Happy New Year(s!) from The Food Griot!
It’s still January which means it’s not too late to wish you a Happy New Year(s) — Gregorian & Lunar!
Welcome to what's technically the first TFG (The Food Griot) newsletter …in the afterglow of Kwanzaa and on the brink of Black History Month!
Kwanzaa’s always a wonderful way to end one year — on Dec 31st, or the 6th day of Kwanzaa, Kuumba (Creativity) and to begin anew on Imani (Faith) on January 1st. The 5 previous and principled days (starting on Dec 26th with Umoja or Unity) generate a collective sense of resolution-making focused not only on bettering and setting goals for ourselves but also for our communities.
Hosting The Kwanzaa Menu on FoodNetwork.com was certainly a highlight of the holiday! By designing a historically informed and ancestrally-inspired menu to help celebrate Kwanzaa and its traditions through food, cultural connections and great conversations with some of my favorite people — including simmering up stuff with my sister and my father in our mother’s well-stocked kitchen! A multi-sensory experience for those of us who like to feast our way through the festivities !
More than 3 million views were garnered across social media platforms alone! To (at least partially) quote our talented and thoughtful Director Cecile Dyer … “the thoughtful, substantive press coverage by amazing outlets like Variety, NPR, Black Enterprise, The Root, Forbes, The Grio, Black Love, Bossip, Yahoo News… is a reflection of the hard work and vision of an incredible team, and I am so thankful to have been a part of it!” [Most of these press articles are available via the home page of my website: thefoodgriot.com]
Like Cecile I too hope the press and the audience responses are indicative of a deeper need and hunger for more of the work I do in telling “broad, nuanced, and inclusive stories of food throughout the [African and human] diaspora” to serve up much more than a cooking show...
Luckily I had my fill of black-eyed peas, those ancient and prolific staples of an ancestral Senegambian diet, which symbolize resilience and “good luck” — customarily cooked and eaten on and around New Year’s Day — a tradition my family’s maintained for generations. With that let’s raise a real or virtual glass together… (ready?) … Ok here we go — Here’s to and CHEERS to a joyous, peaceful, lovely , prosperous, productive and fruitful rest of the year!!…
Did you miss The Kwanzaa Menu or wanna catch it again? No worries! The Show (+ ALL the recipes!) are still on the FN website which are all accessible via the homepage on my website.