One surefire way to pick a fight with a Kentuckian is to try to explain that she is somehow less southern than the rest of The South. Kentuckians are some of the most conscientiously southern folks you’ll ever meet. We are passionately southern. Anyone trying to classify a Kentuckian as anything other than southern is simply lacking good judgment. So, I’m going to speak my piece and be done with the topic.
Kentucky supplies 95% of the world’s bourbon supply. If it’s not Kentucky, it’s not bourbon.
A Matter Of Geography
The first argument folks will try to use against Kentucky is geography. One’s location relative to the Mason-Dixon is the single qualification required for the geography of The South. The entire commonwealth of Kentucky falls south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But just in case that wasn’t evidence enough, geographically, Kentucky extends further south than some towns in Tennessee (i.e., Fulton, Kentucky is more geographically southern than Clarksville, Tennessee). Kentucky extends further south than Virginia.
In all the time I’ve spent as a southerner in New England, I have yet to see any streets named Dixie north of the Mason-Dixon. Dixie derives from the French word for ten as French Franks were being used as currency in the south. This photo was taken in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
If Kentucky isn’t southern what else could it be? It sure isn’t geographically north. Some may offer the Midwest as an acceptable region but what is Kentucky west of other than Virginia and the Atlantic Ocean? Kentucky is one state removed from the nation’s Eastern border. You can’t get more east than Kentucky unless you’re Virginia…or West Virginia. You’d be hard-pressed convincing anyone that Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana aren’t southern states yet they’re all more west of the Bluegrass. Kentucky clearly isn’t West enough to be considered West in any form. Florida is geographically southern, but we all know, the further south you travel in Florida, the less Southern you get. The majority of Floridians do not consider themselves southern and southern folks don’t accept most of them as southern. Southerners will ask from what part of Florida a person is from to really get a feel of how southern they are.
One of my favorite Kentucky signs of welcome. Courtesy of the happy people of Ohio County.
Kentucky is Southern In Culture
At any rate, any southerner worth the butter in their grits will tell you that Southern-ness encompasses more than residing in a particular geographic region. Southern is culture. Southern is a state of mind.
Culture includes all the features of everyday existence; culture consists of beliefs, rituals, behavior, religion, food, arts, attitudes, language, and customs. When it comes to Southern Culture, Kentucky values remain consistent with the south’s.
Photo from the KFC in the Louisville Airport.
Kentucky food, with our preference toward all things fried or barbecued, is super southern. Our tea, sweeter than the belles who make it, is undeniably southern. The way we talk, with both a slow drawl and an Appalachian twang and the euphemisms we use, can be found only south of the Mason Dixon. Our rituals and customs can be observed every Saturday in the fall. You’ll find Kentucky belles in sundresses at tailgates, and we tailgate for everything from football to horse races. Debutant balls and cotillions are not foreign to Kentuckians in this day in age. Dang near all of us Kentucky belles have a tiara, sash, and some type of title stashed away from our youth. All of this pomp and circumstance is predicated on the value of marrying well and starting a southern family. The way Kentucky approaches every phase of life, from birth to death is quintessentially southern in practice. I’ve traveled to every state in the union. Therefore, I’m well aware that the South, including Kentucky, seems to be the only region where strangers pay their respects to the bereaved by pulling over on the side of the road. Kentucky is a red state like the rest of the south showing exactly where its political values stand.
A Common History
A center point of southern culture is its adherence to tradition and history. Regardless if it makes you proud or ashamed, history is the immutable tie that binds Kentucky to the rest of the south.
The charming downtown of my hometown.
Kentucky has been southern since 1792. As the first southern state admitted after the independence of America, Kentucky has been southern long before the Louisiana Purchase welcomed eight out of 13 southern states.
In addition to its longevity, both the president of the Confederate States and the United States during the civil war came from Kentucky…born 100 miles or so apart. A state’s relationship with the south during the time of the Civil War is really the determining factor of its legitimacy within the region. Kentucky straddled the fence during the War Between The States— wanting to remain one nation but maintain the institution of slavery too. After emancipation, Kentucky took on a more fervently southern identity. It clings to the “Just Cause” propaganda that is still taught in Kentucky Schools. Kentucky erected so many confederate statues it would be a wonder if any Kentuckian has ever seen a Union monument. It’s not uncommon for Kentucky folks to be able to look in their backyards and around their neighborhoods and be in a Civil War battleground or confederate grave yard. Now, what Northerner or Midwesterner can say the same?
My Old Kentucky Home: The Musical performed every summer in Bardstown, Kentucky. Reenacting the antebellum period is a Southern Pastime.
Kentucky has Southern Street Cred (We’re Backwoods Legit)
Besides, the SEC college sports conference and Southern Living Magazine recognizes Kentucky as southern. I’d say that’s confirmation enough. So with geography, history, and culture firmly planted in the south, there’s just no use in trying to dissociate Kentucky from its Southernness.
Every southern state boasts its own unique personality. Louisiana showcases its French and Creole heritage. The low country of South Carolina intertwines hospitality into its fabric. Cattle ranching culture plays a significant role in Texas’ notable style. We’ve got mountain states, cotton states, and sugar cane state(s) all of which provide a distinction from rest of the southern states. Like members of a family, each individual has a unique identity, but their kinship binds them all together. Kentuckians hold a kinship to other southerners that they don’t have with any other region of the US. Maybe it’s the accent. Perhaps it’s the menus we are nourished by or the behaviors we instill in our offspring regardless of where we raise them. I believe our way of living, colloquialisms, and fundamental reputation make Kentucky, without a doubt, southern through and through. Upper south or mid-south, yes, but entirely south nevertheless. And if you refuse to believe that well, bless your sweet little heart, you can just kiss my Kentucky bluegrass!
The farm of my childhood friend’s parents in Yellow Creek, Kentucky.
During winters in New England when the cabin fever sets in, it’s easy to fall into a state of nostalgia for my far away former Kentucky home. Some guides encourage reaching for a host of remedies to cure the homesickness disease. Photo albums, making phone calls, or working out are just a few suggestions. I find, when I’m missing Kentucky, nothing fights homesickness better than good ol’ comfort food seasoned with warm memories. That said, here’s a recipe that is sure to word off any homesickness Kentuckians living away from home may be feeling this winter, the classic Kentucky Hot Brown.
During winters in New England when the cabin fever sets in, it’s easy to fall into a state of nostalgia. Some guides encourage reaching for host of remedies to cure the homesickness affliction. I find, when I’m missing Kentucky, nothing fights homesickness better than good ol’ comfort food seasoned with warm memories. Here in Boston, southerners have to make their own comfort foods because stores around here do not sell southern staples like sweet tea and sweet potato pie pre-made.
CLASSIC HOT BROWN INGREDIENTS Makes Two Hot Browns
• 2 sticks (one cup) Butter • ¼ cup (2 oz.) All-Purpose Flour • 1 cup (8 oz.) Heavy Cream • ½ Cup of Pecorino Romano Cheese • Bourbon (enough or none at all) * • ¼ pound thick sliced roasted turkey breast • French bread/baguette • 4 Slices of crispy smoked pepper bacon • 2 Roma tomatoes • Paprika • Parsley • Salt and Pepper
PREP
Select
a thick, flavorful cut of turkey from your butcher or local deli. I chose pepper-maple
turkey. And since it’s just me, a ¼ pound slice was perfect. Soak the turkey in
enough* bourbon to cover overnight
(or three hours or more).
Select a quality, think chunk of turkey from your local deli.
For the Sauce
While making the sauce, bake the turkey in the bourbon at 300 degrees.
In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and slowly whisk in flour until combined and forms a thick paste (roux). Continue to cook the roux, stirring frequently. Then add heavy cream into the roux and whisk until the cream begins to simmer (about 2‑3 minutes). Slowly whisk in Pecorino Romano Cheese until the sauce is smooth. Keep warm and add salt and pepper to taste.
Assembling the Sandwich
Slice
the French bread in half and into
sandwich sized slices. These will make two open-faced sandwiches.
Next, lightly toast the top of the French bread. I broiled it in a cast iron dish for this. You can also use Pyrex or a backing dish in a toaster oven.
After that, layer the toast with your warm bourbon baked turkey.
Then,
pour the cheese sauce completely over the sandwich.
Next,
top with tomatoes (where the
tomatoes go in the equation is debatable. Some like it under the cheese, I like
it on top so it boils).
Almost finished. Just broil this before adding the toppers.
Sprinkle
with additional Pecorino Romano cheese.
Place the entire dish under a broiler until cheese begins to brown and bubble.
While
it broils, fry your bacon.
Remove
the dish from broiler, cross two pieces of crispy bacon on top.
Garnish
with paprika, parsley, or cheese and serve immediately while hot.
