Honoring Juneteenth @ Bissel Gardens
This past Saturday we ushered in a celebration of Juneteenth as well as deep reverence for liberation efforts throughout the African diaspora past & present during the 2nd Soul of Food Session: A Juneteenth Jubilee!
Since 1866 Black/African-Americans throughout the Southern United States but specifically Texas have been honoring this holiday through community gatherings of food and music, and while in recent years the holiday has become more mainstream, African diasporic peoples throughout history have always found ways to bring joy and remembrance into every season but especially the warmer months.
It was an honor to carry on these traditions with the gardeners at Bissel Gardens and community members from around the city as we came together to talk about what liberation means to us. People mentioned joy, knowledge, freedom of thought, rest, and other things that feel liberating.
We also looked to the liberation efforts people of the African diaspora have initiated beyond the approval of the United States (a republic which continues to not see Black people as human in so many pervasive ways). We touched on Maroons and Marronage and the foods and plants they stewarded, while participants named liberation efforts such as the Haitian Revolution and the legacies of Haitian people, the movement to stop cop cities, rest as resistance, and more that are still necessary towards a liberated future for Black people and in turn, everyone.
Following discussion and reverance for past and present efforts, we moved into cooking demonstrations and prep for our shared meal of satiating, summer-loving, red tinted dishes! Together we prepared hibiscus lemonade and sorghum glazed chicken and mushroom sliders alongside summer succotash and watermelon salad. Everyone poured so much love into this meal and it really truly showed.
Very huge thanks to Corey, Angel and the crew from New York Restoration Project for making this session such a huge success!
If you want to join us at the next session, sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media.
Also, there are so many great resources to learn about Juneteenth (like here and here) as well as cookbooks and children’s books to read in honor of the day, BEM books and Cafe Con Libros have great selections and are Black-owned.
Cooking demonstrations and contextualization for the day happening before we break out into prep.
Participants and NYRP staff member Angel preparing the summertime succotash.
Mackenzie assisting with the mushroom prep!
Participants preparing the watermelon salad.
Participants preparing the lemonade.
Hibiscus lemonade!
Summertime succotash!
Sorghum glazed bbq sauce!
Maya and Corey!!
