CFP: Revolutionary Soul Food

Okra. Chitterlings. Grits. Ham hocks. Gumbo. Black food traditions from Africa and throughout the diaspora from the 1500s to the present-day have been shaped by laborers, migrants, enslaved and free people, herbalists, activists, horticulturalists, caterers, dieticians, and cooks. Soul Food has often been revolutionary in how Black people have not only used it for survival and gastronomic enjoyment, but also as a display of culture that encapsulates the wide-ranging, historic Black experience on farms, in slave quarters, in restaurants and juke joints, in grassroots activism for civil rights, and vegan food trucks. Furthermore, the editors of Black Perspectives, the award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual Society, invite submissions from scholars who seek to add to the ongoing scholarship of Jessica B. Harris, Frederick Douglass Opie, Adrian Miller, and others who have contributed to Black Food History. These essays should consider, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• The impact of African food traditions on U.S. and World cuisines
• The relationship between foodways and migration/immigration
• How food is defined by race, class, gender, and citizenship
• Food security and sustainability
• The importance of food in social activism and protest
• Cross-cultural food traditions and multiculturalism

Submissions should be between 750 and 1500 words. They must be submitted to the senior editors no later than May 31st at 11:59 pm Eastern time. With your submission, please provide your bio (250-300 words) and a headshot (for use if your essay is accepted).

All submissions will undergo a peer review process before they are accepted. Please click here for more details on the blog’s submission guidelines as well as information regarding format and citations.