Story by: Megan Krok

This past Sunday, students gathered for a Black History Month event centered around Black food and culture. University of Illinois Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies Dr. Bobby J. Smith spoke at the event in a presentation titled, “Black Texans and the Food Voice of Juneteenth: A Conversation.”

Dr. Smith’s presentation centered around looking at Juneteenth through the lens of food and how this relates to the roots of Juneteenth, Black remembrance, and Black resistance. 

Smith began his speech with a brief history of Juneteenth and the signage of the Juneteenth Act in 2021.

He said the lecture was “an invitation to think deeply about the long history of Juneteenth in the context of Black History Month” and to think about race, freedom, resistance, food, agriculture, farming, and family.

Smith grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and often memorialized Juneteenth through his father’s side of the family. His father was also a native Black Texan from Waco, Texas.

He explained how he often has conversations with his father about how he has celebrated Juneteenth over the years. Smith noted his father often reminisced about the food at these celebrations. Smith quoted a statement from his father about Juneteenth, “One day out of the year, we felt like someone.”

“As I listened to my father speak about the food, I could sense the spirit of joy and excitement in his voice,” Smith said.

Smith connected his father’s reflection of Juneteenth as “food voice”– a term theorized by Andy Hauck Lawson, which places a social and symbolic element on food. 

“My father’s food voice spoke to how food is a cultural artifact in the lives of Black people,” he continued, “Food has been used as a focal point by which many Black people track the progress their communities have made over time and space.”

Smith continued that food marks particular moments in the lives of Black people, conjuring up feelings of comfort, freedom, refusal, resilience, unease, poverty, struggle and inequality.

“Yet, when we talk about the story of Juneteenth as a nation, we often erase the significance of food and how it shapes our understanding of Juneteenth and celebrating times like Black History Month,” he said.

By providing his own personal connection to food and Juneteenth, Smith then began to dive into the history of food in African culture, explaining how African’s agrarianism is a key part of why they were violently forced to the United States. He explained how early celebrations of Juneteenth were often held on Black farms and rural Black communities known as Freedom Colonies.

“Celebrating the Black roots of Juneteenth requires us to acknowledge and engage with the African agricultural experience which informs how food enters the history of Juneteenth.”

The second part of Smith’s speech focused on food’s role of Black remembrance. He reminisced on the pies his paternal grandmother made in the summer months, particularly around Juneteenth. Smith’s grandmother never wrote her pie recipes down, but in remembrance, his father is always trying to recreate what his mother had made.

“Food enters Black memories of Juneteenth in that it symbolizes community, self-sufficiency, and social interactions with families, friends, and neighbors,” he said.

Lastly, the presentation turned to how the history of Juneteenth and Black remembrance aid to mobilize Black resilience.

He discussed how he father said Juneteenth was an end to a way of life White Texans and society and became a beginning for Black Texans to be recognized “as a people.”

“Juneteenth was a moment where Africans and Texans were no longer recognized solely as a crucial economic variable in an equation designed to enhance the agricultural economy of the nation built on cotton, rice, and sugar.”

Smith then cited a report by the USDA Economic Research Service that Black households are the most food insecure in the nation. Yet, movements including the Food Justice and Food Sovereignty Movement works to address this issue.

“Juneteenth serves a bigger purpose of connection within the Black community than we realize, especially concerning food. Food brings us together as a community especially with our demographic experiencing food insecurity,” members of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Inc. who were in attendance said in a joint statement.

Smith concluded that beyond food, Black resistance continues to mobilize and Black history should inspire people to see how the world is currently changing, just as the lives of Black Americans changed on June 19, 1865.

There were multiple Black student organizations in attendance, including members of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, Inc., and others.

Some audience members found the intersectional elements of Smith’s presentation powerful.

“I think the event was really impactful in terms of talking about the different intricacies that play a part in Juneteenth and also how family intersects into all of that in the deeper culture of Black people,” said audience member Michael Joseph, a junior in Computer Engineering.

The theme of resilience stood out to others.

“I really liked how he talked about the resilience of food, of its taste, how it’s made, everything that goes into it has been going on for hundreds and hundreds of years,” said A.J. Singleton, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Epsilon Xi Chapter President. 

He continued, “It really shows our resilience as Black people that no matter what we’re given, what kind of cards we’re dealt, we’re all going to make the best of whatever we’re given. That really spoke to me.”

“Specific aspects of Black history are always interesting to dive into, and I think this presentation was very enlightening in terms of the personal and broader sense of community that [food] can bring,” said Abdul-Alim Adedeji, a junior in Industrial Engineering.

At the end of the presentation and Q and A portion of the event, Smith reflected on his message to the audience.

Smith said that oftentimes, historical figures are the focus of Black History Month. He hopes that his talk expanded audience member’s knowledge and understanding of Black History Month and Juneteenth.

“I hope that understanding that this is a Black History Month celebration, I really hope that Black people in particular or those who attended, really start to understand the central role that food has played in Black life.”