Personally, I have always been a huge foodie- I love trying new foods, going to restaurants, cooking, family meals and just about everything about food in general. My family enjoys having meals together and we have some favorite recipes, but we don’t really have significant meals/recipes that have been passed down through generations that are basically part of our DNA.
After these readings, I have a completely new perspective on what the concept of food means to some people. With Twitty, it is his whole life, and the backbone of who he is as a person. I found it extremely interesting how he described the connection between food and understanding where someone comes from, his ancestors, and his story, specifically for African Americans in the time period. Food is the link that helps them find their way home, as they have lost so much and attempt to piece their stories back together. I loved when describing this seemingly painful concept, he compared it to the Japanese art of kintsugi, saying “the scars of the object are not concealed, but highlighted and embraced, thus giving them their own dignity and power” (Twitty, 21). I think this idea is very inspiring and one that I will always keep in the back of my mind- that we must overcome and use our adversities to make us stronger.
I cannot imagine the pain, anger, and frustration felt by many as they try to find their ancestors and trace their lineage to a “nonexistent” family tree. I feel disappointed in myself as well as in my past history classes for not learning about this idea at all- that many African Americans do not know who their ancestors are because their records were simply not recorded, names were changed, or they were not even considered people. It has definitely made me feel gratitude as well as guilt for never thinking twice about knowing exactly where my European great-grandparents came from and how I became the person I am today.
Food is also something that has been a big part of my life and my family, but I also agree that I never thought about it in the way that many others do with their ancestry. The idea that food is one of the only things that they can use to remember their history because so much of it was lost makes me feel sad and a bit guilty. I have always known my ancestry or at least the culture of my history, but many African Americans have no record of that because their stories were never told. I never fully realized how important food can really be until reading what Twitty said.
Food and cooking has also been a large part of my family and we often spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I found it very interesting and even inspiring that Twitty found his connection to his ancestry and lineage through cooking. I also felt very sad that many African Americans have no way to truly know where their family came from or how they came to America. Real people, lives, and stories have disappeared because of the greed and feelings of superiority that white people had and they did not care about carefully recording or even remembering the lives of African slaves.
From reading your post I see that you aren’t afraid to try new foods. You are comfortable with not knowing. That is the power that food can have on someone’s life. I do not like trying new things when they are way out of my comfort zone; especially I hate trying new foods. When a person is okay with trying new foods, that is just one step closer to being able to be comfortable with new experiences in life.