Soul Food

So I was talking to a new friend of mine, a young MC by the name of JRid 3000 reppin the UK. We had been discussing cultural differences our respective regions, and he asked me to tell him about the Dirty South. I'm glad he asked me that ladies and gentlemen...

As I began to tell him about it, it really took me back. Back to before the bling era. Back to the dust of the dirt roads. Back to my grandmama and grandaddy. Back to the best of years: 1995.

I began to tell him about the reeeeal Dirty South: where the struggle against racism created a beautiful bond between Black people; where family was the most important thing, second only to God; where there was poverty and paradise in the same place. I told him about OutKast and Goodie Mob. No, not the Speakerboxxx/The Love Below OutKast you just met. The Southernplayalisticadillacmusik and ATLiens you never knew about. Ask me one day, I'll tell ya;-).

Then the J asked me about Soul Food... Such a powerful question!

I told him about macaroni and cheese, collard greens, fried chicken, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato salad, sweet potato pie, cornbread, ham, and all that good stuff. But then I told him what it means to us. See, it's not the food really; it's the relationships that make the soul food. It's the matriarch of the family putting her strength and love in the food she cooks from scratch, reflecting the things she learned from her mother . It's the family and friends coming together and contributing, sharing the same spirit of joy, happiness, sorrow, and pain. It's the sitting at a table together and saying grace to bring God in the midst of the gathering. And then it's the laughing and sharing, the crying and comforting, the hugging and playing. That's what feeds our souls. That's soul food. That's why even hot dogs and chips at an old school block party are soul food; because it's a gathering of people in a spirit of love and sharing.

Then my friend asked me about the Goodie Mob video for their 1995 hit song "Soul Food". In it, the group goes from working in a corporate fast-food restaurant to opening their own people-oriented Soul Food restaurant. And it reminded me of so much. About how we used to do things for others out of love and not out of need. How things haven't always been about business, but that there used to be a genuine concern for people. I felt myself slipping back in time, and I couldn't believe how a simple question, "What is soul food", could move me so much.

You know what?... I think I'm gonna have a family gathering. And I wanna do some cooking, like my mom used to. And I want to put time and effort into it, none of that microwave stuff. Maybe this Christmas! Matter of fact, there needs to be a block party or something where families just get together and enjoy each other. Especially with our families falling apart the way they are. It would be a beautiful thing.

And I don't at all think Soul Food is a strictly "Black thing". J is a White brotha, and he was telling me they do the same type of thing in England. So shoot... why can't we all do it together, ya know?

"Come and get some Soul Food... (well well)
Good Old-Fashioned Soul Food... (all right)
Everything is for free, as good as it can be,
Come and get some Soul Food..."

GA to UK; it's All LoveB-J