Now, sit back in your reading chair with your bubbling Kentucky sandwich, a copper cup of bourbon apple cider, recall the history of the Hot Brown and dial (855) 883-8663 to hear our state song sang by the former governor, Happy Chandler.
Tale in all of this cheesy, turkey, bacon, and tomato goodness while you remember home.
Disclaimers:
Yes, I also recognize dang near all of my recipes call for bourbon which can be habit-forming for some. It’s a non-essential ingredient in most recipes. Just take it out if you need to.
*Take a peep here to understand my views on being precise with measurements in recipes and why I intentionally don’t do it.
I’m also aware of Happy Chandler’s problematic statements and views. Someone with a beautiful singing voice should record the song to give us more listening options.
Anyone who knows me knows I am not particularly fond of reptiles— Especially the ones without shells. When I lived in SoCal, a lizard once pranced its way into my office. I took off running into my boss’s office, closed the door behind me, made sure it was locked, and made myself a human barricade to save us both from the vicious animal. My boss looked up from his work, half concerned, half aware that I’m prone to goofiness. I informed him of the situation. He went to rid my space of the intruder. I may have grown up in the country but crossing paths with snakes and lizards never grew on me.
Fast forward a year from that incident, I was enjoying a day under the San Cristóbal Island seas, and learning first hand that the iguanas I tried to avoid sunbathing on rocks, could swim. Go figure, the Galapagos Marine Iguana is the only sea-going lizard in the world. According to Charles Darwin, swimming may have become an adaptation of land iguanas that apparently drifted out to sea on logs and landed in the islands. For the iguanas, it was either adapt or die. So they evolved into swimmers.
Galapagos Marine Iguana basks, unbothered, on the beach
A huge, lava-ash colored lizard with a spiky back and bumpy head glided through the crystal blue waters swishing her tail behind her like a mini crocodile right past my face, unconcerned. Iguanas have no natural predators in the water. I, on the other hand, was concerned. Convinced that this unsightly creature must be a predator to me, I momentarily forgot I was indeed not a mermaid and opened my mouth to squeal, taking in all of the salty ocean into my lungs. I had to come up for air.
Popping my head out of the water, coughing and gasping for air, I regained my composure. I watched another iguana, camouflaged on a black rock, hop into the sea and paddle nonchalantly with its head barely above the water. I was really ready to end the beach day right there. Swimming lizards wasn’t something I was prepared to experience. I read up on swimming with giant Galapagos turtles but somehow missed the part of marine iguanas.
Sea Lions sun bathe on Playa Carola
With the exception of a three-person family down the beach, I had the beach, Playa Punta Carola, to myself. That is of course, with the exception of the small family and huge iguanas. With the pristine white sand blazing, I packed my beach tote and left on a hunt to find a lizard-free beach. Perhaps a more populated beach would clear out the wildlife. Through paths lined by tall, lush vegetation I eventually made it to the Charles Darwin statue. The area had charming little coves and gentle waters. I figured I can snorkel here.
However, I had to get past the crabs that covered the rocks leading to the pool and seemed to do karate kicks into the ocean. Swimming iguanas and jumping crabs, great! I could just imagine my foot getting clipped by a crab and oozing out blood, making the long, hot walk along the equator back to my hotel miserable. A cozy corner of the cove against the shady mountainous cliffs provided a bed to sleeping sealions. San Cristóbal is a quiet island in the first place, but being in the off season left most beaches unoccupied by humans. Perhaps if I was there with a friend I could have been convinced to make the plunge, but I couldn’t convenience myself. I continued my search along the shore. Other beaches were overrun by wet-dog smelling sea lions. I was finally forced to accept that I was going to be hard-pressed to find a shore without aquatic lizards.
Jumping Crabs!
This is what happens on a conservation site. In the Galapagos, animals are free to roam and be animals. They’re not confined to a location for the sake of human comfort and development. This is nothing like the beach environments I’ve been used to in South Carolina, Virginia, SoCal, Massachusetts or Florida. Like the lizards had to evolve or go extinct, I needed to adapt or live a less adventurous vacation.
I had to recognize, I am the intruder interrupting their beach time.
Iguanas look scarier than they are. Animals that feed on algae growing on rocks do not eat or attack humans. Just like most people, if you mind your own business, animals are just as nice to you as you are to them.
We’re just going to be two predator-less creatures swimming and enjoying paradise together.
One of the most magnetic people I know established my new favorite non-profit aimed at exposing a wider range of children to the thrills of aviation. Legacy Flight Academy accomplishes this goal at one-day, Eyes Above the Horizon events that take place in various cities around the county. Students interact with diverse pilots who instill the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen and share tales of their flying adventures. The highlight of the day is an introductory flight in the cockpit of a single-engine plane. All of this is provided free of charge to anyone who takes advantage of the opportunity. I’d heard so much about this award-winning organization that I had to get involved. So I boarded a plane to fly to Houston to volunteer.
Legacy Flight Academy: Eyes Above The Horizon
Early on a Saturday morning children start filtering through the Lone Star Flight
Museum. I’m charged with leading a group of 20 or so 5th and 6th graders to their stations. The day
is divided into four parts: introductory flight, Tuskegee Airmen legacy lesson,
museum scavenger hunt, and hands-on simulation. Inquisitive, little minds absorb
all the information and start making connections with context they’ve been
provided. When they ascend into the sky,
a transformation takes place. Packed
full of new experiences, their little bodies come back down to Earth, but their
perspective never does. I have the privilege of watching it all take place
from a front row view.
All smiles while 5th-grade children take turns checking out a fighter jet as they wait for their introductory flight.
While shepherding the children through the galleries on a scavenger hunt, something becomes apparent for the first time. Of all the exhibits on aviation, Bessie Colman was the only black female aviator featured…in the entire, huge museum! Granted it’s a Texas-heritage aviation museum and Ms. Colman was a native Texan, surrounded by all the aviation history gives the appearance that Bessie Coleman was one of a kind. She wasn’t. The stories of Mildred Hammons Carter, Willa Brown, and Janet Bragg are equally fascinating, especially for their time. They taught countless other black men and women to fly. Even with my background in history, spending my life in the Air Force, and teaching Air Force History, I had not been fully cognizant of the dearth of aviators that look like me until this moment.
Precocious children stay engaged with a Legacy Lesson of the Tuskegee Airman from a volunteer who was personally friends with a recently passed original Airman. They asked so many thoughtful questions and offered their own insights.
We laud the Tuskegee Airmen as the nation’s first military unit for African-American pilots. However, it wasn’t for all African-American pilots; just the male ones. Words matter, and so do the omission of words. When we leave out the word “male,” although perhaps implied, it glosses over the lack of opportunity for black women. Not explicitly stating the U.S. Army’s Tuskegee Flight School Experiment solely selected black men alters the context from a sense of inclusion for all black people to the reality of the exclusion of over half the black population.
While it is also essential to recognize that the U.S. military barred women in general from combat, and thus fighter pilot slots, during World War II, it’s also crucial to make abundantly clear, that black, female pilots, although qualified for non-combat flights, faced both gender and racial discrimination. Even today, unless you specifically hunt for the contributions of black, female aviators, you won’t find them mentioned in movies or websites including Tuskegee University’s own. Even the supporting contributions women provided, to include training the Tuskegee Airmen to fly, are omitted.
Herb and Mildred Carter’s 70-year, epic romance in the sky is one for the history books. They weren’t allowed to date while training at Tuskegee so they’d meet up in the sky above Lake Martin and blow kisses at each other from their planes. Mildred was the first black woman in Alabama to fly and first civilian hired by the Army Air Corp. She was retroactively designated a WASP 70 years after applying. As far as my research takes me, she is the only person who is designated as both a WASP and Tuskegee Airman.
The same is true for the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). It wasn’t an inclusive program for all women. It specifically disqualified black women. So it wasn’t a Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps. It more accurately should be called the “White Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps” with a few waivers for non-black Women of Color.
I’d always identified with both groups of ground-breaking pioneers, only to realize that I wouldn’t have been welcomed in either. We are still witnessing the early years of black female aviation. The first black woman to fly in combat was in 2001! That’s 60 years after the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP! Recognizing neither group would have had a place for me to fly was depleting as well as telling.
After 8 hours of flight immersion, Legacy Flight Academy participants gather for a group picture.
After the all-day event wrapped up, a pilot for United Airlines
invited the Legacy Flight Academy volunteers to crash at her sprawling secondary
home. Fewer than 150 African-American women hold
a pilot’s license (airline, commercial, military or instructor); she’s one of
them. She’s also a founding member of Sisters of the Skies, a non-profit organization founded in 2015. This organization doesn’t just accept black
women as members, Sisters of the Skies is dedicated to increasing the number of
black female aviators. The friend who
invited me to volunteer, a military flight instructor, took the lead in
conducting a debrief and After Action Report to gain consensus on what went
right and what could be done better next time.
