1 00:00:06,006 --> 00:00:08,425 [jazz music playing] 2 00:00:09,009 --> 00:00:10,385 [Stephen] Atlanta, Georgia. 3 00:00:12,387 --> 00:00:13,555 I grew up here. 4 00:00:15,515 --> 00:00:18,601 It's the place where I first fell in love with food. 5 00:00:19,310 --> 00:00:21,855 Food that has an incredibly deep connection 6 00:00:21,938 --> 00:00:23,773 to the Civil Rights Movement. 7 00:00:24,399 --> 00:00:28,987 It was food that both mobilized and funded the movement. 8 00:00:29,571 --> 00:00:32,782 I'm back home to meet three former student activists 9 00:00:32,866 --> 00:00:37,287 who planned and executed a galvanizing civil rights operation 10 00:00:37,370 --> 00:00:39,873 in order to desegregate restaurants, 11 00:00:39,956 --> 00:00:43,126 and allow Black Americans to dine with dignity. 12 00:00:45,837 --> 00:00:47,088 [jazz music ends] 13 00:00:49,799 --> 00:00:51,801 [theme song playing] 14 00:01:41,559 --> 00:01:43,561 [jazz music playing] 15 00:01:45,980 --> 00:01:49,484 [Stephen] My city still echoes the cause of the Civil Rights Movement. 16 00:01:50,610 --> 00:01:53,780 This is a place where demonstrations and political strategy work 17 00:01:53,863 --> 00:01:56,074 overflowed from every street corner, 18 00:01:56,866 --> 00:01:59,911 especially the protests directed by Black students 19 00:02:00,703 --> 00:02:03,248 ushering in a new style of activism. 20 00:02:04,082 --> 00:02:06,459 [man] During the early weeks of 1960, 21 00:02:06,543 --> 00:02:08,336 the demonstrations that came to be called 22 00:02:08,419 --> 00:02:11,256 the "sit-in movement" exploded across the South. 23 00:02:12,048 --> 00:02:15,593 [Stephen] College students across campuses like Morehouse and Spelman 24 00:02:15,677 --> 00:02:19,806 organized numerous sit-ins and effectively dismantled 25 00:02:19,889 --> 00:02:21,933 a Jim Crow segregated system 26 00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:27,480 that prevented African Americans from being served in public spaces. 27 00:02:29,190 --> 00:02:32,402 Decades later, these former student activists, 28 00:02:32,485 --> 00:02:35,780 Dr. Georgianne Thomas, Marilyn Pryce Hoytt, 29 00:02:35,864 --> 00:02:39,492 and Charles Black are reunited at Paschal's, 30 00:02:39,576 --> 00:02:44,497 a Black-owned restaurant that provided these activists support in the '60s. 31 00:02:45,165 --> 00:02:47,292 [Stephen] I am extremely honored 32 00:02:47,375 --> 00:02:49,586 to be here with you all at Paschal's. 33 00:02:49,669 --> 00:02:53,047 It's really important to me that we speak your names today 34 00:02:53,131 --> 00:02:55,008 and give you all an opportunity 35 00:02:55,091 --> 00:02:58,136 to uplift the names of others who are not here. 36 00:02:59,387 --> 00:03:02,432 And Mr. Black, I see you have… You're a Morehouse man. 37 00:03:02,515 --> 00:03:06,144 They wouldn't let me in Spelman because some kind of gender bias there. 38 00:03:06,227 --> 00:03:07,145 [laugh] 39 00:03:07,228 --> 00:03:09,355 [Black] So I had to go to Morehouse. 40 00:03:09,439 --> 00:03:13,234 So, yeah, talk to us about y'all's original initial connection. 41 00:03:13,318 --> 00:03:15,653 Well, the Atlanta University Center 42 00:03:15,737 --> 00:03:18,656 was, at that time, the largest concentration 43 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:21,284 of higher education for Blacks in the country. 44 00:03:21,367 --> 00:03:23,036 And for the very first time, 45 00:03:23,119 --> 00:03:27,123 students came together as one to effect change 46 00:03:27,207 --> 00:03:30,418 and the cooperation among all of us 47 00:03:30,501 --> 00:03:35,256 led to an effective boycott and picketing in all of downtown Atlanta. 48 00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:37,842 [Stephen] This is the early '60s. 49 00:03:37,926 --> 00:03:40,428 This is a time of mobilization. 50 00:03:40,511 --> 00:03:43,890 Dr. Karcheik, who is an amazing scholar 51 00:03:43,973 --> 00:03:48,728 and historian of all things Black Atlanta and civil rights, 52 00:03:48,811 --> 00:03:50,772 why don't you give us a little context? 53 00:03:50,855 --> 00:03:51,898 When you look at 54 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,193 the history of African Americans and their quest for freedom, 55 00:03:55,276 --> 00:03:59,197 they're actually part of this long civil rights narrative, 56 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,407 dating all the way back to Reconstruction. 57 00:04:01,491 --> 00:04:04,911 As you all are organizing in the Atlanta University Center, 58 00:04:04,994 --> 00:04:08,623 what happens is that it ignites a fire, 59 00:04:10,041 --> 00:04:13,753 and your generation wanted to destroy Jim Crow. 60 00:04:13,836 --> 00:04:15,171 -[Marilyn] Yes. -[Georgianne] Yes. 61 00:04:15,255 --> 00:04:17,131 [Black] My generation was pissed off from birth. 62 00:04:18,716 --> 00:04:20,093 My parents were the generation 63 00:04:20,176 --> 00:04:23,137 that Tom Brokaw called "The Greatest Generation." 64 00:04:23,221 --> 00:04:24,180 [sad music playing] 65 00:04:24,264 --> 00:04:27,100 [Black] It was that generation that was conscripted in the military 66 00:04:27,183 --> 00:04:28,768 to go overseas 67 00:04:28,851 --> 00:04:31,187 to fight and make the world safe for democracy, 68 00:04:31,938 --> 00:04:34,440 only to come back and be called "niggers." 69 00:04:34,941 --> 00:04:38,361 And to be abused and insulted while wearing their uniforms, 70 00:04:38,444 --> 00:04:41,406 even some lynched while wearing their uniforms. 71 00:04:42,615 --> 00:04:44,284 We knew all that stuff wasn't right, 72 00:04:44,367 --> 00:04:48,413 so, uh, we were prepared for the action that we took. 73 00:04:48,496 --> 00:04:49,789 Radicalized. 74 00:04:49,872 --> 00:04:52,834 -Born radicalized, basically, you know. -[Stephen] That's right. 75 00:04:53,835 --> 00:04:58,214 [Stephen] Still teenagers, these activists put their bodies on the line 76 00:04:58,298 --> 00:05:02,385 and took on the task to desegregate restaurants and other public spaces, 77 00:05:03,011 --> 00:05:04,762 leading up to a little-known, 78 00:05:04,846 --> 00:05:08,099 but extremely impactful, civil rights operation. 79 00:05:10,518 --> 00:05:12,562 We were 16, 17, 18. 80 00:05:12,645 --> 00:05:15,982 And I had just turned 19. 81 00:05:16,065 --> 00:05:18,609 The leaders came and spoke to us and said, 82 00:05:18,693 --> 00:05:21,195 "You must fight. You must March." 83 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,033 I was the first one because I couldn't eat a hot dog. 84 00:05:25,783 --> 00:05:29,454 What do you mean? You gotta go to a back door to get a hot dog? 85 00:05:30,496 --> 00:05:31,873 I'm from Gary, Indiana. 86 00:05:31,956 --> 00:05:35,752 I didn't have any idea what it meant to come to school in the South. 87 00:05:36,627 --> 00:05:41,424 And so, on October 19th, we got up and followed these people. 88 00:05:42,008 --> 00:05:44,344 And we walked out of Spelman College, 89 00:05:44,427 --> 00:05:46,679 and we met up with the Morehouse men 90 00:05:46,763 --> 00:05:49,390 and the Atlanta University students. 91 00:05:49,474 --> 00:05:50,850 It took something for me 92 00:05:50,933 --> 00:05:53,978 because my mother had told me, "You'd better not do it." 93 00:05:54,062 --> 00:05:56,397 She was so angry with me. She said, 94 00:05:56,481 --> 00:06:00,443 "I sent you to Spelman to get an education, 95 00:06:00,526 --> 00:06:03,738 and you down there… What are you down there doing?" 96 00:06:04,739 --> 00:06:06,616 But I couldn't stop myself. 97 00:06:06,699 --> 00:06:08,701 [upbeat music playing] 98 00:06:15,500 --> 00:06:18,628 [Black] On October 19th, we focused on Rich's department store, 99 00:06:19,295 --> 00:06:21,923 and for good reason. We knew that if Rich's fell, 100 00:06:22,465 --> 00:06:23,966 everybody else would fall 101 00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:26,302 because Rich's was everybody's favorite store. 102 00:06:26,803 --> 00:06:30,640 [Marilyn] We grew up going to Rich's. There was the Magnolia Tea Room. 103 00:06:30,723 --> 00:06:32,850 And it was just a restaurant, but to us… 104 00:06:32,934 --> 00:06:34,894 -[Black] White tablecloths. -…it was magnificent. 