*Red beans and sorghum plants on porcelain poppy plates. Photo by Fabiola Caceres.*

Another cloudy day for the Soul of Food series, but we pressed on despite the scattered drizzles this past Saturday to usher in a celebration of Juneteenth as well as deep reverence for liberation efforts throughout the African diaspora past & present.

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 in and outside of Phoenix Community Garden to talk about the history of Juneteenth and liberation efforts across the African diaspora.

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 figures like Harriet Tubman. We can also reflect on the movements 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 sorghum-peach BBQ chicken and mushroom sliders alongside an early summer succotash and smokey potato salad (which was adapted from Nicole A Taylor’s seminal 2022 Juneteenth cookbook Watermelon & Red Birds). Maya also brought a pound cake (from this Gullah Geechee cookbook brought at the McLeod Plantation a number of years ago) and summer berry compote for folks to enjoy as dessert alongside some spiced hibiscus tea to warm us up in the drizzling weather conditions.

Everyone really gave their heart to bring this meal together and that shined through as we enjoyed it together. Very huge thanks to Marcia, Fabiola, The Richards (iykyk), and all the Greenthumb and Phoenix Community Garden crew who made 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.

Remembering Juneteenth @ Phoenix Community Garden

Connecting with Afro-Indigenous Plants @ ENYF