The high cost of Freedom Soup
Today is Ancestors Day in Ayiti. I was slow to get out of bed because although it was raining it was the first time I could see the sun in ages. I really missed the sun and I felt so blessed to start this day of commemoration with the sun… the fire that animates us all.
As I was meditating (and today I use this word VERY loosely) I thought about the new old trend to have Soup Joumou to celebrate Ayitian Independence. This tradition is literally over 200 years old but you know you’ve arrived when publications like Bon Appetit are butchering the recipe for clicks. IYKYK. All jokes aside Ayiti reached a new level of mainstream acceptability this year as UNESCO added Soup Joumou to the list of intangible cultural heritage. I immediately became suspicious and quite protective because whenever our culture hits the mainstream it is only a matter of time before it gets whitewashed and stripped of all meaning (and if they’re really feeling “creative” both demonized and commodified *cough Vodou cough cough Zombies cough cough cough cough* it’s not the ‘Rona I swear). I immediately felt silly at my defensiveness because Soup Joumou wasn’t even part of my family’s New Year traditions. I know that we used to have Bouyon sometimes but the more common way we celebrated the new year was with Hot (Ayitian) Chocolate and white bread or even Ayitian Bread. I felt disconnected from the publicly observed custom because our family custom was different. The estrangement I feel as a child born outside of Ayiti was compounded by the fact the my Ayitian parents and grandparents failed to uphold this tradition that is quintessentially Ayitian, right. But then I remember being in Ayiti for New Years and having to search, like really search for Soup Joumou. I calIed my bestie in Ayiti and he said that they didn’t make the soup either because it is a very expensive dish. And that immediately rang true. I remember that a dish full of fresh root vegetables and meat and gourds is expensive. Especially in New York City. After the big Christmas meal making a soup like that would have been quite the financial strain. What is ironic is the very reason we value soup joumou today is its original inherent inaccessibility.
Enslaved people were prohibited from eating Joumou or pumpkin in Kreyol (in some cases squash). The food was considered of too high a value to be shared with property. Naturally, after hundreds of years at war and over 12 years of extreme but strategic sacrifice the people of the Hayti* Empire reclaimed the bounty that they worked hard to create. In this case they created a food that would provide them with the nourishment that could restore them and sustain in the time to come. This is where Soup Joumou comes from- a symbol of freedom won at a very high cost.
If we return to the Gregorian year of 2022, we are again faced with the fact that partaking of Soup Joumou on New Year’s Day is still for the privileged. The circumstances may appear different, but the violence remains. There are people living in a country that can have 3 harvests a year who cannot afford Soup Joumou. There are people who due to conditions at home have had to move far away to make a better life which again makes access to these traditions difficult. I look at how we are making memes and celebrating how we’ve made it on social media, and I can’t help but wonder at the current cost. We got to a place where we are seen but who did we have to leave behind to get here.
Don’t get me wrong this is not a glorification of struggle. I believe that our joy our ease and our abundance has been bought and paid for many times over. If not one more drop of Black blood sweat or tears is spilled ever again from now till the end of time we would still be owed. What I am trying to point out is liberation that is not accessible to all is no liberation at all.
It should be noted that there are some organizations at the grassroots level working hard to share this tradition with those who cannot afford it. Fondasyon Felicitee has been feeding Ayitian people’s minds and bellies for many years and if you live in or near a Ayitian hub like Brooklyn, Boston, or Miami you may find a space to partake. If however like me you are far away and/ or your finances or circumstances mean Soup Joumou is not a realistic way to connect; if you do not have the time or the money or the access to ingredients to take part in this tradition know that you are still Ayitian. You are still whole. If you are able to find your connection in a way that is not popular or mainstream check the harm quotient and then love your individual and unique point of contact. It matters because you matter.
This is not a criticism or attack of those who have been able to find connection and community with this practice of sharing soup. This is simply an attempt to make space for and acknowledge those who have not yet arrived at this place of emancipation.
Those who are facing financial emotional spiritual intellectual and physical barriers to living this particular tradition.
The intentional separation of branches and leaves from trunk and root that colors our Afrikan history the fracturing and sorting of identity along gender class ability and various markers of desirability and disposability can leave us feeling lonely within the spaces that at first glance are ours.
I say all these things to say if you are on Earth, you can find your roots and your connection. It requires you to dig deep within yourself… deep enough to decipher the messages encoded in your DNA. Reach within the spaces where you know what you know- where you recognize that we all have value and we all have our roles. I promise to do this work and if you too commit to this, then I am sure we will all find ourselves at home.
Hmmm a great way to observe Ancestor’s Day.
Ayibobo
*Hayti is the 19th century spelling used for the land called the Taino called Ayiti.