105 00:06:34,977 --> 00:06:38,398 -White tablecloths, china, silverware. -[Black] Yeah, silverware. That's right. 106 00:06:38,481 --> 00:06:41,401 [Marilyn] But we never went there. We went down to the basement, 107 00:06:41,484 --> 00:06:43,736 -where there was a little snack bar. -[Georgianne] Mm-hmm. 108 00:06:43,820 --> 00:06:46,489 [Marilyn] It was not a restaurant for the colored. 109 00:06:47,490 --> 00:06:49,867 And so that made it even more personal to us. 110 00:06:49,951 --> 00:06:51,411 And so I was ready. 111 00:06:51,494 --> 00:06:53,496 And then these organizers, 112 00:06:53,579 --> 00:06:56,707 they explained to us what the sit-in was going to be about. 113 00:06:57,291 --> 00:06:58,835 And they told us, 114 00:06:58,918 --> 00:07:02,630 "If you are prepared to go to jail for six months, 115 00:07:03,464 --> 00:07:05,216 go to the right side of the room." 116 00:07:06,050 --> 00:07:08,261 Two of my roommates and myself, 117 00:07:08,845 --> 00:07:12,140 we automatically went. We didn't think about it. We knew. 118 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:16,018 On the morning of the 19th, 119 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:19,105 leaders told us, "Go back to the dorm, 120 00:07:19,188 --> 00:07:21,607 pack your bag, have your books ready." 121 00:07:21,691 --> 00:07:24,569 "We will pick them up and bring them to you at the jail." 122 00:07:24,652 --> 00:07:27,155 What time did it start? I don't remember the time. 123 00:07:27,238 --> 00:07:29,407 It was in the morning. And we assembled in front 124 00:07:29,490 --> 00:07:32,243 -of Trevor Arnett Library at AU Center. -Yes. 125 00:07:32,326 --> 00:07:34,078 [Marilyn] We held hands and prayed. 126 00:07:34,162 --> 00:07:36,456 -Yes. -We sang songs. 127 00:07:37,039 --> 00:07:38,833 And one of them was, 128 00:07:38,916 --> 00:07:41,752 "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around." 129 00:07:41,836 --> 00:07:42,962 That was the spirit. 130 00:07:43,045 --> 00:07:44,422 -We had that spirit. -Yes. 131 00:07:44,505 --> 00:07:47,550 And "I woke up this morning with my mind," 132 00:07:47,633 --> 00:07:50,845 at first, we would say, "stayed on Jesus," right? 133 00:07:50,928 --> 00:07:55,475 But the next line, "I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom." 134 00:07:55,558 --> 00:07:58,311 I knew that God was with us 135 00:07:58,853 --> 00:08:01,314 and that all that had been in my background, 136 00:08:01,397 --> 00:08:05,067 my parents, my grandparents, and ancestors 137 00:08:05,151 --> 00:08:08,029 was there on that day with me. 138 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:11,407 The experiences that you all had, 139 00:08:11,491 --> 00:08:15,244 these are not histories that can be understood 140 00:08:15,828 --> 00:08:17,788 by even reading a textbook. 141 00:08:18,456 --> 00:08:22,793 And I feel that presence and the historical significance 142 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:25,880 being with you all here. I would love to know 143 00:08:25,963 --> 00:08:29,675 about the actual event itself, 144 00:08:30,384 --> 00:08:33,095 and what happened to you, 145 00:08:34,055 --> 00:08:35,431 what you remember, 146 00:08:36,599 --> 00:08:37,934 what you tried to forget. 147 00:08:41,270 --> 00:08:43,105 I remember on October 19th, 148 00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:46,651 we had to walk up the hill onto Rich's 149 00:08:47,818 --> 00:08:49,904 and the Klan was waiting for us. 150 00:08:49,987 --> 00:08:52,323 I was like, "Oh my God, what's gonna happen to me?" 151 00:08:52,406 --> 00:08:53,824 [speaks angrily] I'm 17 years old! 152 00:08:54,909 --> 00:08:57,161 These people got on white robes. 153 00:08:57,245 --> 00:08:58,538 They spat on us. 154 00:08:58,621 --> 00:09:01,874 You'd feel people spitting on you and calling you "nigger." 155 00:09:01,958 --> 00:09:06,170 Here I am, a child and, you know, walking with my little placard, 156 00:09:06,754 --> 00:09:08,923 thinking about, "My mother's gonna kill me, 157 00:09:09,006 --> 00:09:10,216 but I'mma do it anyway." 158 00:09:10,299 --> 00:09:13,719 And this man jumped out of the crowd. 159 00:09:13,803 --> 00:09:16,222 He puts a cigarette mark on my arm. 160 00:09:18,307 --> 00:09:20,309 -Right here. -[Karcheik] Oh my good Lord. 161 00:09:21,561 --> 00:09:23,020 And burns me. 162 00:09:23,104 --> 00:09:26,857 And I'm standing there like, "My mother gonna kill me for real now." 163 00:09:26,941 --> 00:09:28,693 You'd think I'd be feeling it. 164 00:09:28,776 --> 00:09:31,487 I'm thinking about, "How am I going to tell my mother?" 165 00:09:32,071 --> 00:09:35,658 -[Karcheik] Did he put his hands on you? -That he put a cigarette on me. 166 00:09:35,741 --> 00:09:38,077 How am I gonna tell my mother how I got burned? 167 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:42,373 And on that day I thought, I said, "I'm doing this. I don't care." 168 00:09:42,456 --> 00:09:46,002 And when I saw the Klan, I'm telling you, that did something to me. 169 00:09:46,085 --> 00:09:49,422 When he burned me, that did something to me. But it didn't stop me. 170 00:09:53,175 --> 00:09:55,303 [Stephen] As student activists were protesting 171 00:09:55,386 --> 00:09:58,097 and making public spaces their headquarters, 172 00:09:58,180 --> 00:10:01,601 religious groups and houses of worship provided sanctuary. 173 00:10:02,602 --> 00:10:06,856 Like the mosques where Black Muslims and members of the Nation of Islam 174 00:10:06,939 --> 00:10:10,234 nourish their community through the growing, selling, 175 00:10:10,318 --> 00:10:12,778 and making of their own food. 176 00:10:15,281 --> 00:10:17,074 -[Zaheer] Let's take our shoes off. -Okay. 177 00:10:17,158 --> 00:10:19,535 [Stephen] Zaheer Ali is a historian 178 00:10:19,619 --> 00:10:22,121 whose work centers Islam in America 179 00:10:22,204 --> 00:10:24,874 and African American history. 180 00:10:24,957 --> 00:10:28,127 In other words, just the right person to sit with 181 00:10:28,210 --> 00:10:30,963 to further understand the role of Black Muslims 182 00:10:31,047 --> 00:10:32,548 in the Civil Rights Movement. 183 00:10:33,174 --> 00:10:35,009 -Al right, Brother Zaheer. -Yes. 184 00:10:35,092 --> 00:10:37,345 Here in Atlanta, a lot of the ways 185 00:10:37,428 --> 00:10:40,348 in which we understand our Black liberation 186 00:10:40,431 --> 00:10:42,558 is through mostly Christianity. 187 00:10:43,309 --> 00:10:46,604 I wonder if that becomes, in a sense, 188 00:10:46,687 --> 00:10:49,398 the prevailing narrative. 189 00:10:49,482 --> 00:10:53,277 I think when people think about Black liberation and Black movement 190 00:10:53,361 --> 00:10:55,821 and Black religiosity in America, 191 00:10:55,905 --> 00:10:58,032 it's largely through a Christian lens 192 00:10:58,115 --> 00:11:01,243 because of the undeniable power of the Black church. 193 00:11:01,327 --> 00:11:04,789 But when we look at the role of Muslims 194 00:11:04,872 --> 00:11:06,499 during the Civil Rights Movement 195 00:11:06,582 --> 00:11:08,751 as part of the broader Black freedom struggle, 196 00:11:08,834 --> 00:11:11,337 we're talking primarily about the Nation of Islam, 197 00:11:11,420 --> 00:11:13,839 which radically affirmed Blackness 198 00:11:13,923 --> 00:11:16,634 in all of its ways and called out white supremacy. 199 00:11:16,717 --> 00:11:18,969 Free the Black people. Every Black man, woman, and child. 200 00:11:20,179 --> 00:11:23,766 By the mid-'70s, that community began to evolve 201 00:11:23,849 --> 00:11:28,771 towards more classical, traditional expression of Sunni Islam. 202 00:11:28,854 --> 00:11:33,651 And the Masjid that we are in is part of that movement. 