Sisters of the Sky muster at the Lone Star Flight Museum.
Legacy Flight Wrap Up
Someone once told me, “It’s either first class or no class.” Eyes Above the Horizon is first class all the way. I’m still impressed that people that I call friends could dream this experience and turn it into an extraordinary reality. From the expansive museum and its knowledgeable staff, the pilots who volunteered their aircraft, fuel, and time, to the leaders who organized the event, everything was fantastic. This community undertaking drew in over 100 Houston-area kids. Since this was my first experience with the Legacy Flight I only had praise to offer.
One of the perks of the academy is the opportunity to interact with living legends. Five generations apart these two share a joy of aviation.
It’s About Belonging
With all the children gone, the volunteers and staff gathered at a local pilot’s home. Chillin’ around a kitchen, eating pizza and wings, laughing, joking, and contributing to the lighthearted revelry, we conducted a business meeting. I was in awe of the moment. There I was, surrounded by black excellence. It’s a situation that rarely happens for me, yet everything about it was familiar. Surrounded by people that I just met earlier that day, I felt at home. I knew it would be a long while before this happened again, so I intentionally captured the moment in my mind.
For instance, I’d estimate there are fewer than 10 black officers on my Air Force base. Without intentional efforts, I can go months without contact with peers from a similar cultural background. aired with my history of perpetually being “the only one,” camaraderie with black peers has been an infrequent indulgence my whole life. Even more infrequent as an Air Force officer is the opportunity to observe other black officers lead and the access to socialize with aviators, let alone black aviators.
Black aviators have just as much swag today as they did in 1944 (and slightly more women).
Around 10 flyers or so floated around the house. In addition to my flight instructor buddy, there’s one of his flight students, a bright, young woman who divided her attention between her studies and the lively conversation. Another aviator present, a fighter pilot who earned his flying license before his driver’s license shared a video of his first flight solo as a child. A Surveillance and Reconnaissance pilot recalled highlights of the day which included the children asking if he can see outer space from his aircraft…he can! The question and answer session took an awkward turn when the kiddos got very officious about his bathroom habits while wearing a spacesuit. He’d just recently bought his own plane for recreational flying.
A commercial airline pilot, who also flies for the Air Force reserves lamented his economical travel arrangements of riding shotgun to Texas, sitting on the uncomfortable hump (also known as the jump seat) between two the two pilots flying the plane. Navigators, air battle managers, and a few others with careers in aviation talked and joked with the group. And then there was me. As the furthest removed from aviation, I was a guest within the group but very much deeply embraced. We all just exchanged ideas, vibed, and enjoyed one another’s company. It was a pleasure.
A U2, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, pilot dresses a student in his space suit. The U2, also called the Dragon Lady, first flew in 1955 and is a spy aircraft which can loiter in the air taking aerial pictures of an area of operation. Pilots must use liquid oxygen and a spacesuit in high altitudes.
I recalled a former, non-black Naval Aviator who once said Top Gun was what inspired him to fly. Nothing about Top Gun appealed to me. When I watch Top Gun, I see an environment where I’m likely to get touched without my consent. In that situation, I can predict that I’ll have perspectives and ideas to share, but the group will dismiss them. Talked over and interrupted will be standard behavior.
Additionally, I can expect to be misunderstood and mischaracterized. I will have to tolerate racist micro-aggressions and get accustomed to both casual and overt sexism for the sake of being tolerated at all. I’ll be spoken to condescendingly or harshly if at all. They’ll go play volleyball on the beach, and I won’t even be invited (notice, the volleyball scene did not include the only black guy in the Top Gun flight class; that’s remarkably accurate). If included by the group at all, there will be a sense that I am involved out of obligation. They’ll find singing “That Loving Feeling” amusing. I won’t. But I’ll have to pretend I do to avoid being the stick-in-the-mud. In other words, I can always expect to be ever so slightly out of place. Much like watching Top Gun from the screen, even if I were present in the group, I’d still most likely be on the outside looking in and kept at arm’s length.
Inspiring future generations is a whole community effort. About six Houston-Area pilots spent their Saturday volunteering to flying 100 students around. A local chain restaurant catered lunch at no cost. Local teachers rallied promising future aviators to the event.
Stanford University researchers Robin Ely and Debra Meyerson published a study that indicates that the male culture prevents women from excelling in corporate America. Other studies suggest that it is specifically White Male Culture that detours those who are not white and male from participation or struggling when they do. I’d surmise that’s a major reason minorities and women avoid careers in aviation. In other words, it’s not necessarily a lack of exposure, interest, or ability; it’s the culture.
Another study states, “Like fish in water, many white men never have to leave their culture from birth to boardroom. Often they are unaware they have a culture that others must negotiate.” Perhaps people outside of this culture are like aquatic frogs. We can swim with the fish from time to time but eventually, need to come up for air. Until hanging out with these guys, I never knew there was air for a temporary reprieve.
Among this group, I don’t stand out. There is no foreign culture to navigate. My dual consciousness isn’t employed. I don’t have to walk on eggshells to avoid my entire race being stereotyped by any action that I do that’s perceived as negative. I don’t need to regulate myself into perfection in order to debunk stereotypes. Any positive attributes aren’t seen as exceptional for my race because being exceptionally brilliant and talented is expected. I’m not tone-policed. I’m not a novelty, token, or commodity. Around these folks, my voice is heard and appreciated. Here, no topics are avoided. For example, we discussed the merits of attending Cornell versus Hampton for undergrad which largely centered on race, inclusion, and acceptance. One of the volunteers, the only Caucasian aviator in the group, quietly listened. No one felt compelled to code switch to accommodate his comfort. We were all free to be our authentic selves.
Students answer questions on a pre-flight checklist.
After Party Socialization
After stuffing our faces and concluding the meeting, we suited up for esprit de corps in the Houston nightlife. I did not stand out in the bar. It’s a rare occasion that going out with colleagues doesn’t include Journey, Bohemian Rhapsody, Copperhead Road, or Sweet Caroline. Although I’ve certainly had a blast belting out the words to Don’t Stop Believing and doing the Copperhead Road line dance, that music usually doesn’t make the cut to my celebration playlist. It’s just as foreign to me as shouting, “tickie tockie tickie tockie” under an Octoberfest tent in Munich. Fun. But Foreign.
Lasting Effects of Legacy Flight Academy
After that weekend I did some research. That research led me to the ground school at my local aero club the following Wednesday. Not long after that, I took my first flight lesson with me in control of the throttle. I Flew A Daggum Airplane! I finally understood the hype my aviator friends had been talking about. That night my dreams were about flying. This is the impact of representation. Having access to a flying community whom I could identify and where I belonged with was all it took to convince me to consider aviation after decades of being aviation adjacent.
In short, it’s not enough to sell aviation as a cool thing to do. That doesn’t make flying any different from all the other cool stuff active, ambitious people do every day. People want to belong. Deep down, everyone wants to be part of something wonderful; that’s the very reason I traveled to Houston in the first place. The camaraderie within an elite network is what makes this profession or hobby unique. Knowing there’s a tight-knit community of people like me and has always been a community like me, is the most significant selling point in encouraging diversity in aviation. Being part of the flying world touches on the top three of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Who knew, I traveled to Houston to volunteer to plant seeds of aviation excellence in the impressionable minds of children not knowing Legacy Flight Academy would sow those seeds in me as well.
A teenage, licensed pilot and alum of Legacy Flight Academy shows younger children the sky is not the limit when it’s her point of view.
***If you’d like to be part of something great by supporting the early exposure to the thrill of aviation to a wide range of children, you can donatehere or inquire about volunteer opportunities. To learn how you can bring Eyes Above The Horizon to your hometown check out the Legacyflightacademy.org website. You can also list Legacy Flight Academy as your Amazon Smile non-profit. Or donate as a birthday gift to me on my Facebook link or LFA’s.
Oh, bath bombs. Bath Bombs add a hint of luxury to a warm bath. The fizzies feel like bathing in warm Champaign. The powders soften the water, bubbles caress your skin, and the oils have you leaving the bath moisturized and feeling silky smooth. It certainly kicks bath time up a notch. You’ll want to add this homemade bath bomb recipe to your self-care routine.
In addition to the luxurious properties, bath bombs have health benefits. When an alkaline substance (like baking soda, the softening ingredient in bath bombs) is mixed with something acidic (such as citric acid, a fizzy ingredient in bath bombs), it neutralizes it. The pH level of your healthy lady parts (I only say that because using the medical term, vagina, offends some people) is typically between 3.5 to 4.5. If the pH level goes up or down, it could be responsible for a host of problems. Sitting in an alkalizing bath soak helps level pH balance of the vagina. Anyway…
Let’s get real, part of the luxury stems from the price of a bath bomb which can cost upwards of $9-$12 a piece or more if you go to Lush. No one is taking a $10 bath every time. You can definitely make a batch of your own homemade bath bombs for the same price. Bath bombs are simple and relatively easy to make. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples in many homes, but make sure you have these on hand:
You can make your own spa day at home with the right elements.
