Happy New Year Beginnings

When I think of beginnings at this time of year, two of the New Year traditions that I grew up with come to mind. 

In many African American homes, the first person to come through the door HAD to be a man -- this would ensure good luck throughout the year. That man would often have the "job" of visiting several homes as the first to walk through the door on New Year's Day. My husband is from the Bronx and told me that there was a neighbor who went from door to door to fulfill this tradition. Within his South Carolina family, an uncle would perform the tradition. In our family it was Uncle Arthur, my mother's brother, who visited our home, among a few other homes of friends and family. 

The star of New Year's day dinner is always black-eyed peas and greens -- the beans to bring good luck and the greens for financial fortune. It wasn't until I became an adult that I learned that this particular food tradition was so steeped in the African American experience. There are a variety of explanations on how this meal came to represent good luck and fortune and why it is a New Year's Day staple.

As in most cultures, food and food traditions define the African American experience. Here are some cookbooks that reflect on the history and origins of African inspired cooking throughout the diaspora:

Soul & Spice by Heidi Haughy Cusick

Black Family Reunion Cookbook by the National Council of Negro Women

Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook: A Collection of African American Cooking by Albert Lukas

An African American Cookbook: Tradition and Other Favorite Recipes by Phoebe Bailey

Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin

  

Copyright © 2021 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.