Food for Racial Thought

HUMANIZING HUMANS ONE MEAL AT A TIME

Unplash Photo Credit @shotsofflouis

One of the biggest reasons we have so much disconnect in America is that Black and White folks aren’t taking time to get to know each other on a personal level. This essay advocates for starting with a meal. Not politics. Not issues. Not solutions. Just breaking bread with someone. We often talk over people who are different than ourselves. Like two ships passing in the night with so much lack of understanding of the other. It’s too easy to react to a news story or a traumatic event about another group if we haven’t taken the time to know people from that group on a deeper level. It all starts with a meal, argues author Jeffrey Kass in this essay.

Read the Article Preview Below

Eight years ago I attended a Ramadan feast in Boulder, Colorado at a local Mosque. The Jewish and Muslim communities both coming off of religious fasts had decided to end their hunger together. No politics. No discussions over Israel or Palestine. None of that chatter.

Radical, I know. Just some falafel, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, cucumber tomato salad, and some dessert called kunafah. Coupled with regular conversations about family, careers, hiking in Colorado, and the like. We started friendships.

I hadn’t thought about my trip to the Mosque for a while, but last week I had the pleasure and honor…

Read Essay