Baking Soda ($2 for 4 pounds at the Commissary)
The backbone of this recipe is
alkalizing baking soda. It is a necessary complement to the acidic citric acid
and part of the fizzing reaction.
Corn Starch ($1.13 for 1 pound at the Commissary)
Corn starch provides the silky
feel that we all love from bath bombs.
EpsomSalt ($7 for 6 pounds at Walgreens)
This is used to draw out toxins
from the body and soothe worn muscles. Stick to basic salt or take it up a
notch with salt or another favorite salt option.
Citric Acid ($10 for 2 pounds on Amazon)
I had to go to Amazon to get
this ingredient. No one at drug stores even know what I was talking about when
I asked for it. This is the ingredient that creates the fizzing property.
Cream of Tarter ($3 for 3.5 oz Hannaford’s Groccery)
This is optional but makes the sudsy properties.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate ($18.75/1 pound on Amazon)
I had to go to Amazon to get this ingredient. It makes bubbles and foams for a rich lather but still gentle on skin.
Oils (Ialready had on hand but approx. $7 for a bottle of Olive, cocoanut, or avocado oil at the grocery store)
Olive oil, avocado oil, almond
oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, sea buckthorn seed oil, argon oil or apricot oil…pick
one or several. You can even go synthetic with baby oil or other bath oils if
you wish. These are all very versatile and you can pick any combination that
you have on hand.
Essential oils (already had on hand but approx. $14 for 4 at TJ Maxx)
If you want your bath to explode in fragrance choose an essential oil. Some of my favorite essential oil combinations: Lavender & Vanilla or cotton candy & lemonade… just use your imagination! Of course, you can always go scent free.
Food
coloring (already had on hand but approx. $5 grocery store)
Use leftover Easter egg or Christmas cookie icing dye. Or you can go powdered dye which works better
for this project.
Molds (I already had them on hand but spend $20 max. You can find them in the Target dollar bins, Ikea, amazon, etc.)
Round metal molds exist that are marketed specifically for bath
bombs. I’ve tried these and found that silicon modes are my preference. They
have more uses than the round metal modes and they’re easier to remove
2 tsp witch hazel (or water) plus a little
more if needed, but not too much more because it’ll activate the citric acid.
Food coloring
Homemade Bath Bomb Recipe Instructions
Combine dry ingredients (baking soda, Epsom salt, citric acid, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, cream of tartar, and cornstarch) in a large bowl and mix well until combined.
In a small bowl, combine the all the liquids.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients a few drops at a time. Mixing well at the same time.
Mixture should hold together like slightly wet sand when squeezed without crumbling. I recommend using a spray bottle with additional liquid to evenly add.
Press mixture into greased metal molds or silicon molds. Let set for 24 hours or so until hardened.
One of my friends brought to my attention that everyone is
bougie about something. For one friend, it’s his laundry detergent. For another
it’s his car. For me, it’s the food my dog consumes.
I won’t get too deep into the nutrition standards for processed American dog food verses European dog food (the government subsidizes more corn than humans can eat, and all of that surplus ends up as fillers in budget dog food. Corn is not part of a dog’s natural diet). There’s the controversial “animal by-product” ingredient that incudes animals that were dead on arrival to the slaughter house then sat out in the heat for hours to days that gets packaged and fed to dogs. This is especially seedy when the ingredients won’t even tell you what animal the by-product came from (could be feeding your dog another dog). Animal by-products and filler corn are used because they are cheaper, not because they are nutritious. I like to know what I’m putting into my body which transfers over to knowing what my dog consumes, so I avoid this ingredient.
Straining from making dog stew in a slow cooker.
I spoil my dog with wet dog food as a daily part of his
meal. But that gets pricy. I alleviate
costs while keeping nutrients by making my own wet dog food. Since two beings are
able to eat the food instead of one, less food goes to waste in my home than it
would if it were only me eating it.
By making your own dog food you can personalize and cater to
your dog’s needs. A three-year-old working dog that pulls cargo on sleds for 40
miles in the snow is going to have different nutrition needs than a slightly
pudgy, senior, medium-sized Boxer-mix who loafs on the sofa for 10 hours a day.
Work with a professional to hone in on your pup’s nutritional requirements.
Proteins
Fruits & Veggies
Starches
Oil
Hard boiled eggs with shells
Carrots
Rice
Flax seed oil
Stewing Beef
Green beans
Oatmeal
Hempseed oil
Chicken
Spinach
Barley
Fish oil/ sardines
Lean ground turkey
Apple slices
Sweet potatoes
Anchovies
Peas
White potatoes
Tuna
Kelp
Lentils
Chicken/beef liver
Pumpkin
Lean ground beef
Important Note!!! You want to avoid feeding your dog: onions, raisins, grapes, mushrooms, corn, garlic, avocado, nuts, sugars, chocolate, coffee, and citrus fruit. If you’re using sweet potatoes out of the can, be sure to rinse the sweet syrup off. You don’t want to cause diabetes in your pup. Pork is also not advisable because it is super fatty and could cause similar health issues in pets as it does in humans. So if you use it, use it sparingly.
Memphis helps me eat veggies and rice.
Here’s a simple recipe but of course, you can get creative
with the combinations.
2 pounds lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken (lamb, veal,
duck if you’re fancy)
1 cup carbs like rice, oats, barley, or potatoes
2 Tbs Flaxseed oil
2 Tbs Hemp seed oil (provides omega 6.3)
1 Tbs ginger (manganese)
½ cup Kelp (iodine)
Egg with shell (calcium)
Small jar of anchovies
3 oz beef liver (copper, zinc, iron)
1 cup veggies such as green beans, peas, spinach, carrots
I go usually take one of three dog food cooking options: stew, meat loaf, or Blend
Use the skin too. That’s where the nutrition is!
Blended Wet Dog Food
Instructions
1. Cook the meat first (bake or cook on the stovetop)
2. Cook the carbs/grains until soft
3. Flash boil the veggies until soft
4. Crush the whole egg to the food processor
5. Mix all in a food processor (remember, dogs don’t chew
their food 20 times so they don’t choke so the pieces need to be small)
6. Add other ingredients
Dog Food Stew
Instructions
1. Brown the meat first.
2. Boil the rice until soft
3. Add all ingredients to a pot of water or broth and simmer for 45 min or so. You can also dump all the ingredients in a slow cooker as well.
Mix it all in: Carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, rice, and chicken.
Dog Meat Loaf
1. Boil grains until edible
2. Use a food processor to chop and mix all the ingredients.
Be sure to crunch up that egg shell in a food processor and distribute it to
the mix.
3. Use your hands to mix all ingredients into ground meat.
4. Form a loaf and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so, until
the center is brown.
*another option is to make meatballs out of this.
Divvy out into individual containers or baggies and freeze
until needed. Viola!
A little more than a month’s worth of wet dog food for my 52 pound Boxer Mix.
Also note: I often use Missing Link Dog Supplements to make sure I didn’t leave any nutrition out.
When travel becomes a way of life rather than a departure from your standard lifestyle, the way you live at home takes on a new standards. People often attribute a lack of funds to the reason that they’re not able to travel. With student loans and low paying jobs that I often read about in the news, I don’t doubt that’s the case. That said, I also think people have more access to funds than they realize. If you’re gainfully employed to the extent that all your needs are covered, and if traveling is really a goal, I have a few lifestyle habits I employ while at home that stretch and reallocate my income to be able to travel farther, more frequently, and more comfortably.
You want to live for today but plan for tomorrow. Here’s a middle ground to cut daily spending costs without sacrificing comforts so you can travel more.
Note: I am aware this targets the Middle Class and may not be helpful for all. If you have more frugal lifestyle habits, I’m all ears.
Plane Ticket: Average Price Range $200-$1600
You can purchase a ticket from Louisville to Beijing for under $900 if you buy your ticket 4 months out. Louisville to Sydney, Australia costs about a grand. I use Louisville as an example because it’s not a major hub and usually requires connecting flights. Connections drive up the price meaning if you fly out of hub cities, you’re flights can be expected to cost less. Generally, the shorter the time period between the purchase date and take off date, the pricier the ticket. But bottom line, a grand will get you just about anywhere you want to be in the world. A little flexibility in travel dates will get you further. Here’s a few changes you can make to be able to afford a plan ticket.