203 00:11:34,443 --> 00:11:39,031 [Stephen] The Black Muslim community is a vibrant part of Atlanta culture, 204 00:11:39,115 --> 00:11:41,701 and this mosque is one of the many places 205 00:11:41,784 --> 00:11:44,412 you can find an authentic bean pie. 206 00:11:46,330 --> 00:11:48,290 A sweet custard pie 207 00:11:48,374 --> 00:11:51,335 made from navy beans, sugar, and spices 208 00:11:51,419 --> 00:11:54,588 in a combination that many Muslim families 209 00:11:54,672 --> 00:11:56,549 hold secret to this day. 210 00:11:56,632 --> 00:11:58,634 [indistinct chatting] 211 00:11:59,969 --> 00:12:01,595 Can you give us an origin story 212 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,640 and talk about the cultural significance of the bean pie? 213 00:12:04,724 --> 00:12:06,559 So the bean pie 214 00:12:07,143 --> 00:12:10,312 is the creation of the Nation of Islam. 215 00:12:10,855 --> 00:12:12,773 [newsreader] In the drive to be self-sufficient, 216 00:12:12,857 --> 00:12:15,651 the Nation attempts to provide for basic needs. 217 00:12:15,735 --> 00:12:18,487 Their supermarket chain encourages the Black community 218 00:12:18,571 --> 00:12:20,448 to buy their food supply there, 219 00:12:20,531 --> 00:12:23,784 especially Muslim products that come from Muslim farms, 220 00:12:23,868 --> 00:12:27,913 like beef, bread, and of course, the famous Muslim bean pie. 221 00:12:29,165 --> 00:12:32,001 [Zaheer] The bean pie is a signifier 222 00:12:32,084 --> 00:12:36,464 of autonomy and sovereignty, and an independent identity, 223 00:12:36,547 --> 00:12:40,634 and seeking something that was as free as possible 224 00:12:40,718 --> 00:12:42,428 from the legacy of slavery. 225 00:12:42,511 --> 00:12:46,098 And the bean pie is in conversation with the sweet potato pie. 226 00:12:46,182 --> 00:12:47,349 -[Stephen] Okay. -Right? 227 00:12:47,433 --> 00:12:49,059 It doesn't taste exactly the same, 228 00:12:49,143 --> 00:12:51,854 but it has some of the same spices and flavors. 229 00:12:51,937 --> 00:12:54,648 And the sweet potato pie 230 00:12:54,732 --> 00:12:57,735 was seen as a legacy of the slave diet. 231 00:12:57,818 --> 00:13:00,404 And so, to move completely away from that 232 00:13:00,488 --> 00:13:03,616 but still wanting a dessert that was tasty, 233 00:13:03,699 --> 00:13:06,535 uh, there emerged the bean pie. 234 00:13:06,619 --> 00:13:09,872 There has been a great deal of intention 235 00:13:09,955 --> 00:13:13,375 around keeping the recipe in community. 236 00:13:13,459 --> 00:13:15,920 Yeah, this pie is something 237 00:13:16,003 --> 00:13:18,422 that you have to come into the community to find. 238 00:13:18,506 --> 00:13:20,758 -You have to know some Muslims… -Mm-hmm. 239 00:13:20,841 --> 00:13:25,429 …in order to get the original recipe flavor. 240 00:13:25,513 --> 00:13:27,556 Yeah. We are having conversations 241 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:32,061 around cultural appropriation in food more broadly, 242 00:13:32,144 --> 00:13:34,271 but this was kind of forward-looking 243 00:13:34,355 --> 00:13:38,317 with the bean pie saying, "Actually, we're gonna keep this close." 244 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,903 I talked to this one elder who said, 245 00:13:40,986 --> 00:13:42,613 "This was our miracle." 246 00:13:42,696 --> 00:13:44,865 Right? Like, this was one of our gifts, 247 00:13:44,949 --> 00:13:47,034 and that is not something 248 00:13:47,117 --> 00:13:49,537 that can be taken and that… 249 00:13:49,620 --> 00:13:51,038 There have been attempts 250 00:13:51,121 --> 00:13:55,292 to, uh, colonize the bean pie, 251 00:13:55,376 --> 00:13:58,587 but, umm, they just don't have 252 00:13:58,671 --> 00:14:02,758 the same flavor profile. They don't have the same texture, 253 00:14:02,842 --> 00:14:03,926 but most importantly, 254 00:14:04,009 --> 00:14:05,761 -they don't have the community. -Right. 255 00:14:05,845 --> 00:14:07,847 [chanting] 256 00:14:09,974 --> 00:14:11,684 -[Malikah] Salam alaykum. -Alaykum salam. 257 00:14:11,767 --> 00:14:15,437 [Zaheer] So we are ready to sample your pies. 258 00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:16,647 I… I can't wait. 259 00:14:17,189 --> 00:14:19,441 -[Stephen] MJ. -[Malikah] MJ. Yes. 260 00:14:19,525 --> 00:14:23,737 [Stephen] Malikah Jordan, who grew up working in her family's Brooklyn bakery, 261 00:14:24,321 --> 00:14:28,617 is now a staple in this community because of her authentic bean pies. 262 00:14:28,701 --> 00:14:29,743 Okay. 263 00:14:29,827 --> 00:14:31,453 [Zaheer] I have eaten quite a few. 264 00:14:31,537 --> 00:14:33,455 -I do see that. -[Zaheer laughs] 265 00:14:33,539 --> 00:14:34,582 [Malikah] Yes. 266 00:14:34,665 --> 00:14:38,460 [Stephen] I have memories of my dad bringing home the bean pies. 267 00:14:38,544 --> 00:14:41,422 And he used to work for a family, 268 00:14:41,505 --> 00:14:44,508 uh, that had a bunch of seafood restaurants here in Atlanta. 269 00:14:44,592 --> 00:14:45,926 -Yes. -Yasin's. 270 00:14:46,010 --> 00:14:48,512 -[Malikah] Oh Yasin's! -You… I saw your eyes get wide. 271 00:14:48,596 --> 00:14:51,348 I just love that in my own household, 272 00:14:51,849 --> 00:14:54,810 where we grew up in a Christian church, 273 00:14:54,894 --> 00:14:58,606 I also grew up with bean pies on my counter 274 00:14:58,689 --> 00:15:00,316 because my daddy knew what was good. 275 00:15:00,399 --> 00:15:01,317 [Malikah] That's right. 276 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,611 And he got put on from his people at Yasin's. 277 00:15:03,694 --> 00:15:04,987 Listen. 278 00:15:05,070 --> 00:15:08,991 It's just been really enlightening for me 279 00:15:09,074 --> 00:15:13,078 to see the ways in which our Black American 280 00:15:13,162 --> 00:15:16,290 and Black Muslim identities and our food 281 00:15:16,373 --> 00:15:20,377 have been adjacent and alongside each other all the time. 282 00:15:20,461 --> 00:15:22,254 [Zaheer] Yeah, it's kind of a food ministry. 283 00:15:22,338 --> 00:15:25,174 Maybe someone who's Muslim 284 00:15:25,257 --> 00:15:27,343 might not dine at a table 285 00:15:27,426 --> 00:15:30,512 where pork chops are served, or chitlins are served, 286 00:15:30,596 --> 00:15:33,474 but a bean pie might be present at that table for dessert. 287 00:15:33,557 --> 00:15:34,391 Right. 288 00:15:34,475 --> 00:15:37,019 [Zaheer] So there's a way that Black Muslims are showing up, 289 00:15:37,102 --> 00:15:39,063 if not in person, in food. 290 00:15:39,146 --> 00:15:40,064 [Stephen] Yeah. 291 00:15:41,106 --> 00:15:44,318 Mmm. Yes. I love seeing my customers enjoy the pie. 292 00:15:44,401 --> 00:15:46,528 See, this is how I know you're a real one, 293 00:15:46,612 --> 00:15:48,739 because the joy that you feel 294 00:15:48,822 --> 00:15:50,574 watching other people eat your food. 295 00:15:50,658 --> 00:15:52,493 -Yes. -That's how I know you care. 296 00:15:52,576 --> 00:15:54,536 I put it into that pie. I hope you taste it. 297 00:15:54,620 --> 00:15:57,206 I do. And I see it too. I appreciate the love. 298 00:15:57,289 --> 00:15:58,374 [Malikah] Awesome. 299 00:15:58,457 --> 00:16:00,584 What is the lineage of your recipe? 300 00:16:00,668 --> 00:16:02,586 My lineage is three generations. 301 00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:04,129 It dates back to my grandmother. 302 00:16:04,213 --> 00:16:07,883 And her and my grandfather owned two bakeries in Brooklyn, New York. 303 00:16:07,967 --> 00:16:10,094 And I was always at her side in the kitchen 304 00:16:10,177 --> 00:16:11,887 while she was making the bean pie mix. 305 00:16:11,971 --> 00:16:14,098 [Zaheer] Do you know where your grandmother 306 00:16:14,181 --> 00:16:16,475 -got her recipe from that you inherited? -[Malikah] Yes. 307 00:16:16,558 --> 00:16:19,561 She came through the Nation of Islam. They put your bean pie to the test. 308 00:16:19,645 --> 00:16:20,688 There was a bar. 309 00:16:20,771 --> 00:16:21,605 [Malikah] There was. 310 00:16:21,689 --> 00:16:23,482 It has to be legit. 311 00:16:23,565 --> 00:16:27,069 And actually, in this mosque, they tasted the pie and said, 312 00:16:27,152 --> 00:16:30,739 "Okay, you can set up camp. You can sell to the community." 