2020 Juneteenth Celebration
2020 Juneteenth Celebration
Food for the Body, Food for the Soul
June 18, 19 & 20, 2020
Live Streamed Cooking Demonstration, African Drumming Live Streamed from the Portsmouth African Burying Ground, A Virtual Concert, & A Virtual Community Dialogue Featuring Special Guest Adrian Miller
There is more of a connection between food, culture, and our soul than we may think.
On a small scale, food ties us to memories of our childhood and our families. On a larger scale, food connects us to an important part of our culture and the expression of our cultural identity.
With a focus on the history of Soul Food and Soul Music, this year’s Juneteenth Celebration offers a series of engaging, informative, and entertaining programs that examine the connection between food and historical events in the Black community. Programs also highlight how those involved in the creation of certain dishes weave together a narrative of Black culture, lifestyle, values, and beliefs that shapes how Americans eat.
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2020 | 3:00PM
Zoom & Facebook Live
Cooking with Selina: A Soul Food Cooking Show
African American cuisine, Soul Food, is one of the most popular and recognizable types of cooking in the United States. It was birthed in the deep South from a history of enslavement, relentless racism, and ingenuity. Forced to live off scraps from their enslavers, enslaved Africans blended African and American cultural traditions, techniques, and certain ingredients to create incredibly delicious and culturally unique dishes.
Join Selina Choate in her home kitchen for this live demonstration to see how she puts her own twist on an authentic Soul Food meal.
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020 | 1:00PM | Zoom & Facebook Live
Music to Celebrate Our Ancestors: Drumming, Dance & Song
Music: It feeds the soul, fuels the body, inspires artists, influences politics, and impacts just about every part of our lives.
For this commemorative event, live streaming from the Portsmouth African Burying Ground, members of the African drumming and dance group Akwaaba Ensemble and Rev. Robert Thompson will honor the ancestors who survived the Middle Passage with traditional songs and dance.
FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2020 | 7:00PM
Zoom & Facebook Live Performance
Songs that Feed the Soul: A Concert
The daily struggles, triumphs, hopes and failures of generations of Black Americans are carefully and methodically recorded not only in the pages of history textbooks but also by the music and lyrics of the era.
This virtual concert, features performances from members of the Negro Ensemble Company New York including Burgundy Williams, Joy Brown, Michael Andreaus, Sean Mason, & special guest N'Kenge, will feature songs that defined certain eras in African American history. From the coded messages of subversion implicit in traditional Spirituals to the stirring soulful songs emanating from Motown, this musical montage will have you testifying to the impact of Black music on America and the world.
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020 | 10:00AM
Zoom Panel
The Diet of Our Ancestors: What History & Science Reveals
During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, enslaved Africans were given meager food rations that were low in quality and nutritional value. With these rations, enslaved people preserved African food traditions and adapted traditional recipes with the resources available. Over time, these recipes and techniques have become the Soul Food dishes we are familiar with today. This food genre, now associated with comfort and decadence, was born out of struggle and survival.
This panel of scholars, featuring special guest Adrian Miller, will explore how history, science, and food connect major events in African American history and define Black culinary traditions. The panel will also share what dental metrics and plaque analysis can tell us about New Hampshire’s early African Americans.
Presenters:
Adrian Miller
Amy Michael
Kendra Smith
Moderator:
Shari Robinson
Bio Gallery
Vice-President of BHTNH Board, Associate Director for McNair Scholars Program, University of New Hampshire
Founding President. Founder and Pastor of Sovereign Souls Fellowship Church. Exeter, New Hampshire
Member of the Negro Ensemble Company of New York
Member of the Negro Ensemble Company of New York
Member of the Negro Ensemble Company of New York
N’Kenge’s unique genre-crossing vocal stylings and five-octave range have wowed audiences from New York to Paris to Monte Carlo.
Scholar
Scholar
Scholar
Assistant Vice Provost, Student Life University of New Hampshire Dover, New Hampshire
Preserve Black History in New Hampshire