1.Stop Buying Cable television ($600 year)
I stopped using cable back in 2010 after inadvertently getting sucked into an entire Saturday of marathon watching a family of vapid women act completely unrealistically. It was then that I realized I didn’t really watch tv in the first place. I’m working all day, then I focus on other projects when I get home. I’m never just focus on the television. On weekends I’m out and about being active. At about $50 a month for 12 months, you’ll save $600 a year. That’s a pretty sweet plane ticket dang near anywhere in this hemisphere. I nixed it in exchange for internet only and Netflix or Amazon prime (student priced). No one really does TV anymore which is why the 1% is trying to further commodify the internet with their net neutrality (political pitch).
When it comes to sports, it’s so much more fun to watch games around fans. Just about every team has claimed a bar in Boston (the Eagle Bar is insanely fun) so I go to a bar if I want to watch a game or watch with friends or stream.
2. Nix Newspapers ($200 year)
Does anyone buy newspapers anymore? I mean, I feel like this is an older person thing. Any news you want to know can be found on the internet for free. I don’t know how much your local papers are but to get the NY times delivered plus full digital experience is $3.63 a week (aka $195.57 a year) The Wall Street Journal will run you $240 per year (and that’s the 50% off special rate). Remember a $200 is an off season ticket somewhere.
3. Try not to own stuff /Clear the clutter (save $2,000 a year)
I’m one of the Americans out of every 10 Americans that rents offsite storage—and it costs me $200 a month to store junk I never even see. I’m working on ending it, but that’s a vacation in its self. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually and throws away 65 pounds of clothes (that’s a 10- year old) annually. According to Forbes, the average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine. I think I’m probably well above average, and when I’m not wearing my uniform, I wear the same rotation of probably 10 items over and over.
Owning stuff costs money. The more you own, the more you’re going to need to pay to store. Which means you’ll need to pay more for a bigger place to live just to accommodate all your junk or you’ll need a storage unit. You’ll need to buy insurance to protect it or spend in maintenance to keep it in good working order. If you can get by with borrowing or renting, do that. If you no longer need it, sell it. But stop owning things you don’t need, don’t use, or can live without. This includes a car if you live in a city with a great public transportation system. Additionally, clutter means you won’t be able to find what you need when you need it and you’ll end up buying a new one. Stop toting unnecessary junk around, get organized and get rid of it! Purge it! For me, living in Boston, at an additional $200 a month for extra storage space, that’s $2,400 a year and a plane ticket to China!
Commit to consistent workouts at home before committing to paying for a gym membership
4. Stop paying for gym membership (saves $336 per year)
I’ve dropped hundreds on gym membership with a trainer when I was serious about body building. That lifestyle has gone by the wayside. Unless you have serious fitness goals, like competing in athletic events, you don’t need a gym membership. This is especially true if your company or apartment complex provides a gym. The causal fitness participant doesn’t need much to stay in shape. See if you can commit to actually sticking to an entire fitness regimen for a year before buying a gym membership. You can go to Soul Cycle, Zumba, Boot Camps, take Yoga classes, join a running club meetup, or get a DVD or better yet, use YouTube videos to boost your fitness. Buy a few weights, resistance bands, and/or kettlebells for $50. Planet Fitness advertises $22 a month on their website. LA fitness advertises $34. Using the median amount, nixing gym membership will save about $336 per year. That’s a ticket to the Caribbean or Europe if you live in Boston.
Lodging Costs: Average $8- $400 a day
Now that we’ve reallocated spending to find room for a plan ticket, let’s discuss the second largest travel expense, lodging. For places like Ecuador, you can stay in hostels for under $10 a day. Of course, $400 a pay on a hotel is also realistic. Apply the following changes to budget for lodging.
5. You don’t Need (More) Clothes.
You already have more than enough clothes. You already have
enough clothes. You already have enough clothes. I say this for myself and
people who are like me. You have enough.
You don’t always have to replace an item that gets too worn,
rips, or that you outgrow. If your jeans fall apart, you probably have 4 other
pair in your closet. You don’t need a new pair. You’re not in high school
anymore where you need (or think you need) enough different outfits to get you
through a few weeks. Career men and women probably don’t wear jeans very often
so they don’t need tons of pairs of jeans.
Dare I say two pairs will suffice?
Adapt your wardrobe purchases to your lifestyle. How many cocktail parties am I really attending per year to justify this wardrobe full of cocktail dresses? How many yoga pants does one girl really need and how much yoga (or fitness activities) is she really practicing? I know those pajama pants are cute but keep it real, do you even wear pajamas?
When you make buying a plane ticket your priority, you’ll
think twice about spending a plane ticket amount on clothes that you don’t
need.
New knee high boots can run you $200. Remember that when you
rack up $200 worth of clutter in one card swipe, that’s a night in a decent
hotel.
When you do buy
clothes…
If you were born in the 80s, you’ve been an adult for a
decent length of time. You probably already have the necessary wardrobe
staples. So now when you buy clothes, they’re trendy novelty items or accent
pieces. Since these items will go out of style eventually, don’t spend much on
them.
Shop at off-brand, discount stores like Primark, Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, Rainbow, Marshells, T.J. Maxx, and Target. Check out sale racks and clearance everywhere else. I know my bougie followers are thinking The Horror! Trendy tops that are going to be out of style next season don’t need to cost $50. Loud whisper: if you do squats, your butt is going to look cute in all jeans regardless if they cost $20 or $120. If you’re really bad it won’t take that much money to make you look good.
Look in the girls section. For those of us who haven’t grown much since we were 12… you still fit a size 12 in the kids section. I copped $20 Levis in the little girl’s section and I have no shame. At Primark, a women’s corduroy skirt was $20… guess how much the girls’ skirts were? Nine dollars! Dang near the same skirt (buttons slightly different) in the same store for more than half the price. Plus the little girl’s skirt had pockets!
Now if you’re a 90’s baby and legitimately need (NEED!!) to build up your wardrobe staples in order to make money, go ahead and drop the cash. Otherwise, every day casual wear is not where you need to display your inner bougie.
6.Save While Spending Time with Friends.
The typical catch up with friends includes an outing with brunch/dinner, drinks, and entertainment. Drinks from Starbucks are $5, boba tea is $4, cranberry-vodkas run you $16 (in Boston), and restaurant soda adds $2 to your bill — all these little drinks add up. When you think about a whole dinner costing $2 in Ecuador, each drink at home really cuts into your travel food budget. Take the healthier option and drink water.
I’m all about YOLO, treat yo self, but going out and spending upwards of $100 to hang out with friends should be done in moderation. If you do go out, opt for coffee instead of a meal. If you want to eat, a bowl of soup is usually one of the cheapest things on the menu and can be very filling.
You can socialize with Friends at home. Yes, it’s going to
take cleaning up your home enough so it’s presentable. But you can pop open a
bottle for after work drinks with chips and salsa. Potlucks work for a crowd work. Since solo
dwellers know how challenging it can be to cook for one person, share the food
that would end up being leftovers during an intimate evening with one or two
friends. Consider going to the
grocery store to buy ingredients together then cooking together at home. This
is ALWAYS cheaper and (usually) more fun. Plus, you can perhaps exchange
recipes while you’re at it. For the price you’d pay for one meal at a
restaurant (approx. $35) both of you can eat.
Food doesn’t even have to be the center of the social event.
You can go for a walk together or
work out together.
7. Make Your Own Coffee
This is the saving tip that gets repeated so often. I know it really doesn’t help for anyone who doesn’t consume the beverage. I’m a social coffee drinker. I don’t even own a coffee pot at home. I started the habit while deployed. I didn’t even know how to work the coffee maker then. I’m more into the flavored coffees and sugary stuff. If this is your thing, Starbucks makes pre-mixed sugary concoctions that you can pour over chopped ice at home to make you feel trendier. Saving $5 on coffee per day, for 5 days a week, can be redirected to paying for 3 nights plus breakfast in a South American hostel.
8. Make your lunch (do this for 1 week earns you 1 day at a hotel)
I’ll admit I’m terrible at this. I’ll bring my lunch to work, change my mind about what I want to eat, and still go out and buy something else for lunch. I spent $110 in a week by eating out in December. For $110 I could have bought groceries for two weeks. For the money I spent in restaurants, I could have stayed a night in a hotel while traveling. This goes for days away from work as well. If you’re going to be away from home, pack a sandwich to eat while you’re out to avoid stopping at restaurants.
9. Eat before you leave the house.
While running errands, be sure to eat before leaving the house so you won’t be tempted to stop at fast food. This is true before going to work. This little tip is gentle on your budget and waistline.
Travel meals, on-ground transportation, entertainment: Average costs $4-$300 per day
If you’re disciplined enough to incorporate the previous practices into your daily life for a few months, you’ll save enough to get you to your destination and secure a place to sleep. You’ll still need to eat while traveling. Try these ideas to cut costs while you’re not travelling so you have enough funds to eat well while on the road.
