize stability Slaves brought and used seeds to preserve African culture Many of these foods have been adopted by white American culture -watermelon, okra

  4. Pride & Plumpness • Black women express themselves and gain self-confidence through food preparation • Black women pride themselves on how they can make something out of nothing • Black women take pride in the plumpness of those who eat their food • In black culture big is associated with beautiful

  5. Family & Food • Large families are intentional • Children praise mother about cooking • A way to experience the feeling of plenty • Family stories shared at meals

  6. Creativity • Slaves were mostly illiterate so recipes were passed orally -room for creativity -snuck slave’s tastes into master’s food • Cultural knowledge -Reject scientific progress and use fresh foods so no concerns about harmful preservatives

  7. Why eat out? • Blacks couldn’t eat at white restaurants until the 1960s • Eating at home doesn’t just reflect economic status - This shows cultural preference for soulful home cooked meal -Black Americans in the suburbs drive to the ghetto to get soul food -Potlucks in the suburbs have the same foods as potlucks in the ghetto • Also personal gardens represent African respect for land, living things and African spirituality

  8. Soul Food is Soulful No Matter Who Prepares It! • Soul is what is revealed when you peel back the human layers • Human layers and differences represented with opposites in American culture -Beauty v Ugliness, White v Black, Smart v Dumb • This shows intolerance and attempt to Anglo-ize -Black people recognize the power of labeling -Must not question the soulfulness of other black people or of any black food

  9. Black Women May Enjoy Cooking, but What is the Reality of Cooking as a Profession? • The prevalence of black women working as domestic cooks is a result of their role as cooks during slavery (historically acquired role definition) • Many jobs held by black women still focus on nurturingwhite people • This is still a form of slavery

  10. Soul Food and Religion • Restrictions on food such as scheduling or selection not common (i.e., vs lent) • Eating during spiritual & religious rituals is a special celebration and a black community gathering • Black preacher always gets first choice of food -Black Preacher is responsible for passing on the oral history of the black community

  11. Sharing • The core of African American Food celebrations is the intent to share ex. Hog Killing • community gathering -men help with killing, skinning and making major cuts -women help clean the meat, do the trimmings prepare samples and give portions to neighbors • One of few activities with clear gender divisions in black culture • Relates back to African traditions

  12. Gender Roles • Cooking is less gender specific because many black people are cooks as an occupation • Economic circumstances lead black women to be more independent and autonomous and take on other roles • Motherhood and dominance in kitchen still important

  13. Typical Black Kitchen • Breakfast: Grits, homemade biscuits, ham or bacon, molasses or canned preserves, fresh milk & eggs • Dinner: “mess of greens” with pot licker (collards, turnips, cabbage, beet green or mustard seasoned with pork skins, fatback or ham hocks), bread, potatoes, fresh squeezed lemonade, maybe a meat and a cobbler. Desserts might include bread pudding • Supper: Fruits cut up in creamy milk, biscuits, ice cream, fried chicken, creamed potatoes & buttermilk for farm families

  14. Nutrition • Inherited from Africa and emphasized by slave masters & is still prevalent -sometimes viewed as a purely economic decision • Some people connect soul food to higher rates of hypertension in the black population in America -Hughes suggests that hypertension might be more directly related to social and economic stress & realities of oppression

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