Ranging from seventeenth-century West African fare to contemporary fusion dishes using soul food ingredients; the essays in this book provide an introduction to many aspects of African American foodways and an antidote to popular misconceptions about soul food. Examining the combination of African; Caribbean; and South American traditions; the volume's contributors offer lively insights from history; literature; sociology; anthropology; and African American studies to demonstrate how food's material and symbolic values have contributed to African Americans' identity for centuries. Individual chapters examine how African foodways survived the passage into slavery; cultural meanings associated with African American foodways; and the contents of African American cookbooks; both early and recent.Contributors are Anne L. Bower; Robert L. Hall; William C. Whit; Psyche Williams-Forson; Doris Witt; Anne Yentsch; Rafia Zafar.
#261093 in Books 1998-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.00 x 6.00l; 1.20 #File Name: 0252067908392 pages
Review
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful. Glorious and Tragic Struggles for EqualityBy joan a. sheltonMost books and reports on Civil War events come from white writers and voice white viewpoints. This one speaks with a black voice; as George E. Stephens wrote as correspondent for the (New York) "Weekly Anglo-African;" from the events of John Brown's rebellion (Nov. 1859) through September; 1864. Along the way he shifted from member of the press to acting patriot-soldier; recruiting and then enlisting in the Massachusetts 54th; that leader among black regiments depicted in the movie "Glory." Donald Yacovone provides not only notes for the letters but also information on Stephens' family background. After the 54th disbanded Yacovone follows Stephens' ongoing struggles to educate freed slaves in Virginia; the story of many black patriots' efforts to move their people upward by finally granting them some education is not widely told or appreciated. These chapters fill a need today. So the life taken as a whole is both glorious and tragic: it's distressing to follow Stephens' hopes; from fresh optimism through disillusionment to despair; time and time again from the events of Fort Wagner to the last anguished efforts of his life. At its end he had to sue the government he'd served all his life to obtain the commission denied to him because of his race (though illegally); and provide for his wife with a higher pension. He never lived to receive it; dying in 1888 before the promotion came through. In this Stephens is typical of black men of his time; and it's deeply saddening.This is not a happy; but it is a useful; book; and a corrective for many cheap heroics about how well we treated our black veterans. We need to ponder its message today.