313 00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:34,827 So you had to get your pies approved before you could start selling here? 314 00:16:34,910 --> 00:16:38,080 Yes. That was major, like, a major welcoming for me, 315 00:16:38,163 --> 00:16:40,541 and really established me in the community… 316 00:16:40,624 --> 00:16:42,710 -[Stephen] Yeah. -…as the bean pie sister. 317 00:16:44,545 --> 00:16:47,297 [Stephen] Black-owned businesses and restaurants alike 318 00:16:47,381 --> 00:16:49,925 rose to the occasion to protect and nourish 319 00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:52,219 the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. 320 00:16:52,803 --> 00:16:55,014 Restaurants like Busy Bee, 321 00:16:55,097 --> 00:16:58,142 Frazier's Cafe Society, and Paschal's, 322 00:16:58,225 --> 00:17:02,354 owned and named after brothers James and Robert Paschal, 323 00:17:02,855 --> 00:17:05,774 stood in solidarity with student activists 324 00:17:05,858 --> 00:17:07,484 fighting to end Jim Crow. 325 00:17:08,902 --> 00:17:11,155 Eighty-two-year-old Mr. Eby Slack 326 00:17:11,238 --> 00:17:13,824 has worked at Paschal's restaurant since he was a kid. 327 00:17:14,908 --> 00:17:15,868 He was a waiter 328 00:17:15,951 --> 00:17:19,621 and served student activists when they were released from jail. 329 00:17:21,373 --> 00:17:25,586 [Stephen] So, Mr. Slack, you, as we hear, are a legend. 330 00:17:25,669 --> 00:17:28,547 So tell us about where we are. Tell us who you are. 331 00:17:28,630 --> 00:17:30,674 You know, I grew up in the projects, 332 00:17:30,758 --> 00:17:34,344 and, um, I stayed in trouble a lot. [chuckles] 333 00:17:34,428 --> 00:17:36,305 So my mother and father, 334 00:17:36,388 --> 00:17:39,391 they introduced me to the Paschal brothers, 335 00:17:39,475 --> 00:17:42,936 and they kept me busy doing little one-off things. 336 00:17:43,020 --> 00:17:47,399 And as time went on, you know, I got to be real close to the family. 337 00:17:47,941 --> 00:17:50,736 One day, Martin Luther King Jr. said, 338 00:17:50,819 --> 00:17:53,697 "I need some help from you and your brother if you can help us." 339 00:17:54,239 --> 00:17:56,075 And Mr. Paschal said, "What can we do?" 340 00:17:56,158 --> 00:17:58,702 He said, "Well, I need a place to meet." 341 00:17:58,786 --> 00:18:03,207 Mr. Paschal said, "Well, my brother and I have a hotel suite upstairs." 342 00:18:03,290 --> 00:18:06,335 "Feel free to meet there as long, as many times as you want." 343 00:18:06,919 --> 00:18:09,171 "I only ask you one thing. One big question." 344 00:18:09,254 --> 00:18:12,925 Dr. King says, "Well, what is that?" "That y'all eat my fried chicken." 345 00:18:13,008 --> 00:18:15,594 -[Black] Yeah. -[all laugh] 346 00:18:15,677 --> 00:18:18,597 The food is so ingrained in the story 347 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,601 because the food is what actually provided us 348 00:18:22,684 --> 00:18:27,815 with the economic resources and with the physical space 349 00:18:27,898 --> 00:18:31,652 to actually be able to come together and do the strategy work. 350 00:18:33,570 --> 00:18:38,158 [James] Many, many times Dr. King would regroup his people here. 351 00:18:38,242 --> 00:18:40,702 A lot of the decisions 352 00:18:40,786 --> 00:18:43,413 were made here at Paschal's. 353 00:18:50,879 --> 00:18:53,757 [Stephen] All across the country, the Civil Rights Movement was being fed 354 00:18:53,841 --> 00:18:56,301 by chefs and bakers who met the moment, 355 00:18:57,302 --> 00:19:00,639 not just by feeding the movement but by funding it, 356 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:04,309 like chef turned activist Georgia Gilmore. 357 00:19:05,352 --> 00:19:10,399 I had always asked the Lord if it would ever become possible for me 358 00:19:10,482 --> 00:19:14,069 to be able to just go around 359 00:19:14,153 --> 00:19:16,989 and not have to worry about going in the back door 360 00:19:17,072 --> 00:19:19,867 or getting up and giving somebody else my seat. 361 00:19:19,950 --> 00:19:23,954 Then I would always thank the Lord because I knew he would answer my prayer. 362 00:19:24,037 --> 00:19:24,955 And he did. 363 00:19:26,415 --> 00:19:28,625 I just think Georgia Gilmore 364 00:19:28,709 --> 00:19:31,420 is one of those hidden treasures 365 00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:35,257 that made such a difference in the Civil Rights movement. 366 00:19:36,466 --> 00:19:39,636 [Stephen] For James Beard semi-finalist baker Cheryl Day, 367 00:19:40,179 --> 00:19:43,223 it's an honor to uplift the legacy of activism 368 00:19:43,307 --> 00:19:45,267 from these Black Southern bakers. 369 00:19:45,934 --> 00:19:50,439 In 1955, after Rosa Parks famously got arrested 370 00:19:50,522 --> 00:19:53,025 for not giving up her seat to a white man, 371 00:19:53,609 --> 00:19:56,278 Montgomery, Alabama civil rights leaders 372 00:19:56,361 --> 00:19:59,281 decided to force the integration of the bus system 373 00:19:59,364 --> 00:20:01,742 by organizing a boycott 374 00:20:01,825 --> 00:20:05,537 that would ultimately last 381 days. 375 00:20:06,246 --> 00:20:10,250 But if they couldn't use the bus, how would Black people get to work? 376 00:20:10,751 --> 00:20:13,879 The answer was a fleet of cars driven by volunteers. 377 00:20:14,421 --> 00:20:16,381 But how do you pay for that? 378 00:20:16,465 --> 00:20:18,926 Georgia Gilmore had the solution. 379 00:20:19,551 --> 00:20:23,764 She created this secret underground kitchen 380 00:20:23,847 --> 00:20:26,350 that she called "the Club from Nowhere" 381 00:20:26,433 --> 00:20:28,936 because this network of bakers and cooks 382 00:20:29,019 --> 00:20:32,606 that were baking to fund the boycott 383 00:20:32,689 --> 00:20:34,107 had to be kept secret. 384 00:20:34,191 --> 00:20:37,819 But when people would ask her, "Well, where's all this food coming from?" 385 00:20:37,903 --> 00:20:41,156 And she would just say, "It's from nowhere." [laughs] 386 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:44,534 She realized the power that she had 387 00:20:44,618 --> 00:20:48,664 was to make and sell cakes and pies. 388 00:20:48,747 --> 00:20:52,459 She could feed and fuel the Civil Rights Movement. 389 00:20:52,542 --> 00:20:57,172 Can you give us a bit more specifics around exactly how she was doing this? 390 00:20:57,256 --> 00:20:58,715 Basically, she created 391 00:20:58,799 --> 00:21:02,302 an alternative route for people to get to work. 392 00:21:02,386 --> 00:21:04,513 I mean, she created a whole system. 393 00:21:04,596 --> 00:21:08,642 This paid for gas, it paid for insurance, just anything. 394 00:21:08,725 --> 00:21:12,562 She wanted to make sure that we could still get to work 395 00:21:12,646 --> 00:21:16,275 to make a living without having to get on that bus. 396 00:21:16,358 --> 00:21:19,194 Right. We know that Georgia Gilmore 397 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:22,114 is using pastry 398 00:21:22,197 --> 00:21:24,449 as a way to fund the movement, 399 00:21:24,992 --> 00:21:28,287 but where are people actually 400 00:21:28,370 --> 00:21:31,456 buying the pies and the cakes? 401 00:21:31,540 --> 00:21:33,458 In all of our safe spaces. 402 00:21:33,542 --> 00:21:36,712 Hair salons, barbershops. 403 00:21:36,795 --> 00:21:40,299 You know, where… Churches. Wherever we gathered. 404 00:21:40,382 --> 00:21:43,135 Those safe spaces would have had to be 405 00:21:43,218 --> 00:21:45,345 -the kinds of businesses… -Mm-hmm. 406 00:21:45,429 --> 00:21:48,640 …that had Black American entrepreneurs. 407 00:21:48,724 --> 00:21:51,977 Think about it. You're getting your hair done, and you're sitting there. 408 00:21:52,060 --> 00:21:55,063 How many times have you been sold something at the barbershop? 409 00:21:55,147 --> 00:21:56,565 Countless. 410 00:21:56,648 --> 00:22:00,777 In fact, there's a barbershop across the street from the bakery. 411 00:22:00,861 --> 00:22:03,655 And when we first moved to that location, 412 00:22:03,739 --> 00:22:06,867 I wanted to let them know that I'm here 413 00:22:06,950 --> 00:22:10,037 to be a source of pride in this neighborhood. 