10.Make Your Own Laundry Detergent
On top of the list of the many things millennials are killing is the laundry detergent industry. But check this out, a solo millennial can make a years’ worth of non-toxic laundry detergent, chemical free, for like $5. Everybody has that friend who sells essential oils. Just get some good smelling oils from them, and I’ll show you how to make your own detergent. Fabric softener is really just water softener, and you can use baking soda or vinegar for that. I know some people may be particular about their laundry detergent — I have a friend who refuses anything except Tide Extra Strength Sports Edition pods. That’s ok. We all have something we’re not willing to compromise on. For me, I never notice a difference. At about $20 a container for laundry detergent and two containers a year for a single person, you score yourself a meal out when you make your own soap.
“I forgot my body wash I need to buy more. I forgot to pack pajama pants, I’m buying new ones.” I didn’t actually forget to pack pajamas. I just didn’t consider that I’d be sharing a bed with my girl pal on a trip to NOLA and never considered that perhaps she might not want my pant-less body under the blankets with her.
“Char, you don’t need new pajama pants or body wash. Just get in bed,” my frugal friend Katy told me. And just like that, I avoided spending about $30 for a weekend. Get in the mindset of asking yourself if you can do without. If you didn’t leave the house with the intent of buying that item ahead of time, do you really need it? For the hostel I stayed in while touring Ecuador, $30 is a 3-night stay plus breakfast that I’d just saved.
13. Stop Buying Paper Towels
While you’re being a millennial and killing businesses add paper towels to that hit list. I meant to buy paper towels when I moved into my new apartment. Then, after three months, I realized I never did when I reached for them for the first time while frying bacon. Turns out, I really didn’t need paper towels after all. I let the bacon drain on a cooling rack. Makes me cringe when I watch people clean their counters with disposable paper towels when they could be using cloth. It just fills up landfills.
14. DIY Beauty Services
Can you pluck and shape your own brows? Can you give
yourself a pedicure? Can you find a friend who can clip your split ends and
deep condition your hair? Is it possible
that there’s a gentleman that will massage your aches for free (probably not). Reducing
the frequency of these salon visits without nixing them all together will
stretch your money further.
15. Junk the Junk Food
Chips, cookies, and sodas add up really fast and don’t do
anything for you nutritionally. Stop buying these items and see what it does
for your body and bank account.
And there you go! These are just some of the changes you can make to stretch your dollar. I’m sure once you start incorporating these habits into your lifestyle, you’ll find more creative ways of your own to trim the fat on your budget. With a little time and consistency, you should be able to put away enough funds to support your travels. If you have more ideas, be sure to share!
Come feel the omnipresent spirit of African Ancestors in Charleston.
When I planned my weekend getaway to Charleston, I fully intended on basking
in all the southern-ness I’d been yearning for while living in Boston. I’d chat
with gracious southerners with incomparable etiquette. I’d dine on delectable
southern cuisine. Most of all, I intended
on giving my ears a break from the harshness of the Bostonian accent to capture
the sweetest of twang. Charleston is,
after all, the crown jewel of the south. Its timeless allure is immortalized in
American folklore and literature. It is where you go when you need a super does
of southern charm. Although I went to
Charleston for its southern-ness, I never expected that I’d be surrounded by
its African-ness as well. All-the-while the city is touted as the epicenter of
quintessential southern gentry, I’ve rarely heard it positioned as a starting
point of Africans in American. Yet, when I visited, I was constantly surrounded
by the works and stories that drew a bridge to my own past.
This history and culture of Charleston is the history of the African majority who built and developed the city from the colonial era onward. It is impossible to separate the history of Charleston from the history of the Africans that populated the city for over 300 years. You don’t have to go looking for the history of Black Americans in South Carolina — it hits you right in the face. The African people of Charleston are not an aside to the city, or a footnote. Charleston was not influenced by Africans, but built by Africans in every way. They were and still are the heart of the city.
My first stop of the weekend was Fort Sumter. Etched into memory from history class, it’s always been on my list of places to see. Being the hyper planner that I am, I arrived as their first customer of the morning. I purchased my ticket for the ferry across the bay but it didn’t leave until another two hours at 11. That gave me time to check out the Old Slave Mart Museum.
While touring the Old Slave Mart, or Ryan’s Mart as it was called in the days of slavery, I learned an estimated 80 percent of African Americans today had at least one ancestor who was kidnapped from the Senegambia region then quarantined at Sullivan Island, often for over a month, before being brought into the city. While I can’t know for sure, it is reasonable to believe, that I have some ancestor, from some branch of the family tree that came through this seaport. Considering that probability, the city became more personalized. This wasn’t just a trendy southern city. I was no longer just a history tourist on the outside looking in at a foreign history. This city provides clues to my family’s potential first steps in America.
The museum is reading intensive and emotional. It’s not recommended for children…especially rambunctious ones.
Initially, Charleston didn’t have a designated spot for the sale of Africans. It was customary for Europeans to buy and sell African people randomly on sidewalks all over town. These spontaneous sales drew inconvenient crowds for pedestrians and carts trying to make their way around town. Ryan’s Mart was built in 1856 to alleviate the sidewalk congestion. Now, Charleston had undergone series of legislation banning the public sale of humans in 1839 as a way of being discrete. That law was overturned a decade later by anti-abolitionists as a way of doubling down on their shamelessness of the institution.
Looking at the cobble stone roads, I wondered if any of
my family members, or people who knew my family were creepily inspected on the
side of the roads to be bought and sold like a used futon prior to the mart’s
construction. Or perhaps someone who
cross paths with my ancestors survived time spent in the barracoon of the slave mart. Could all the trauma and heartbreak contained
in this concrete cell be part of my family’s initial experience in this
country? Through these walls, mamas,
most certainly clinging to their little girls knowing the fate of adolescent
girls being considered the property of ruthless men. Young sweethearts, crazy in love, waited for
the impeding separation, never to see each other again. Mothers never knew what
became of their toddlers and children never knew if they had other brothers and
sisters out there.
According to
displays in the museum, Ryan’s Mart was advertised in newspapers across
the south. Even enslavers in Mobile, AL would know when an auction was scheduled
and pay a dealer to purchase and deliver people who were enslaved. Those people
would be marched in shackles from Charleston to Mobile while the white
deliverer would ride alongside of them.
If you could imagine…that’s a 9-hour drive on the highway today but
walking back then would take weeks. This job illustrates that even individuals that
might not have “owned” African people as property, their livelihood still depended
on the propagation of the slave industry. Being in the Old Slave Mart connected
dots on possible stories of my family’s history. My family has lived an hour’s
drive north of Mobile since the end of the Civil War. While Mobile Bay was a
significant slave port, most of those enslaved African people had been brought
over after being “seasoned” for slave life in the Caribbean. I pondered if my people were part of that
crew or the Charleston set? Or both?
After an hour and a half, the museum stimulated
my curiosity and provided more data to use for research. I dashed back to my
rental parked in two-hour parking right outside the museum then headed back to Fort Sumter National Monument.
The National Parks Department curated a small but impactful
museum in the ferry waiting area that doesn’t gloss over some of the less
touted realities of antebellum life that history books often omit. Founded in
1663, Charleston became predominantly black by the first decade of the
1700s. By 1770, the Charleston harbor
was the nation’s fourth largest port after Boston, New York, and
Philadelphia. At the end of the century,
Charleston distinguished itself as the wealthiest city in British North America
(including the Caribbean). All of its wealth was made possible by its slave
industry. Of America’s major cities, Charleston was the only one with a history
of having the majority of its residents enslaved. In fact, the majority of all South Carolina
residents were enslaved. The irony… South Carolina, a state in America — the
bastion of freedom, enslaved most of its residents. The city stayed
predominately African until the great migration during the industrial
revolution of the early 20th century.
The Fort is free but the 30-minute ferry ride is a small fee. You’re welcome to visit on your own boat if you’d like. Keep your eyes out for dolphins!
Once out on the island fort, the park ranger gave a
spill on the history of Ft Sumter. He was a high energy, charismatic, retired
Marine Colonel who implored the visitors to use our imaginations to put
ourselves in the shoes of the people of Charleston at the start of the Civil
War. Empathy, he contended, was vital to
the study of history and human understanding. Just like current events of
today, that time period had so many perspectives to consider. With that in mind, I considered what I’d be
thinking if I was a young, enlisted soldier doing my daily duties while gearing
up for the impending battle. I measured my priorities if I was the commander of
the fort, knowing supplies were low and the confederates were getting hostile. I
imagined being one of the aristocrats watching the battle from the porch of my
ocean-side home. But what I pondered most was the perspective I’d have if I
were one of the enslaved people who laid the bricks to build the fortress. I
wondered if the hands of one of my ancestors built the bricks that now surrounded
me. I ran my hands across as many as I could just in case.
