Food connects me to my family, to my ancestors, to a land distant but important nonetheless. This is what is meant by soul food, the food we share with those we love. Memories made without even trying. The every day made magic. Spanning cultures and times.

The problem was not the music, imagery, or movements themselves, but their treatment within our capitalist paradigm in which cultural practices are taken out of context, commodified, trademarked, and sold.

Food is more than just nourishment for our bodies, it links us to people, to places and while, when we think of food insecurity, the more obvious losses from not having enough to eat come to mind, there is also a loss that comes with food insecurity that is deeper than hunger. Food is the thread that weaves through the tapestry of life, bringing people closer together.

Whenever you are working with a practitioner who displays only confidence without curiosity, beware. When they only tell you what is true about you without asking you to check it out for yourself, without listening when you disagree, then they have dismissed your own self-authority and self-expertise. How can you trust a person to be accountable to their shadow when they do not accept feedback or accountability?

So whilst there is a separation in culture between the generations, even within the culture one is raised within, for how many of us live the same lives as our grandparents or even our parents, it doesn’t mean that our heritage isn’t important nor does it reduce it.