414 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:14,541 So I would start to bring biscuits, pies, cakes. 415 00:22:14,624 --> 00:22:19,171 And once I got the approval from the barbershop, 416 00:22:20,255 --> 00:22:22,132 my business was rolling. [laughs] 417 00:22:22,215 --> 00:22:23,925 -It was on. -[Cheryl] It was on. 418 00:22:28,055 --> 00:22:31,058 [Stephen] Cheryl Day stands in a long line of Black women 419 00:22:31,767 --> 00:22:33,769 who have defined Southern baking. 420 00:22:37,272 --> 00:22:39,191 And she preserves the traditions, 421 00:22:39,274 --> 00:22:42,152 techniques, and stories of these unsung heroes 422 00:22:42,778 --> 00:22:43,945 to this day. 423 00:22:44,946 --> 00:22:50,077 My story goes back to my enslaved great-great-grandmother, 424 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:51,912 Hannah Queen Grubbs, 425 00:22:51,995 --> 00:22:55,665 who had the position of being a pastry cook. 426 00:22:57,459 --> 00:23:00,128 She made these small, delicate cakes 427 00:23:00,212 --> 00:23:04,383 frosted in these tinted pastel colors. 428 00:23:04,925 --> 00:23:07,552 [Stephen] Baking is in your DNA. 429 00:23:07,636 --> 00:23:10,013 [Cheryl] Yeah. I like to think of it that way too. 430 00:23:10,514 --> 00:23:12,974 And you are really 431 00:23:13,058 --> 00:23:16,520 part of this Georgia Gilmore tradition, 432 00:23:16,603 --> 00:23:19,147 selling directly into Black businesses. 433 00:23:19,231 --> 00:23:23,318 Do you see your work as part of this legacy today? 434 00:23:23,402 --> 00:23:24,277 [Cheryl] I do. 435 00:23:24,361 --> 00:23:28,532 I am in a group of a new generation of bakers 436 00:23:28,615 --> 00:23:30,158 honoring Georgia Gilmore. 437 00:23:30,242 --> 00:23:32,244 And when there's social change, 438 00:23:32,327 --> 00:23:36,081 we rise to the occasion, and we bake to raise money 439 00:23:36,164 --> 00:23:38,125 for things that are important to us. 440 00:23:39,251 --> 00:23:42,379 This is actually a slab pie. 441 00:23:42,462 --> 00:23:45,549 When you're talking about raising money for change 442 00:23:45,632 --> 00:23:48,135 and feeding the Civil Rights Movement, 443 00:23:48,218 --> 00:23:51,555 -it's made in a big half-sheet pan… -Mm-hmm. 444 00:23:51,638 --> 00:23:55,016 …and you're gonna be able to sell a lot of this pie. 445 00:23:55,100 --> 00:23:58,019 So it's fresh Georgia local peaches 446 00:23:58,103 --> 00:23:59,688 and lemon verbena. 447 00:23:59,771 --> 00:24:01,106 Oh, this is gonna be good. 448 00:24:05,444 --> 00:24:06,570 Mmm. 449 00:24:07,404 --> 00:24:09,239 It's good, right? Mmm. 450 00:24:10,490 --> 00:24:11,408 Wow. 451 00:24:11,992 --> 00:24:13,452 Georgia peaches. 452 00:24:14,161 --> 00:24:15,328 This is super good. 453 00:24:15,829 --> 00:24:18,331 -Mission accomplished. [chuckles] -Mmm. 454 00:24:28,008 --> 00:24:30,469 [indistinct chatting] 455 00:25:04,419 --> 00:25:08,840 [Stephen] The front lines of the movement can't exist without everyday workers, 456 00:25:08,924 --> 00:25:13,053 the cooks, the maids, the beauticians, and barbers of the time, 457 00:25:13,803 --> 00:25:15,972 that clearly all played a part. 458 00:25:17,015 --> 00:25:19,142 [man] See the day of Uncle Tom? Uncle Tom is dead. 459 00:25:19,226 --> 00:25:21,853 He just hasn't been buried. But he's dead now, see. [laughs] 460 00:25:21,937 --> 00:25:24,689 -He's dead, see? -[man 2] Well, he's gone. 461 00:25:29,277 --> 00:25:31,821 [Stephen] Support from one Black person to another 462 00:25:31,905 --> 00:25:34,282 keeps Black dollars within our community 463 00:25:34,366 --> 00:25:36,368 so we can fund our movements. 464 00:25:39,371 --> 00:25:41,915 This exchange of hands also supported foot soldiers 465 00:25:42,707 --> 00:25:45,669 like Charles Black, Dr. Georgianne Thomas, 466 00:25:45,752 --> 00:25:49,422 and Marilyn Pryce Hoytt fighting on the front lines 467 00:25:49,506 --> 00:25:53,134 when they marched on October 19, 1960, 468 00:25:53,218 --> 00:25:54,928 to Rich's department store. 469 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,557 The Civil Rights Movement was cross-generational, 470 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,518 and the solidarity that existed amongst Black folks, 471 00:26:01,601 --> 00:26:05,146 regardless of their social status, regardless of where they lived, 472 00:26:05,230 --> 00:26:08,149 people had this shared oppression. 473 00:26:08,233 --> 00:26:10,735 Everybody is contributing in different ways. 474 00:26:10,819 --> 00:26:14,864 Norris Herndon, who is the president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, 475 00:26:14,948 --> 00:26:18,577 the wealthiest Black man in the United States, at this time, 476 00:26:18,660 --> 00:26:23,290 he gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to the movement 477 00:26:23,373 --> 00:26:25,166 in order to bail students out. 478 00:26:25,667 --> 00:26:28,712 [Black] It was understood in the beginning, before you're going out 479 00:26:29,296 --> 00:26:31,172 to sit in or picket or whatever 480 00:26:31,715 --> 00:26:33,967 if you were prepared to be arrested. 481 00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:37,596 You can say you were given the opportunity to leave. 482 00:26:37,679 --> 00:26:39,931 So everybody understood that going in. 483 00:26:40,015 --> 00:26:44,978 So you were organizing based on the risk profile of everyone. 484 00:26:45,061 --> 00:26:47,689 Our planning was, you know, that serious 485 00:26:47,772 --> 00:26:49,733 and that minute and that detailed 486 00:26:49,816 --> 00:26:52,444 because it was important that people understood 487 00:26:52,527 --> 00:26:56,740 what they were facing and what risks they were taking. 488 00:26:57,532 --> 00:27:00,869 When October 19th came along, 489 00:27:00,952 --> 00:27:02,704 uh, our movement had been going on, 490 00:27:02,787 --> 00:27:06,041 our sit-ins and work had been going on since March of that year, 491 00:27:06,124 --> 00:27:08,293 and we were losing some steam. 492 00:27:08,376 --> 00:27:11,463 And Lonnie King was our founding chairman of our movement, 493 00:27:11,546 --> 00:27:12,964 who convinced Martin King Jr. 494 00:27:13,048 --> 00:27:15,550 to get arrested at Rich's department store 495 00:27:16,176 --> 00:27:19,387 in the Magnolia Tea Room. Dr. King agreed to do that 496 00:27:19,471 --> 00:27:23,099 only if there were some pretty ladies getting arrested with him. 497 00:27:23,183 --> 00:27:24,726 [Marilyn] Don't tell that part. [laughs] 498 00:27:24,809 --> 00:27:27,354 [Black] That's why Marilyn Pryce was in that picture. 499 00:27:27,437 --> 00:27:30,565 She was one of the pretty ladies that Lonnie found 500 00:27:30,649 --> 00:27:33,652 to get arrested with Martin King on October 19th. 501 00:27:33,735 --> 00:27:35,070 [Georgianne] And Blondean. 502 00:27:35,153 --> 00:27:37,155 [Black] Blondean. Blondean was the other. 503 00:27:37,238 --> 00:27:40,909 There's a picture with Blondean and Martin in the backseat of the police car. 504 00:27:41,409 --> 00:27:43,244 And we went into Rich's. 505 00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:46,414 We got on the elevator and rode up to the sixth floor 506 00:27:46,915 --> 00:27:49,125 to sit in at the Magnolia Tea Room. 507 00:27:49,209 --> 00:27:52,212 And the manager came and said, "What do y'all want?" 508 00:27:52,295 --> 00:27:55,298 And we said, "We just want to sit down and have a meal." 509 00:27:55,382 --> 00:27:58,968 And so, the manager said, "Well, I'm gonna have to call the police." 510 00:27:59,052 --> 00:28:02,514 And so, my roommate and I were escorted 511 00:28:02,597 --> 00:28:06,893 with Reverend King and Lonnie King and a policeman 512 00:28:06,976 --> 00:28:09,604 who walked us from the front doors 513 00:28:09,688 --> 00:28:13,108 of Rich's department store to a police car. 514 00:28:13,191 --> 00:28:14,025 [Georgianne] Okay. 515 00:28:14,109 --> 00:28:17,904 [Marilyn] So we went first, I think, to the city jail. 516 00:28:17,987 --> 00:28:22,701 And we had our mugshots, and we had our fingerprints taken, 517 00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:26,996 but from the city, they took us to Fulton County Jail, 518 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,624 and we had our one phone call. 519 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:33,420 So I called my father, and I told him, 520 00:28:33,503 --> 00:28:36,381 "Dad, guess what? I'm in jail." 521 00:28:36,464 --> 00:28:39,008 He said, "Okay, let me give the phone to your mother." 