Edible Activist Podcast

#144: Cuzzin' Talk: Food Justice, A Social Movement

Episode Summary

Movements do not have an expiration date! The legacy that our ancestors built rests in the hands of our generation to continue the fight and address the food apartheid that still exists in urban and rural black communities today. In this episode of Cuzzin' Talk - we chat with social change agent and founder, Xavier Brown of Soilful City to unpack the politics behind large organizations that claim to "feed" communities and question why folks are still hungry! We also deep dive into how other countries organize and build around food and farming in comparison to the United States, then pay homage to some of the most notorious, yet underground, black activists who played a pivotal role in feeding and protecting black communities. Throughout the episode, Xavier shares some recommended books (see episode notes). that every black food organizer and advocate should tap into. Grab your herbal tea - you'll want to lean into this episode!

Episode Notes

Xavier's Top Recommended Reads for Black Food Organizers and Advocates:

  1. Black Rice by Judith A. Carney
     
  2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
     
  3. In the Shadow of Slavery: Africa's Botanical Legacy in the Atlantic World by Judith A. Carney & Richard Nicholas Rosomoff
     
  4. Healing Wisdom of Africa by Malinda Patrice Some
     
  5. Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and the Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malinda Patrice Some
     
  6. Ella Baker & the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby
     
  7. Land Justice: Re-imaging Land, Food, and the Commons in the United States
     
  8. Land & Power: Sustainable Agriculture and African Americans, by Various Authors & Editors
     
  9. Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice
     
  10. Freedom Farmers: Agriculture Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement by Dr. Monica M. White
     
  11. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
     
  12. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks
     
  13. As in the Heart, So in the Earth : Reversing the Desertification of the Soul and the Soil by Pierre Rabhi