On Feb. 22, Carbondale dove into highlighting the Black community’s food in homage of Black History month. 

After a several-year hiatus due to COVID-19, New Zion Missionary Baptist Church hosted the fundraiser Taste of Blackness, a soul food dinner to appreciate the loving food made within the community.

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“Well, soul food is different, more so because it came out of a historical perspective of our people having to utilize what was available,” Pastor Darryl Cox said. “And most of it, and quite often the was able to consider to be what was available was the parts and even the produce that people didn’t want, and because they came into an environment, because of the environment they lived in, they had to make do with what they had.”

Soul food is unique due to the fact that there is so much history and community behind every meal served. It’s not only about the flavors and ingredients but what went into creating the recipes, the care that goes into each dish and the sharing of these recipes from generation to generation, Cox said.

One of the servers at this event, Elva Liddell, said, “I grew up in Mississippi. My mother and my grandmother cooked soul food all the time. They did not use a box. I learned how to cook from them from scratch, you know. And it goes back to my roots, all the different foods that we had today.” 

Nathan Colombo, a candidate for Carbondale City Council, was asked to share a message to the community members who aren’t part of the Black community who didn’t attend the event. 

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“It is not just here to share Black culture within our Black community,” Colombo said. “It’s here to share Black culture with the entirety of our Carbondale community. And I would encourage anybody from any walk of life to come to this event and I’m so glad that it is returning after several years of hiatus.”

Education of the history of soul food was an essential part of Taste of Blackness. Carbondale City Council member Ginger Rye Sanders said, “It’s very important to share our culture with our children and those who are friends of our children, and it seems to speak to the fact that when we educate our children about our culture, the way we eat, the way we eat because of things that were scraps that were given to us to make it during plantation times or whatever. Those are things that should be communicated to our children.”

The passing down of soul food cooking isn’t just about teaching one’s child or relative to cook, it’s also about giving an insight and connection to one’s ancestry and cultural history, Sanders said. 

The Taste of Blackness event was aimed to help educate, strengthen the bond, and connect the community through food. Soul food is a key part in honoring Black culture and Black history, but it’s also about genuine connection and love, Liddell said. 

“It’s like love,” Liddell said. “The best way I can describe it is love, because when you’re cooking the greens and the green beans, you put all this love into it, you know, to make it good.”

Staff photographer can be reached at efulk@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @emilyfulkphotography

Staff photographer can be reached at jisele@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @iselephotgraphy 

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