Lessons of Da Seeds
In The Cooking Gene, Michael Twitty writes about starting a garden not out of luxury but out of necessity. Gardening and seed keeping is still not a luxury for so many African Americans. The connections to the land can be a matter of survival. Money was tight, and growing his own food allowed him to stretch his money further to feed himself and eventually others. Enslaved people grew their own food when possible as an act of survival and resistance. Once freed African Americans sought to deepen their roots to Southern land by maintaining and sharing knowledge with others. There were many reasons for this; such as access to land, legacy and the passing down of culture and eventually liberation.
Lessons of Da Ancestors
The Fire of Resistance and Being – Passed Down
By Dayana Velasco, Ameer Butler, Sara Francesco
Where is your fire, the torch of life
full of Nzingha and Nat Turner and Garvey
and DuBois and Fannie Lou Hamer and Martin
and Malcolm and Mandela.
Sister/Sistah Brother/Brotha Come/Come
From “Catch the Fire” by Sonia Sanchez
—
Where is your fire, your life source? Your burning desire to want better for the greater we? How was it passed to you, and from who? What is your life’s work?