Let’s get Back to the Culture, my series where I highlight people and businesses from across the diaspora doing dope shit in food, travel, and beyond… From my home in DC to wherever I can link up with folks on the road.
For this one, I’m sharing an interview with THE Marcus Samuelsson as he opens up a new concept in DC and brings his take on modern Black cuisine to my home city.
But for this first episode, let’s back up a bit. Let’s dig into why I share Black voices and Black-owned businesses?
It’s 2025, don’t we have bigger issues to worry about?
We live in the age of the dying U.S. empire and the dumpster fire that surrounds us can feel overwhelming. But Black liberation is connected to struggles against settler colonialism, is tied to Palestinian liberation, is essential for environmental justice, and so much more.
We are all interconnected and if we want to create a better future, there has to be space for multiplicity, for intersectionality, for humanity.
That’s how I approach life and my platform. I can do more than one thing… protest ICE kidnapping people and go on hot girl walks, call my reps to advocate for a ceasefire and make time with my loved ones, dig deep with Black food folks in a wildly uncertain economy and share a fit check.
So yes, I’m still showing up for Black-owned businesses and Black folks even in the midst of madness.
A look at American history and society quickly shows why that’s as important now as it was in 2020, maybe even more so.
Despite generations of protest, activism, and sacrifice, African Americans are particularly disadvantaged, even when compared to other minority groups. Since before even the founding of this nation, Black Americans have been abused and disenfranchised by explicitly racist policy and practices.
In recent years, we saw disproportionate numbers of Black folks killed by COVID-19 while "white people tend to care less about Covid and its impact when they believe it is “not a white people problem.”
And don't even get me started on racial biases in medicine and the widening racial wealth gap, which is already wider between African Americans and Whites than that of any other minority group.
Mirroring broader data, Black business owners have less access to credit than their peers, are treated significantly worse when applying for credit, and face more barriers during the application process. This pattern remains true even when Black applicants have the same qualifications as White applicants.
With less access to credit and often less capital to leverage, given racial wealth disparities in the US, Black-owned businesses are particularly vulnerable to economic disruption.
This inequity is by design.
It’s also why Black-owned businesses and highlights will always remain a through line in my work.
Why I’ll share about an indigenous-owned trekking company, about immigrant food folks who are the backbone of the industry, about the new dress that made me smile, as well as about protests and mutual aid efforts. And right alongside them, I will share Black stories.
Because I’m a Black woman and this is my community.
But more importantly, because we can care about more than one thing. We can build pathways to action and activism and joy that are multidimensional and reflective of more than just a single issue. In fact, I believe that we have to.
On another note, my book tour is fast approaching!
I’ll be hosting events across the country, from dinners with acclaimed chefs to intimate chats. You’ll always get details first here as a subscriber.
If you haven’t yet, watch me unbox and hold my book in my hands for the first time!
Then, save these dates!
There are upcoming book tour events in:
Washington, DC - September 9 and 10, 2025!
Detroit, MI - September 14, 2025!
More to come on the West Coast and in the South (dates are being finalized now)!
Plus, tickets are now on sale for an incredible event in NYC at Platform by the James Beard Foundation!
Join us September 13, 2025 for a Caribbean meets Southern brunch in celebration of American Soul.
I’ll be joined by two incredible chef collaborators, Benjamin Shorne of acclaimed Caribbean restaurant Fat Fowl in Brooklyn and recipe developer Renae Wilson, whose work helped bring the book to life.
Copies of American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States will be available for purchase with tickets and at the event from our friends at BEM | books & more.
Buy your tickets here! I can’t wait to see you.
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