Slave Food

Dear Ella Jo,

The people you came from, your family, seemed extremely vital for your development as a person. Your people helped to forge your identity in more ways than one. Your grandmother, Josephine Elizabeth Ross' stories of defiance and triumph planted seeds within your young mind. Your mother, Anna Ross Baker's activity in Baptist Church parallels and inspires your legendary work in activism. Your maternal grandfather, Mitchell Ross' life as a freedmen's community leader served as a source of inspiration for you, as well. He definitely served as a nurturer of the community. Yet once your grandfather was a landowner, he rebuked the food that nourished the black community, the enslaved, for generations.

Your grandfather did not allow cornbread to be eaten in his household, but what are your opinions on the scraps that became staple foods for the African American community? Do you indulge in cornbread, chitterlings, yams, hog maws, okra, or pigs feet? This is a very minimal issue of importance, but these scraps are parts of African American culture. Soul food like this must have some essential positive benefit for the soul. I cannot just call it slave food, and denounce it. I personally think I can say "I yam what I am" and not harm forward mobility. I would love your opinion on this since "your people" are of a different era than mine.

Best regards,
Kory