Flippin’ the Bird
“People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them”
— James Baldwin
You’re probably wondering why I would want to write about Black women and chicken on Juneteeth, the day that celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. Why did I, a Black Mixed Race woman, choose to celebrate the connections between Black people and chicken given all of the racist images and stereotypes of Black folks and
their love for the bird?
I chose to affirm the connection between Black people and chicken for a few reasons. First, I was a picky eater as a child and one of the few things I liked to eat was my mother’s baked chicken and rice. Both academia and community activism have taught me that refusing to eat can be a form of resistance (and sometimes one of the only forms of resistance one can do if they are relatively powerless). While refusing to eat as a child is very different from recent prison hunger strikes or the hunger strikes that my African ancestors participated in during the brutal Middle Passage, I still wonder what it was about my mother's chicken that felt right for me to eat. I still crave her roasted chicken even as I have nearly mastered my own.
As an Ethnic Studies Food scholar, this topic intrigues me because my favorite childhood food symbolizes economic power, freedom, sustenance, self-definition and resistance for Black women across generations. Archaeological evidence in the “Americas reveals that chicken was one of many food items with which some Africans came into contact and used to gain access to other goods” (Williams-Forson, 2006, p.17). American Indians also used this bird and wild turkeys to trade with Europeans for weapons and other tools.
Black women literally bought mansions and their own freedom by selling chicken! Psyche Williams-Forson says in Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power that during slavery “Black people had access to chickens, sometimes in excess…” and were considered “primary chicken merchants” which afforded them decision making power in the marketplaces where they bought and sold their goods (Williams-Forson, 2006, p.19). This status challenged the racialized power dynamics inherent in chattel slavery, as well as narratives around enslaved Africans being powerless and submissive.
Black women, who would sell uncooked chicken as well as their own homemade chicken, were able to show their business acumen and culinary skills by naming the norms and the conditions under which they would sell and prepare chicken even during slavery. In a process of self-valuation, Black women asserted their expert culinary status and set the boundaries on how they were going to engage with the bird and their customers alike. These marketplaces also were places that Black people could connect, share information, showcase their creativity, and seek relief from the brutal and dehumanizing system of slavery.
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire asserts that dehumanization reduces people to objects. Objects can’t dream, create, leap, or cook. Chattel slavery depended on constructing Black people as less than human, as property. This process of dehumanization deprives people of the freedom to fulfil all of their physical, emotional and spiritual needs the way they see fit. The desire to fulfill our needs on all of these levels is what makes us human.
Historically, Black women have defined themselves through cooking whatever they had access to and making it delicious. While some might not consider Black women cooks as artists, I challenge this idea by considering the imagination, creativity, resourcefulness, and adherence to culinary standards that it takes to transform meager ingredients into a tasty meal. As art critics do, I consider the various culinary techniques of my great aunts, and I am able to use my senses to appreciate these foods.
Enslaved Black women (most likely with some inspiration from American Indians) dreamt up possibilities for a bird that was mostly devalued, and that whites found initially undesirable. Black women chose to define themselves outside of and in resistance to Whiteness. So, while images of chicken and Black people were used (and continue to be used) to assert inferiority during slavery and beyond, Black women transformed these birds by decorating, marinading, boiling, baking, frying and grilling them with pride. They bought, cooked, sold, and expressed their humanity with these birds, and continue to do so today.
Roasting a chicken gives me a sense of self. Baking chicken is what my grandmother Etta from Sardis, Alabama did to ground herself in her new surroundings after her and my grandfather were pushed north during the great migration. With this recipe, I pay homage to Black women, and like we’ve done for centuries, I show off my home cook culinary magic.
About my Roasted Chicken
This is a baked chicken that I would make on a Sunday night and that would last for a few meals. Eat it hot with a pot of homemade pinto beans and cornbread, eat it cold in a salad, make tacos or sandwiches. This is a recipe that I encourage you to put your own twist or chiste on by adding herbs that feel right to you. Scholars Ketu H. Katrak and Meredith E. Abarca say that putting your own chiste on a recipe reveals your unique experiences, anxieties, needs, and desires. All of these aspects make your cooking original and authentic to your experiences.
Cooking and recipes are one of several areas of discourse that disprove the dominance of the written word, as cooking requires an intangible “sensory-logic” that can’t simply be captured in a written recipe. We don’t need words to prepare, smell, touch or taste food. Trust that your senses will tell you what to do. Below you will find what I do, and what I have seen my mother do. Use this as a foundation to discover your own culinary talents.
The Recipe
1 Whole Chicken, giblets removed (keep the giblets if you want to flavor soup, gravy or stuffing)
1 Lemon, halved
1 Onion, quartered
4 - 6 Cloves of Garlic
⅓ cup of of Butter, cut into small squares
3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 - 5 Sprigs of Rosemary or another sprigged herb you like
2 Tablespoons of lemon pepper (you can make your own by combining lemon zest and black pepper)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the chicken in cold water carefully removing any feathers you see. Dry the chicken with a paper towel to ensure the skin gets crispy. Place half of the lemon, half of the onion, 2-3 sprigs of rosemary (or the herb you chose), half of your garlic cloves, and half of your cubed butter into the cavity of the chicken. Squeeze the other half of the lemon in the cavity and onto the skin of the chicken, then put the rest of the lemon into the cavity of the chicken. Make a bed for the chicken to cook on using the rest of the onion and herbs. Place the other half of the butter cubes and garlic cloves under the skin of the chicken breast (the breast should be facing up). Cover the skin of the chicken with olive oil and massage the bird with the oil. Take a moment to appreciate that this chicken has given up its life for you to eat. Cover the skin with lemon pepper, salt and pepper.
Place chicken on a baking pan and cook on 400 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered. After 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 and cook for another 45 minutes or so. Baste incrementally for a juicy chicken. Chicken is done when the skin is golden and juices run clear when you cut it. As you cook more chickens, you will be able to tell that it’s done without cutting into it. Enjoy after resting chicken for 15 minutes or so.
Works Mentioned
Abarca, M. E. (2006). Voices in the Kitchen. Texas A&M University Press.
Collins, P. H. (1986). Learning from the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought. Social Problems. Vol. 33, No. 6, Special Theory Issue (Oct. - Dec., 1986), pp. S14-S32.
Friere, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Harris, J. (2012). High on the Hog. New York: Bloomsbury.
Williams-Forson, P. (2006). Building Houses out of Chicken Legs: Black Women,
Food, and Power. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina.