Soul Summit 2015
A Conversation About Race, Identity, Power and Food
June 19 – 21, 2015
On Juneteenth weekend 2015, scholars, researchers, students, journalists, authors, restaurateurs, farmers, chefs, activists and anyone interested in exploring issues of race, cultural identity and power imbalance through the lens of food gathered in Austin, Texas, to eat, drink, and ponder food [in]justice.
The meeting was inspired by an MSNBC segment with Melissa Harris-Perry, which turned attention from outrage and protests over events in Ferguson, Mo., to a discussion about food, race and identity. With Jim Crow era stereotypes and ignored culinary history as the backdrop, Harris-Perry’s panel presented an academic dialogue to viewers, raising the question: What we can learn about who we are when we shake off the shame about how or what we eat?
It was a momentous event!
The symposium began on Emancipation Day (June 19) with a reception in the elegant foyer of the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, featuring nibbles by Leslie Moore’s Word of Mouth Catering and wines by Truvee and Dotson-Cervantes Winery. We spent the next day and a half eating and drinking together on the campus of Austin’s historically black college, Huston-Tillotson University, while discussing the complex intersection of African American foodways traditions and how they have been used to define culture. We hoped that this first-ever gathering of industry role models would motivate the next generation toward careers in food. We had no idea the weekend would spur so many mentoring relationships, uplifting friendships and career opportunities.
Celebrity chef Carla Hall got the whole thing started with an inspiring video welcome. Well-known and respected African American food scholars, including Jessica B. Harris, Adrian Miller and Michael Twitty challenged our thinking about the foods that comprise the traditional African American core diet, the ways those foods (and the people who prepared them) have been characterized by society, and the impact of those representations on our communities. Powerful, sometimes emotional, talks by food writers, authors, performance artists, and entrepreneurs, such as 10-year-old Mikaila Ulmer, who earned $60,000 on ABC’s Shark Tank, showed us the ways food can shape economic opportunities and wellness for African Americans in the future.
We took a walking culinary tour of Austin’s gentrified African American Cultural Heritage District and celebrated the lifetime achievements of a Texas culinary icon whose legacy lives on in her great grandson’s restaurant, Lucille’s Houston. In between, industry greats from around the country, including Bryant Terry, Todd Richards, Kevin Mitchell, BJ Dennis and Tiffanie Barriere showed us a few things about authentic African American cuisine as we feasted on dishes with vegan, coastal, French and global soul.
Information about Soul Summit 2017 will be posted here soon.