Use from the Ft Sumter National Monument website.
The prevailing viewpoint is the realization that all the
grandeur of the city of Charleston depended on the wealth made possible by
forced, African labor. With the federal government placing bans on the peculiar
institution, the source of income of southerners would be gone (…with the
wind). That meant no more fashionable
gowns imported from Europe. No more life of leisure, porch sitting. Cultural
developments such as America’s first theater building, Dock Street Theater (1736),
was made possible by the wealth of the slave economy. The city’s first libraries came from slave
money. Every nicety enjoyed by the Charleston elite life came from the work of
the kidnapped and enslaved African majority.
So it’s understandable that people, reluctant to change, would hold on
to the last of their livelihood as long as possible. It’s not unlike folks of
today holding on to fleeting or dangerous economies (Coal. Guns. etc).
Two and half hours
later I was back in the city and starving.
At the recommendation of a friend, a South Carolina native, I ate my
fill of mac & cheese and dirty grits (In Charleston they called the dish shrimp
‘n grits…but once you add the sausage and gravy…they qualify as dirty grits) at Poogin’s Porch. The two sites I’d just visited framed my point
of reference and my approach to absorbing historical Charleston. The cityscape
captured my imagination of what used to be. Roaming the streets, I envisioned some
distant relative once traveled the same path as me. I reckoned they probably
looked at the same exchange building or churches I passed. Gadsden Wharf was the busiest port for the nation’s slave trade capitol. But on this day, I
watched an energetic fitness influencer pose for a photoshoot.
As I wandered the streets, words from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography came to mind, “We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets,” he wrote. The beautiful, ornamental wrought iron work featured prominently around the city were designed and created by talented African blacksmiths. The sweet grass baskets that Charleston is famous for (and charges a small fortune), are the handicrafts of West Africa. The bricks that line the streets, make up the stately antebellum homes, and hold up Fort Sumter were all made by enslaved Africans. The food culture of Charleston was made famous by African cooks, chefs, and caterers like Nat Fuller and Sally Seymour. The beautiful gowns seen painted in portraits likely designed and stitched by African seamstresses, made out of African cultivated cotton, and all financed through African labor. Any building, church, home, artifact of the period in the town, was either created by the wealth of enslaved African labor or physically built by the Africans themselves. Even modern buildings were likely built from local revenue which continues to profit off of the antebellum history tourism (i.e. plantation weddings and tours). Equiano’s words were omnipresent as I wandered the painstakingly preserved French quarter streets. This nation too, was full of talented African artisans and craftsmen. Every street I turned down I was surrounded by the works of my ancestors.
At this moment, I was carefree, walking in my ancestor’s footsteps
The last stop of my Saturday was the ancestral plantations of the Drayton family at Magnolia Plantation. Just six years ago, the plantation started to acknowledge the overlooked narrative of all the people who lived on this plantation. It offers a “From Slavery to Freedom” tour. I was suspicious of the how the plantation would approach this narrative when I bought my ticket. But my suspicions were alleviated by the tactful docent who led the tour with the dignity and respect the stories deserved. The original slave shacks remaining on the plantation tell the stories of five different time periods. The descendants of enslaved people lived in these cabins and took care of the grounds until the late 1990s when the last passed away. I had been under the impression enslavers didn’t document where the people that they enslaved came from. But they did. In fact, in Charleston, they were very particular about where they seized people. Africans from the Senegambia region were specifically targeted for their rice cultivation skills. Before cotton became king in the south, rice was the cash crop of coastal South Carolina. Charleston enslavers had been primarily familiar with rice farmers until they took hold of Angolan warriors. The warriors were transported over, said, “Oh hell nah,” then killed everybody at Stono Rebellion (also called Cato’s Conspiracy) just a little way outside of Charleston. At the time, 40 percent of Africans in Charleston were kidnapped from the region now recognized as Angola. After the revolt, a decade-long hiatus in abductions from Angola, among other preventative measures, took effect.
These confined shelters that once housed over 10 people per night humbled me.
The Year 2019 marks the 400th year that the ship, White Lion, docked in Virginia carrying the first people who were enslaved in America. Ghana has declared 2019 as “The Year of Return” and invites all people of African descent to visit the West African nation. If visiting your ancestral lands in Africa isn’t an option, Charleston makes a more accessible option. Even if your ancestors didn’t arrive in America this way, Charleston is steeped in the details that you can’t learn from textbooks and still worth the visit. Even after majoring in history, this weekend tourist trip to Charleston willed in so many gaps in the lessons I learned in school. If you’re looking for something more international, but closer than Africa, The Bahamas, Barbados, St. Kitts, Haiti, and Jamaica are other, closer options for a Black History Month getaway with deeply rooted African history that connects the stories of America’s African history as well.
A beautiful meme floating around the cyber spear goes like
this:
“Black people don’t measure seasonings… We just sprinkle until we hear the spirits of our ancestors whisper, “That’s enough, my child!”
It became an instant classic that I’m sure will undoubtably be passed down until eventually turned into a wise African (American) proverb.
Indeed, I’ve cooked a few times with a folks from other culinary traditions where this cultural cooking practice clashed with theirs.
I once brought a divine chocolate cake to a work function. Let me tell you, it was equal parts rich and moist and everything you could want from a dark chocolate cake and more. A co-worker asked for the recipe to which I let her know, there was no recipe, I just made it up. I really didn’t know what I did. She asked again a few days later with more urgency as if I was trying to hold out from from her. I just went to the internet for a standard chocolate cake recipe an added the extra ingredients that I could remember (like pudding). She was satisfied.
On another occasion, while making tacos on vacation in Florida, I passed my friend some Bud Light Lime and seasonings for the chicken. My friend started asking what seemed like 50 questions like how much of this and how much of that. I found myself getting annoyed at the applicable questions… “You just do it!” I thought to myself. “Put the spices in!”
At a cooking party once, I followed the instructions being
read out loud. The steak called for a tablespoon of some sort of red berries
for the marinade. I took them by
hand. Ready to toss them in the bowl.
“We should measure them first, right?” A friend interrupted my flow.
I agreed as she used the measuring spoon to scoop out the
exact measurement I had in my hand. She realized how on point my intuitive
measurement was.
“Oh, are you just naturally good at eyeballing it?” my
friend asked.
I have countless other stories about my encounters with cooking with people from different foodways than my own and they often end the same way: with people insisting I use exact measurements to season my food and me being really uncomfortable that my cultural practices are being suppressed.
In that vein, I’m no longer silently biting my tongue when it comes to fully expressing my culture. I did not follow precise measurements when I made these recipes and I’m not going to pretend I did by writing fake arbitrary measurements here. Staying true to myself and my culture, I encourage you to let your ancestors and your taste buds guide you. That’s what makes food taste so good. It has generations of love folded into each layer.
Vegan Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce
Hey, I said the pasta sauces were vegan, nothing else. I’m not vegan (yet) but this sweet, spicy, and creamy sauce is enough to get me there.
Total Time: 45 minutes
Cook: 30 min
Equipment: food processor
Music Playing: Miguel – Come Through and Chill + Miguel YouTube playlist that follows (Yes, the music makes the difference. This is imperative)
Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
Coconut/Almond milk (to make the consistency of the sauce to your preference) I preferred coconut
Olive oil (not the EVOO, the dark kind, for the robust flavor)
Red pepper flakes (use as much spiciness as your taste buds
will allow… I say just a hint)
Garlic (a good amount of cloves…how much? Depends on how
much you like garlic)
Himalayan salt (hypertension is a real killer, season
accordingly)
Black pepper (go to town with this)
Rosemary (few sprigs)
Additional Non-vegan
ingredients:
Substitute olive oil for butter if you wish and cream/sour cream for the almond/coconut milk if vegan isn’t your thing.
Instructions
Slice the potatoes into cubes or chunks. You might have to boil the potatoes to make them easier to slice.
Squish the garlic cloves open, sauté in a generous amount of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Don’t let the garlic or oil burn but allow the garlic brown a bit to let the kitchen start to smell delish.
Place the potato chunks on a cookie sheet, drizzle with the garlic and olive oil, sprinkle additional salt and pepper.
Top the potatoes with rosemary sprigs and roast the potatoes until mashable (don’t we always heat the oven to 350 degrees?).
Meanwhile, put some olive oil in a Mason jar, and let some red pepper flakes soak and defuse inside (got this hack from my buddy Greg. Thanks Greg!) Keep this jar around as a homemade spicy sauce.
Once the potatoes are soft enough, send them through the food processor.
Add milk until runny enough to be a sauce, keep processing
Add a hint of the spicy olive oil, keep processing
Taste to see if you want to add more spicy olive oil or just regular olive oil
Store in a Mason Jar in the frig for up to a week. This sauce makes a great option for gym rats with strict body building diets, the budget conscious who can save by not buying a pre-made pasta sauce, the vegan crowd, and gastronomy enthusiasts.