522 00:28:39,092 --> 00:28:41,469 Whoa, that's when my heart dropped. 523 00:28:41,553 --> 00:28:46,307 Fortunately, on October 20th, the day after the sit-in, 524 00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:51,104 they opened their newspapers, and there was Marilyn Pryce 525 00:28:51,187 --> 00:28:53,481 -on the front page. -[Georgianne] Oh, yes. 526 00:28:53,565 --> 00:28:56,609 [Marilyn] And so my mother became very proud of the fact 527 00:28:56,693 --> 00:29:00,447 -that her daughter was in the newspaper. -[Georgianne] Yes, yes, yes. 528 00:29:00,530 --> 00:29:02,907 [Marilyn] And if you look at that iconic photograph, 529 00:29:02,991 --> 00:29:06,453 you will see in my eyes there was no fear. 530 00:29:06,536 --> 00:29:08,288 There was determination. 531 00:29:08,371 --> 00:29:12,250 It was like I had been born for that day and that moment. 532 00:29:12,333 --> 00:29:16,004 -Yes. October 19th 1960. -[Marilyn] That was the spirit we took. 533 00:29:16,504 --> 00:29:18,298 When King was arrested, 534 00:29:18,965 --> 00:29:22,302 after he'd been in prison for, like, nine days or so, 535 00:29:22,385 --> 00:29:24,596 Bobby Kennedy convinced John F. Kennedy 536 00:29:24,679 --> 00:29:27,640 to allow Bobby Kennedy to make a call to the judge, 537 00:29:27,724 --> 00:29:30,351 which resulted in Martin being released. 538 00:29:30,435 --> 00:29:32,854 When that happened, the Kennedy campaign published 539 00:29:32,937 --> 00:29:34,522 what was called "the Blue Bomb," 540 00:29:34,606 --> 00:29:37,650 and it was a flyer that spelled out all the situation, 541 00:29:37,734 --> 00:29:41,738 that was distributed in every major city that had large Black populations. 542 00:29:42,447 --> 00:29:44,783 And as a result of this action, 543 00:29:44,866 --> 00:29:47,619 a lot of Black folk who were still voting Republican 544 00:29:47,702 --> 00:29:50,455 switched to vote Democratic for the first time. 545 00:29:50,538 --> 00:29:51,790 [Georgianne] For the first time. 546 00:29:51,873 --> 00:29:56,127 Leading to Kennedy being elected by less than one vote per precinct 547 00:29:56,211 --> 00:29:58,379 over Nixon, who was leading two weeks earlier. 548 00:29:58,463 --> 00:30:01,049 [Georgianne] Negroes put him in. That's what the headlines said. 549 00:30:01,132 --> 00:30:04,427 [Black] So October 19th in Atlanta helped elect John F. Kennedy. 550 00:30:04,511 --> 00:30:05,887 [Georgianne] Yes. Absolutely. 551 00:30:05,970 --> 00:30:08,765 I'm listening to you say this, and I'm thinking, 552 00:30:08,848 --> 00:30:13,520 "Y'all were so young and you had so much power." 553 00:30:13,603 --> 00:30:17,440 Do you think that the organizing was the source of the power? 554 00:30:17,524 --> 00:30:20,527 You know, one of the things that characterized our movement 555 00:30:20,610 --> 00:30:24,155 at the time that I'm proudest of, it was a selfless movement. 556 00:30:24,739 --> 00:30:26,783 That's why people were prepared to support us, 557 00:30:26,866 --> 00:30:29,202 which is what made our success. 558 00:30:29,994 --> 00:30:32,789 And Paschal's restaurant was very special 559 00:30:33,373 --> 00:30:35,458 because whenever we were in jail, 560 00:30:36,084 --> 00:30:37,877 and we came out late at night, 561 00:30:37,961 --> 00:30:40,255 Paschal would hold the restaurant open 562 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,424 and have some fried chicken and potato salad 563 00:30:44,133 --> 00:30:47,512 and sweet tea for us when we got out of jail. 564 00:30:47,595 --> 00:30:51,724 I want to borrow from the words of the great Ella Baker 565 00:30:51,808 --> 00:30:56,354 when she said that this movement is about more than just a hamburger. 566 00:30:56,437 --> 00:30:57,522 [Georgianne] Um-hmm. 567 00:30:57,605 --> 00:31:01,776 [Karcheik] This was about our civil and human rights. 568 00:31:01,860 --> 00:31:04,112 And today, this movement is 569 00:31:04,195 --> 00:31:06,948 -still about our civil and human rights. -[Georgianne] Mm-hmm. 570 00:31:07,031 --> 00:31:09,284 And I wanna be able to thank you 571 00:31:10,410 --> 00:31:14,914 for so many decades of creating the space 572 00:31:14,998 --> 00:31:19,210 for people to be able to organize mass meetings 573 00:31:19,294 --> 00:31:24,132 in a restaurant where people can celebrate milestones. 574 00:31:24,215 --> 00:31:27,093 Most importantly, be able to dine with dignity. 575 00:31:29,470 --> 00:31:32,098 For me growing up here in Atlanta, 576 00:31:32,682 --> 00:31:36,936 I have inherited all of your legacies, 577 00:31:37,645 --> 00:31:40,523 and I wonder if we can actually ever live up 578 00:31:40,607 --> 00:31:43,276 to the legacies that y'all have created. 579 00:31:43,943 --> 00:31:46,696 But I can tell you that on a personal level, 580 00:31:47,739 --> 00:31:52,243 I am gonna walk away from this day… changed 581 00:31:53,202 --> 00:31:57,624 and more committed to a path and legacy 582 00:31:57,707 --> 00:32:01,878 of Black liberation than I have been even to this point. 583 00:32:01,961 --> 00:32:04,464 I've spoken to a lot of young people over the years, 584 00:32:04,547 --> 00:32:07,091 and I have a good feeling about 585 00:32:07,175 --> 00:32:09,177 the succeeding generations, to be honest, 586 00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:11,971 because I see more and more people lighting their own torch. 587 00:32:12,055 --> 00:32:12,889 [Georgianne] Yes. 588 00:32:12,972 --> 00:32:15,767 I think it's important that you take this forward 589 00:32:15,850 --> 00:32:20,355 so that somebody that's 16 or 17 or 15 590 00:32:20,438 --> 00:32:24,609 will know it's okay to do something different. 591 00:32:25,735 --> 00:32:27,403 [Marilyn] Let us bow our heads. 592 00:32:28,112 --> 00:32:30,740 Lord, we come to you this evening 593 00:32:30,823 --> 00:32:32,533 after sharing our stories, 594 00:32:32,617 --> 00:32:38,164 talking about the history of what we were blessed to do in your name 595 00:32:38,247 --> 00:32:41,334 back in the '50s and the '60s, 596 00:32:41,834 --> 00:32:45,463 so that present and future generations will benefit. 597 00:32:45,546 --> 00:32:48,925 And so, Lord, we ask that you continue to bless us 598 00:32:49,008 --> 00:32:51,928 as we journey along this highway of life. 599 00:32:52,011 --> 00:32:54,263 In Jesus's name, we pray, amen. 600 00:32:54,347 --> 00:32:55,348 [Georgianne] Amen. 601 00:32:55,431 --> 00:32:56,599 [Black] Amen. Amen. 602 00:32:56,683 --> 00:32:58,351 I'm gonna taste this fish. 603 00:32:58,893 --> 00:32:59,936 Yes. 604 00:33:00,603 --> 00:33:02,605 -[Georgianne] Where's the hot sauce? -[Marilyn] Yes. 605 00:33:02,689 --> 00:33:03,690 [laughs] 606 00:33:03,773 --> 00:33:06,275 [Stephen] Because of the efforts of these student activists 607 00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:10,571 and others around the country, the goal of integrating restaurants 608 00:33:10,655 --> 00:33:13,616 reached the highest office in the United States. 609 00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:17,370 I am therefore asking the Congress to enact legislation 610 00:33:17,954 --> 00:33:20,581 giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities 611 00:33:20,665 --> 00:33:22,125 which are open to the public. 612 00:33:22,208 --> 00:33:24,627 Hotels, restaurants, theaters, 613 00:33:25,169 --> 00:33:27,505 retail stores, and similar establishments. 614 00:33:29,966 --> 00:33:32,093 [Stephen] The risks they took as teenagers 615 00:33:32,176 --> 00:33:35,471 paid off in ways that we are still feeling today. 616 00:33:35,972 --> 00:33:39,809 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed, 617 00:33:39,892 --> 00:33:42,979 giving Black Americans the legal right to eat 618 00:33:43,062 --> 00:33:45,273 in any restaurant around the country. 619 00:33:45,898 --> 00:33:49,610 And the legacy of their activism is still alive today 620 00:33:49,694 --> 00:33:51,404 through young entrepreneurs, 621 00:33:51,487 --> 00:33:55,616 like award-winning chef and famed cookbook author Todd Richards 622 00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:58,369 and widely published food writer 623 00:33:58,453 --> 00:34:00,997 and chef Erika Council, 624 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,499 whose fight to keep their restaurants visible 625 00:34:03,583 --> 00:34:05,585 in a historically Black neighborhood 626 00:34:05,668 --> 00:34:07,670 has become a movement of its own. 627 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:13,384 So growing up in Atlanta, I remember you 628 00:34:13,885 --> 00:34:17,805 as one of the very first and most prominent Black chefs 629 00:34:17,889 --> 00:34:20,433 -that we had in the city… -Mm-hmm. 630 00:34:20,516 --> 00:34:23,644 …and so your voice is really important, 631 00:34:23,728 --> 00:34:26,022 and so I really wanna go 632 00:34:26,105 --> 00:34:29,692 a little bit deeper around your philosophy, 633 00:34:29,776 --> 00:34:32,070 how it's developed over these years. 634 00:34:32,153 --> 00:34:36,240 Uh, when I went to the awards, every nationality was on stage, 635 00:34:36,324 --> 00:34:38,868 but no one was representing our culture. 636 00:34:38,951 --> 00:34:42,455 And I really had to dive back in into myself to understand 637 00:34:42,538 --> 00:34:46,375 that I'm doing great doing everyone else's food, 638 00:34:46,459 --> 00:34:48,669 but what am I doing for my own community? 639 00:34:48,753 --> 00:34:51,255 And especially in a city like Atlanta, 640 00:34:51,339 --> 00:34:53,591 when you look at us being on Old Fourth Ward, 641 00:34:53,674 --> 00:34:57,261 the birthplace of civil rights, the epicenter still of civil rights, 642 00:34:57,345 --> 00:35:00,389 how can I sit here and present someone else's food 643 00:35:00,473 --> 00:35:03,184 and garner awards and not tell my own story, my own family? 644 00:35:03,267 --> 00:35:07,522 And how we make our neighborhoods wholesome and whole 645 00:35:07,605 --> 00:35:09,524 by telling our story on a plate. 646 00:35:09,607 --> 00:35:10,900 I like that. 647 00:35:12,026 --> 00:35:13,444 Man, look at that color. 648 00:35:14,070 --> 00:35:16,781 I'm really excited to have you both here, 649 00:35:16,864 --> 00:35:19,659 and I wanna serve you some delicious soul food. 650 00:35:19,742 --> 00:35:21,911 [jazz music playing] 651 00:35:21,994 --> 00:35:24,372 [Todd] My grandmother cooked many different dishes. 652 00:35:24,455 --> 00:35:26,916 Chicken was always on Sunday, 653 00:35:26,999 --> 00:35:29,127 and she didn't necessarily always would fry it. 654 00:35:29,210 --> 00:35:31,629 She would broil it, she would bake it, boil it. 655 00:35:31,712 --> 00:35:34,423 So I want to do some interpretation of that broiled chicken. 656 00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:36,801 The chicken is brined. A blueberry sweet tea brine. 657 00:35:36,884 --> 00:35:40,096 So I took some leftover sweet tea, added some salt to it. 658 00:35:40,179 --> 00:35:43,224 We, you know, set it overnight, and then we just broiled it. 659 00:35:43,307 --> 00:35:45,977 So this beautiful color comes from the caramelized skin, 660 00:35:46,060 --> 00:35:48,563 a bit of the sugar that's already in the sweet tea 661 00:35:48,646 --> 00:35:50,231 and giving those deep flavors. 662 00:35:50,314 --> 00:35:53,484 So you get this really tannic quality of the blueberry at the end. 663 00:35:53,568 --> 00:35:55,778 To me, it's nothing but umami right at the end. 664 00:35:55,862 --> 00:35:57,029 It's so juicy. 665 00:35:57,113 --> 00:35:57,989 Really, truly. 666 00:35:58,072 --> 00:36:00,950 [Erika] He made this chicken like he's somebody's great-grandad. 667 00:36:01,033 --> 00:36:01,909 Yeah. 668 00:36:02,618 --> 00:36:05,663 -Now, this chicken is extremely on point. -[Todd] Yeah. 669 00:36:06,164 --> 00:36:09,208 I wanna grab some of Erika's biscuits and make a sandwich. [chuckles] 670 00:36:09,292 --> 00:36:11,544 These are our corn biscuits. 671 00:36:11,627 --> 00:36:14,589 -Thank you. -So they have freshly grated corn in them. 672 00:36:14,672 --> 00:36:16,340 I like the way they just pull apart. 673 00:36:16,424 --> 00:36:20,303 -Also, I'm really appreciating the corn… -Mm-hmm. 674 00:36:20,386 --> 00:36:22,471 …that is studded inside of here. 675 00:36:22,555 --> 00:36:24,974 -[Erika] Soul food is vegetables. -[Stephen] Yes. 676 00:36:25,057 --> 00:36:28,936 We always had vegetable. In North Carolina we had vegetable and hogs. 677 00:36:29,020 --> 00:36:32,440 So I mean, corn was always there in the summer. Tomatoes. 678 00:36:32,523 --> 00:36:35,526 And all of that was always incorporated in the biscuit. 679 00:36:35,610 --> 00:36:38,446 So my Great-Aunt Mabel used to make corn milk biscuits. 680 00:36:38,529 --> 00:36:41,073 She'd boil the stock, then the milk. 681 00:36:42,158 --> 00:36:45,328 So I said, "Well, let me do the same," but, you know, just a little iteration. 682 00:36:45,411 --> 00:36:46,245 [Stephen] Wow. 683 00:36:46,329 --> 00:36:50,124 [Todd] It's interesting that Erika talks about tomato in biscuits. 684 00:36:51,042 --> 00:36:53,961 Because my favorite has always been tomato and biscuit, 685 00:36:54,045 --> 00:36:57,423 and the jam… using sherry vinegar, 686 00:36:57,506 --> 00:37:00,176 and it gives it a different acid as well. 687 00:37:01,385 --> 00:37:03,846 [Stephen] Wow, the biscuit, that's good. Try it. 688 00:37:03,930 --> 00:37:06,599 You know, my grandma on my mom's side made biscuits. 689 00:37:06,682 --> 00:37:08,768 So the thing about my mom's side of the family 690 00:37:08,851 --> 00:37:13,022 from Goldsboro, North Carolina, they were into community and civil rights. 691 00:37:13,105 --> 00:37:15,274 So, not only do you learn the art of biscuits, 692 00:37:15,358 --> 00:37:18,236 but everyone learned about the civil rights. 693 00:37:18,319 --> 00:37:21,155 So I'm, like, ten when I'm listening to this story. 694 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,074 One time, she ate at this restaurant, 695 00:37:23,157 --> 00:37:25,826 and she says a group of white students 696 00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:29,413 sat at the table with them. And she said she got so nervous. 697 00:37:29,497 --> 00:37:31,707 -She wasn't sure if she should get up. -[Todd] Mm-hmm. 698 00:37:31,791 --> 00:37:35,336 And they, you know, sort of slid the plate down and said, 699 00:37:35,419 --> 00:37:37,338 "You guys want any? These are pretty good." 700 00:37:37,421 --> 00:37:41,008 Even many many years later, the way she would describe that. 701 00:37:41,092 --> 00:37:44,262 I'm like, "Wow, Granny, you really…" She was almost emotional. 702 00:37:44,345 --> 00:37:48,933 Part of it, you know, she had never really sat at a table with white folks. 703 00:37:49,016 --> 00:37:52,228 You know, you're sitting at my table, and you wanna eat with me. 704 00:37:52,311 --> 00:37:55,231 So, you know, the first time we even talked about biscuits, 705 00:37:55,314 --> 00:37:56,565 she told me that story. 706 00:37:56,649 --> 00:37:59,318 So that's been such a profound thing for me, 707 00:37:59,402 --> 00:38:02,613 even when I make them now. It just has lived with me. 708 00:38:02,697 --> 00:38:05,032 So when people talk about civil rights, 709 00:38:05,825 --> 00:38:08,744 you know, if you actually talk to the people in your family, 710 00:38:08,828 --> 00:38:12,081 I was raised around old people, so I always heard the stories, 711 00:38:12,164 --> 00:38:14,792 but back then, everything was an act of resistance. 712 00:38:14,875 --> 00:38:16,419 Just waking up in the morning 713 00:38:16,502 --> 00:38:19,505 and just existing was an act of resistance. 