Mau and the Moors! A Chinese New Year tale.

Most historians agree, grains are the staples of life. They are so important in the world’s diet that, “it’s almost impossible to imagine human existence without them”, as quoted in a 1999 Special Issue of Cooking Light Magazine. This might be news to people who maintain membership in the low-carb movement. Many human bonds have been forged along the fibers of grains. In the Biblical “Last Supper”, they appropriately broke bread; Spain’s famous dish, Paella, owes its existence to the rice that was imported into that country by the Moors. Italians, Mexicans, countless other peoples of the world have survived on a multitude of grains. Hostile invasion and peaceful resolution is not necessary for cultures to meet at the table over the complex grains of rice.

“Hell, we spend 45 million dollars on Chinese food a year! That’s enough money to fund anything! How much money did those people spend on soul food in our neighborhood?” The commentator was angry. He was commenting on a national radio broadcast that merchants from many communities come into the African-American community, setting up shop, extract resources from the community but give nothing back. I thought about those comments when a guest insisted on dinner at an Asian restaurant. As I cautiously scanned the menu, I saw a dish that intrigued my taste buds.

As I sat waiting for my meal to arrive, I thought about the fact that contrary to popular belief, Asians do not have a monopoly on rice farming. So while dinner is prepared, let me tell you about a story about two cultures, and two places, and give you something to think about the next time you sit down to dine over grains of rice from your favorite Asian restaurant.

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W
here Mau meets the Moors!

Flo Oy Wong, an Asian-American artist, used rice as the vehicle to express her spiritual and creative essences. As an American woman and artist of Chinese descent, this primary staple of her life expressed certain meanings and metaphors. In an essay about Wong’s work, Author Terri Cohn stated, “Wong’s Asian Rice Sack Series is an ongoing body of hand sewn work in which she has used rice and rice sacks as fundamental media with which to discover and express her personal, collective and cultural narratives and concerns.”

One narrative described in the Asian Rice Sack Series, called the Baby Jack Rice Story, was an ever-changing display of rice sacks, photo-silk screened with images of two households: one, the Chinese American family of her husband, Edward K. Wong; and the other, the African American household of Cut and Bikini Caddie, childhood friends of her husband. While this may seem to be a strange homogenization, don’t underestimate the power of a tiny grain of rice connecting peoples of the world in a melting pot of humanity.

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While researching his book, Slaves in the Family, Edward Ball came to Sierra Leone and visited Bunce Island, the British slave castle. It was there that his ancestor, a South Carolina planter, purchased a little girl he called, "Priscilla”, from a slave ship. Edward found a link to Priscilla from her modern day descendants, an African-American family living in Charleston, South Carolina. Amazingly, Edward was able to trace slaves taken from Sierra Leone to a particular place in the American South. This lead to a homecoming of community leaders from slave decendent communities in the South back to their ancestral homes in Sierra Leone. And this was all made possible by the fabric that held artist Flo Oy Wong’s exhibit together, tiny grains of rice!

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Rice was South Carolina and Georgia’s staple crop in the 18th Century, and rice planters in the low country region of those colonies were willing to pay high prices for Africans brought from the "Rice Coast”, the traditional rice-growing area stretching from what is now Senegal and Gambia down to Sierra Leone and Liberia. Rice planting in the Southern colonies was labor-intensive and demanded specialized knowledge. Low country planters even knew about “Bance Island”, as it was called then. And slaves knew more about the business of the rice than their owners for generations. Indigo, cotton, forest products and manufacturing never came close to matching the riches that planters drew from slave-based rice production.

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Social Network

Social Network

Going Underground to get on the road to good health!

Annually, the Heritage and Health Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Wellness Medicine, conducts its Health Mission. We go out into the community, with the goal of educating, empowering and motivating interested members of our society in general, and African-Americans specifically, in the message of the components of a healthful lifestyle. This year, we will continue our journey along the historic Underground Railroad, as we “go underground to get on the road to good health”! I will be riding portions of the Ohio leg of the Underground Railroad, mostly using the route planned by the Adventure Cycling Association. If you are interested in following the journey, sign our guestbook at www.thewellmed.com, whereby you opt in to the Grapevine Telegraph, a biweekly ezine summarizing health and wellness news and topics of importance. It is edited by a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, Certified in Adult and Child and Adolescent Weight Management! You can support us with a donation, or purchasing a two-year subscription to The ESPN magazine, for $40. Just visit http://store.thewellmed.com and click new on the left.

As a special gift for your support, you will receive a copy of the 2006 Health Mission, “Rode Down the River”, my trip alone Natchez Trace in Mississippi. See you on the e-road to good health! And by the way, the year is more than half over, you have reached “Halftime”. How are you doing with your health and wellness goals? It’s never too late to start.

It is still alive:)

The last post declared that dinnertime is still alive and I am so happy. The holidays usually bring about an increase of family dining, and let's keep it going into the new year!

The Associated Press: AP poll: Family dinnertime in America still alive

The Associated Press: AP poll: Family dinnertime in America still alive

Stirring up Memories!

This has been a special summer. I have been spending a lot of time, stirring up memories with my children. I am writing a book about how our fellowship at the table has helped establish this great relationship we have. We stirred up many memories this year. We learned how to ride a bike. We went on a train trip to the nation's Capital and went on a tour of the Capital Building. We tried many different foods, and got so much exercise, even I needed a break. We even earned new bikes!

Part of having a culinary conversation is to have something to talk about and I can not think of a more stimulating topic than the fellowship between a parent and children, especially in today's multimedia communication environment. Share some table time, and it is OK to eat with your hands!

Cycle Friendly

I just returned from a 10.6 mile walk in Chicago, while waiting for my train to leave. While I was out, I saw another food truck, BQ Afro Root Cuisine, Nigerian Food (see previous post).

I also saw hundreds of people using bicycles for commuting. Really. I have heard it was bike friendly, but to see it was amazing. There were signs to tell drivers to yield to cyclist. And they did.

When I return tomorrow, my kids and I will be on our bikes and I hope everyone joins us in some form of exercise of moderate intensity.