I wrote  a letter to my mom during the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference.

Dear Mom,

I am at a Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference. April asked me to tag along with her, so I am pretty much here to support your youngest daughter. We are in two different meetings right now having two different experiences.

This is my first time sitting in a room with a sign on the outside of the door welcoming only brown skin people… It’s also my first time I’ve been asked to give my suggested pronoun.

The commentator just ask me to name three things that make me. You of course were one of those three. I said: Christian, Mother (Family) and Writer (photographer) and she allowed me to take photos during the meeting.

The commentator speaks really weird like, as if she lives in her head. She likes the word, imagine. She is making me think about food in a different way and uses words I never associate with food to talk about food. Who uses intimacy in the same sentence as food?  She’s making me think about food in a different way altogether. It’s almost scary.

“ You should create a real relationship with your food…outside of your mother, food is our oldest relationship. Eating should be centered in pleasure…you should know who your grower is and create intimacy with food…”

Mom, remember that time you and Minister Richards thought it was funny that I had a nightmare about cooking? Well, I think the dream is coming to pass right here. Who talks about food in this way?

Mom, I am beginning to like this speaker. While I don’t agree with everything she says about food, some of the things she say are empowering. She is talking about the word liberation and wants to know how we will define it.

There is a yearning to feel connected to the land and to be free…because we were tied to the land, we survived…whenever a people have to heal itself they have to go back to the soil…create a restaurant in your house…build power through stewardship and ownership… How do we own land…how do we break out of capitalism? We must be generous with what we have…

Mom,  as I listen to this lady who lives in her head, questions about our family and land comes to mind. I will jot them down later because i don’t want to miss what she is saying about traditions…do you think I am generous enough? I think April picked up your generous creative side which is why we are here at this conference now. Okay, she’s talking…

How do we uplift our traditions? This is our right to steward the land, it’s in our DN. How do we use tools of the oppressors to tell our own story? 

Book to Read: The Color of Food by Natasha Bowen

Websites to Visit: Bossip.com, Worldstar.com, Fresh2health.com, civileats.com

Love You Mom