714 00:38:19,588 --> 00:38:22,675 That's a very profound story 715 00:38:22,758 --> 00:38:24,677 about your grandmother and… 716 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:25,636 Biscuits. 717 00:38:25,720 --> 00:38:26,554 [Stephen] Yeah. 718 00:38:28,180 --> 00:38:32,351 Choosing to step fully into your Blackness 719 00:38:32,435 --> 00:38:34,895 has actually always been 720 00:38:35,646 --> 00:38:37,565 the greatest form of resistance. 721 00:38:37,648 --> 00:38:38,733 -[Todd] Mm-hmm. -100%. 722 00:38:38,816 --> 00:38:41,444 It's really why soul food is so important because, 723 00:38:41,527 --> 00:38:44,322 in one bite, you can tell a story. 724 00:38:45,406 --> 00:38:48,909 Let's talk about some of the challenges that you faced 725 00:38:48,993 --> 00:38:51,454 in trying to get your businesses open. 726 00:38:51,537 --> 00:38:54,749 The biggest challenge is owning the rights to the space 727 00:38:54,832 --> 00:38:57,418 in which we're cooking here. Uh, we've seen it where 728 00:38:57,501 --> 00:39:00,338 people come, and developers come and just take your building. 729 00:39:00,421 --> 00:39:04,300 You're riding on Auburn Avenue, just looking at the gentrification. 730 00:39:04,383 --> 00:39:08,262 I mean, we have completely, outside of Todd and our Black chefs, 731 00:39:08,346 --> 00:39:09,847 we are non-existent. 732 00:39:09,930 --> 00:39:12,516 These developers, who are majority white, 733 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:17,021 have the ability to come in and just annihilate our neighborhoods 734 00:39:17,104 --> 00:39:21,275 and build up all these spaces that are unaffordable, unattainable. 735 00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:23,819 We were taught shame about our own food. 736 00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:26,197 That it can never go on anyone's plate. 737 00:39:26,781 --> 00:39:28,949 Uh, that our techniques weren't sound. 738 00:39:29,033 --> 00:39:32,119 Uh, that we were a pinch of this and a pinch of that. 739 00:39:32,203 --> 00:39:35,956 You know, all the tropes and stereotypes of fried chicken. 740 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,503 That it's greasy, it's this and that. Then you go on to our neighborhoods, 741 00:39:40,586 --> 00:39:42,755 there's one fried chicken place on every corner. 742 00:39:42,838 --> 00:39:44,465 -Not owned by us. -Right. 743 00:39:44,548 --> 00:39:46,884 Someone else comes in, mimics our food 744 00:39:46,967 --> 00:39:48,260 -and profits from it. -Yeah. 745 00:39:48,344 --> 00:39:51,597 Gentrification is a unique form of violence 746 00:39:52,139 --> 00:39:55,267 because it's not just about displacing us, 747 00:39:55,351 --> 00:39:57,186 and we don't live here anymore, 748 00:39:57,728 --> 00:40:00,523 but it's the erasure of our culture, 749 00:40:00,606 --> 00:40:03,526 and that is really what I want 750 00:40:03,609 --> 00:40:06,278 the people of Atlanta to come together 751 00:40:06,362 --> 00:40:08,906 and try and preserve, you know. 752 00:40:08,989 --> 00:40:13,202 We, as a community, as a whole, are so powerful. 753 00:40:13,285 --> 00:40:15,704 I just look at what we were able to accomplish 754 00:40:15,788 --> 00:40:20,292 when we all come together and when we say, "This is family." 755 00:40:20,376 --> 00:40:24,171 So we're gonna raise this money. We're gonna build this community center. 756 00:40:24,255 --> 00:40:28,384 You look at the Black neighborhoods and how much of the libraries 757 00:40:28,467 --> 00:40:30,719 and the pharmacists and the bookstores 758 00:40:30,803 --> 00:40:34,473 were built by just community, you know, just fundraising. 759 00:40:34,557 --> 00:40:38,227 That came from us knowing, "Okay, we're all we got." 760 00:40:38,310 --> 00:40:41,313 And I think we have to come back to that, honestly-- 761 00:40:41,397 --> 00:40:44,233 Well, y'all are talking-- This is family business for real now. 762 00:40:44,316 --> 00:40:46,235 -I'm saying-- -This is family business. 763 00:40:46,318 --> 00:40:49,822 -This is Atlanta though. -That was not prepared from a script. 764 00:40:49,905 --> 00:40:52,283 I'm with you. I have had so much pride 765 00:40:52,366 --> 00:40:54,952 about growing up in Atlanta. 766 00:40:55,035 --> 00:40:56,412 Being from Atlanta, 767 00:40:56,912 --> 00:41:00,583 I really have always felt an attachment 768 00:41:00,666 --> 00:41:02,877 to this neighborhood in particular. 769 00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:06,338 My earliest memories of being a child in Atlanta, 770 00:41:07,047 --> 00:41:09,383 my mom went to Clark, you know. 771 00:41:09,467 --> 00:41:13,137 This was all about, like, you know, already y'all know. 772 00:41:13,220 --> 00:41:14,221 -Yeah. -[Erika] Yeah. 773 00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:18,434 -And so we still actually have a chance… -Mm-hmm 774 00:41:18,517 --> 00:41:20,311 …in this community 775 00:41:21,145 --> 00:41:24,440 to preserve this history. 776 00:41:24,523 --> 00:41:27,902 I think now we're seeing people coming back around in the community, 777 00:41:27,985 --> 00:41:29,862 focusing back on our cuisine, and saying, 778 00:41:29,945 --> 00:41:33,199 "Hey, you know what? Actually, this is the very foundation 779 00:41:33,282 --> 00:41:34,992 of everything you're eating here." 780 00:41:35,075 --> 00:41:38,579 -[Todd] Absolutely. -And there's so much power in soul food, 781 00:41:38,662 --> 00:41:42,082 the country cook, Southern food, whatever you wanna call it, 782 00:41:42,166 --> 00:41:45,127 that not only have y'all made us feel as though it wasn't good 783 00:41:45,211 --> 00:41:47,755 so you could adapt it and make money off of it, 784 00:41:47,838 --> 00:41:50,966 you know, you had us thinking that we couldn't charge you for it, 785 00:41:51,050 --> 00:41:52,968 while you were opening restaurants 786 00:41:53,052 --> 00:41:55,304 charging $100 a plate for the same thing. 787 00:41:55,387 --> 00:41:58,557 But now we're coming around and saying, "You know what? This is ours." 788 00:41:58,641 --> 00:42:00,267 Let's claim ownership back on it. 789 00:42:00,351 --> 00:42:01,727 Erika could have a church. 790 00:42:01,810 --> 00:42:04,563 Yeah, I could have a church now. Give me a pulpit. 791 00:42:04,647 --> 00:42:06,815 -Erika could have a church for real. -I hear you. 792 00:42:06,899 --> 00:42:08,651 We can do that by making biscuits and chicken 793 00:42:08,734 --> 00:42:10,152 and sit there talking about it. 794 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,742 [Stephen] While expansion and growth are common in many cities, 795 00:42:16,825 --> 00:42:20,663 gentrification is erasing the very culture that built them. 796 00:42:22,122 --> 00:42:24,708 What's our answer to that kind of displacement? 797 00:42:26,293 --> 00:42:27,920 How do we even fight it? 798 00:42:28,837 --> 00:42:32,675 Atlanta has changed so much since I was a kid. 799 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:36,554 It has me in search of what we can still hold on to. 800 00:42:40,641 --> 00:42:42,309 But I'm not discouraged. 801 00:42:42,393 --> 00:42:45,396 As long as there are chefs like Todd and Erika, 802 00:42:45,479 --> 00:42:47,606 bakers like Cheryl and MJ, 803 00:42:48,274 --> 00:42:51,068 and Black-owned establishments like Paschal's, 804 00:42:51,610 --> 00:42:54,488 Atlanta will always be grounded in the history 805 00:42:54,572 --> 00:42:57,199 of Black food breaking barriers. 806 00:42:59,535 --> 00:43:03,163 While the Civil Rights Movement saw everyday people exacting justice 807 00:43:03,247 --> 00:43:05,291 through defiance in every form, 808 00:43:05,374 --> 00:43:08,627 today a new generation of first-time farmers, 809 00:43:09,211 --> 00:43:10,629 culinary activists, 810 00:43:11,255 --> 00:43:14,216 and chefs, are taking up that mantle 811 00:43:14,300 --> 00:43:16,844 by reclaiming our cultural food practices 812 00:43:16,927 --> 00:43:19,680 and making a strong resurgence back to the land 813 00:43:20,639 --> 00:43:24,518 in order to write the next chapter of Black Liberation. 814 00:43:25,936 --> 00:43:27,521 [low-tempo song playing]