Category: African Diaspora

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“Haitians May Leave Their Country, but It Never Leaves Them” (NYT)

“Haitians May Leave Their Country, but It Never Leaves Them” (NYT) by Aminatta Forna (August 27, 2019)

“Throughout the stories in “Everything Inside,” Edwidge Danticat’s birthplace, Haiti, emerges in an almost mythic fashion. It is a land where a life can be changed, a land that exists both in the past and the present, whose essence may be carried as far as Miami or Brooklyn. Perhaps most of all, it is a land that is rarely visible, for despite its overwhelming presence in these stories, Danticat sets only two of them there. In and from this unseen Haiti a woman’s ex-husband’s new lover will be kidnapped; a woman’s father will return to be part of a bright post-dictatorship future; a faithless husband will try to reconcile with his wife, only to lose her and his daughter in the earthquake of 2010; a desperate man, ditched from a raft, will crawl onshore and into the arms of the woman who will become his wife.”

For more, click through the New York Times link.

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“A Chef Tells the Story of the Slave Trade Through Dinner” (NYT)

“A Chef Tells the Story of the Slave Trade Through Dinner,” by Korsha Wilson (May 17, 2019) (NYT)

“Nearly a year ago, the chef Eric Adjepong stood in Macau on the set of the “Top Chef,” having made it to the finals of the cooking competition show. The only thing standing between him and the title was a four-course meal, served in two parts. He’d decided to use his menu to show the judges how influential Africa’s culinary heritage is on other parts of the world, including America.”

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“Community, Revolution, and Power: How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin”

“Community, Revolution, and Power: How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin” by Martin Cahill (Nov. 27, 2018) (Tor.com)

“What started out as the topic of an essay written back in 2013 has now become the rallying cry behind multiple award-winning writer N. K. Jemisin’s first short story collection.” […]

“Her stories run the gamut from hard science fiction, to cyberpunk, to alien invasion, to steampunk, to urban fantasy, and more, and more, and more. Jemisin’s vision is limitless, and in every story, in every world, you get the sense that she is testing the waters, tasting the air, getting a sense of how this genre works, and how she can best use it to her strengths.” […]

“Many of her short stories revolve around similar themes: community, revolution, justice, revelation, power, and more. Jemisin isn’t satisfied with just looking at a system from the outside, and documenting what’s seen; she’s far more interested in digging her hands into the cogs and gears of how such systems work, who they benefit, and how they can be recreated so that there is a more even flow of justice, of power to those who have none, of compassion for those who have been ignored.”

For more, check out the original article at tor.com (Link in title)

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The Not-So-Sweet Side of Sugar

“The Not-So-Sweet Side of Sugar: The violent history of sugar is the subject of a talk at the Brooklyn Historical Society.” By Front Burner – October 9, 2018 (NYT)

James Walvin, a professor emeritus of history at the University of York in England, will discuss his book “Sugar: The World Corrupted, From Slavery to Obesity,” at the Brooklyn Historical Society. He promises not to sweeten the very fraught story of this culinary staple.

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Sharing the Food of an Ivorian Childhood at Paradis des Gouts

“Sharing the Food of an Ivorian Childhood at Paradis des Gouts,” by Ligaya Mishan – October 18, 2018 (NYT)

“At Paradis des Gouts, she is an ambassador, explaining dishes to diners mostly unfamiliar with them, like attieke, fermented cassava pulp grated and molded into tiny couscous-like orbs. It has little flavor on its own but arrives topped with raw Scotch bonnets or habaneros: first the burn, then bland consolation.”