The evolution of food embodies the interconnectedness of people and cultures.  You can't have Bolognese without the tomato cultivated in the Americas or pepper from India.  Yet, as biracial children, Mecca and I know that when two lovers from different racial-ethnic grounding come together to water a seed, the result is not some exotic fusion par-excellence, that heals the world's racism but often the wellspring of questions and doubt.  

This doubt need not be stifling, as has historically been depicted via the "tragic mulatto" trope in cinema and literature.  In fact, in the case of Mecca's tamale pie,  these yearnings for a place to claim as her own lead to culinary innovation and a reclamation of Black American history.  #Facts  #BlackHistoryisAmericanHistory

We move on from these heavier questions to ask each other how we come to the table with the baggage of these bloodlines, and how we use food to define, or not define, ourselves in a world bent on doing it for us.

Tamale pie, woks, sunfish, and tacos.

It's all here.