Vegan Butternut Pasta Sauce
Vegan Butternut Pasta Sauce
Total Time: 45 minutes
Cook: 30 min
Equipment: food processor
Music Playing: Still cooking to Miguel – Sure Thing
I was actually trying to make butternut Squash pasta sauce when I discovered what I thought was frozen butternut squash was actually frozen sweet potatoes. Both turned out to be pretty good sauces to eat with pasta. I used a single chef’s best friend— frozen vegetables for this recipe, instead of fresh.
Ingredients
Butternut Squash – I used a whole frozen bag
Chopped onions (about a cup or so)
Handful of Garlic cloves (I use about 2 tablespoons of
pre-crushed, chopped)
Italian herbs (rosemary, oregano, sage, etc. I used about 2
tablespoons of the mix total)
Olive oil (a good amount)
Milk (soy, coconut, or almond) enough to liquify. I used coconut.
Instructions
Fill the surface of a small sauté pan with olive
oil, onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Don’t let the ingredients burn but
allow them to defuse in the oil and permeate the kitchen with glorious
fragrance.
Slice the squash into cubes or chunks and place
on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with the garlic and oil mixture.
Roast until soft (don’t we always use 350
degrees?).
Once the squash is soft enough, send through the
food processor.
Add milk until runny enough to be a sauce, keep
processing
Taste to see if you want to add more spicy olive
oil or just regular olive oil
Toss with veggies and noodles of your choice.
Toss with veggies and noodles of your choice.
Creamy Vegan Tomato Pasta Sauce
Total Time: 45 minutes
Cook: 30 min
Equipment: food processor
Music Playing: Planes by J
Cole & Jeremiah
Tomato Paste (you can make this on your own, but I’m using
one can)
Medium onion (finely diced)
Dried oregano
Dried sage
Dried parsley
Salt and pepper
Cashew milk (or almond, coconut, soy)
Mix all in a food processor. Add milk until desired consistency. Add seasoning and Taste until reaches desired flavor.
New York City has no shortage of beautiful and iconic backdrops for your shoot. I’ve collected the advice from talented photographers I know, did my own research, plus my own experience from my latest photoshoot in NYC to give you tips on creating a successful photoshoot in NYC or elsewhere. So, regardless if this photoshoot is to add a professional touch to your insta or for timeless family keepsakes I hope this post save you time in your planning efforts.
Understand the Purpose of Your Shoot
Not only should you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve during this photoshoot, you need to make sure everyone involved understands that too. If you’re imagining an edgy artistic concept while your photographer is thinking grace and elegance, that’s sure to lead to frustration and disappointment in the end.
If a single picture is worth 1000 words, and you’re going to be taking pictures for hours, think of a photoshoot as a photo novel…and you’re the main character. Take some time to understand the story and narrative you want to tell. Check Pinterest, IG, and other social media sites to guide you. Consider making an inspiration board with all the photos that appeal to you. Be able to articulate what attracts you to the photos you select. For example, is it the editing, the use of lights and shadows, the minimalism or maximalism, the filter, the posing that draws you into the photograph? Take all of this to provide your concept to your photographer.
“Winging it can be fun but you need at least a rough plan of action. Make sure both sides know and agree on a game plan. So plan, plan plan…and then don’t forget to be spontaneous!” — Aaron Mann, photographer, Back Home Again Photos
Select the Photographer That can Tell That Story
Knowing what kind of shoot you want to achieve is going to help you select a photographer. While a wedding photographer can certainly do other styles of photos, his or her area of expertise is couples, not children. So, if you’re photographing a pack of rug rats, you might want to reconsider. Look at the portfolio and determine if your photographer has the experience to make your vision come to life.
Clearly, not New York City. But the photographer and I worked together to come up with the concept to tell the story of home.
Other considerations:
Also make sure you choose a photographer that knows the city or area.
Make sure your energy levels and personalities complement each other. You’ll be spending a lot of time with each other, you’ll want to be comfortable with each other. In fact, be sure everyone involved in the day has compatible personalities.
When I selected a photographer, I knew I wanted to work with my friend, Keith Brooks. Other places you can check for photographers (outside of a google search) Flytophotographer or Freelance.com or KYMA or even Craig’s list
Selecting a location
Your inspiration board is going to direct your location. Manhattan is expansive. And you’ll be covering a lot of ground if you try to get pictures of everything. I suggest sticking to one neighborhood. Since my concept was exploring SoHo and Brooklyn, two neighborhoods relatively close to each other, it wasn’t much distance between each shot and offered plenty of things to shoot along the way.
For family photoshoots you’re going to need easy access to bathrooms and room for little ones to release their energy. Consider Central Park, smaller parks, and the Central Park Zoo for photoshoots involving children.
Under the Manhattan Bridge is a popular photo opportunity for tourist.
Date and Time
The early model gets the most popular tourist attraction. Highly iconic spots: Flatiron building, Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the Imagine Mosaic, Top of the Rock are all going to have thousands of tourists doing the same thing as you. Get there early at first light golden hour if possible. Also remember that the light has a way of playing peek-a-boo with skyscrapers casting shadows as the sun moves throughout the day. Check sunrise and sunset schedules. If possible, do a bit of homework and check the way the sun looks at certain locations at certain points of the day and schedule your shoot around those times. Also keep weather and season in mind.
Hair and Make up
If you’re going to have hair style changes, do the most challenging hair style first. That means, that effortless messy bun that takes a ton of effort to achieve…come with that already done. It’s a lot easier to undo it for later shots than put it up. Bring make-up wipes to get that MAC lip color off and change up the style. Depending on your style, faux lashes never really hurt anyone.
Go to Sephora and have them teach you how to contour. You can make multiple visits to learn different techniques. Better yet, bring a talented friend along or schedule your shoot after getting your makeup applied.
This was a test shot done with my friend’s iPhone while the photographer was adjusting lenses and playing with light. Test shots are helpful for the subject and photographer.
What to wear
I planned attire that was easy to switch up. I had leggings which could easily be worn under jeans, under a skirt, and as standalone pants (regardless of what the modesty police try to say). That’s a quick change for three outfits. I also wore a tank top under my shirt and sweaters for easy top changes without the need of a changing room. I brought a pair of comfortable walking shoes plus some sassier shoes. I packed a small jacket that was easy to fold into a small tote. Again, your concept is going to guide this. My friend who lives in NYC offered a whole rolling suitcase of outfit changes and boots. Coordinate with your photographer and most fashionable friends on what colors and patterns would work best.
All Black base makes an easy wardrobe change with the right accessories.
Props
I’m a notebook and reading book kind of girl so those are always my go-to accessories, but consider pens, umbrellas, guitars, cameras, etc.
Fashion accessories can change the overall look of an outfit. Change up a look with hats, scarves, gloves, totes, purses, jackets, change of shoes, hair accessories, sun shades, and faux reading glasses.
On location props- There’s always a street-side florist in the city that that you can buy flowers for a charming prop. Of course, just remember if you buy, instead of borrow, you’ll have to keep up with the flowers for the rest of the shoot or give them away. This last visit to the city, we also saw Christmas trees being sold. Could have been a cute prop doing a two-woman carrying of one of the trees but we passed.
Posing
Reference Google, Instagram, Pinterest or browse through your favorite magazine to practice and get an idea of at least three poses. Make one your signature pose.
Since I’m kind of a cheese ball, I’ve learned my signature pose is leaping. After reviewing several photos, I realize I’m always in the air. That doesn’t always work for sophisticated shoots. I’d suggest printing off a pose cheat sheet so you can recall some posing ideas on the spot.
Remember to take a few moments to loosen up from time to time. I had a tendency to get stiff and statuesque. Shaking my shoulders out and being reminded to keep my hands and face soft and relaxed helped.
Pre-coordination considerations
If you’re taking pictures indoor, you might have to make phone calls to the location just to be sure you have permission to photograph locations.
Create an itinerary. Select the locations, the types of shots you absolutely want at that location, and what makes efficient sense considering time of day, lighting, and travel times. Also take consideration on how you will get from point A to Point B. Sometimes it’s more cost and time efficient to take a Lyft. Other times you’ll be better off hailing a cab instead of waiting for a lift. If it’s rush hour, head underground for the metro.
Consider places for bathroom breaks. Starbucks serves as the default NYC public restroom so get an idea where the nearest one is in each of your locations ahead of time. Take the opportunity to go each time you have the chance.
In addition to your change of wardrobe, be sure to pack: Snacks, pain reliever, water, comfy shoes, dry socks for rainy days, lip glosses, makeup remover, and anything else unique to your shoot.
Get some rest the night before.
Eat a meal before your shoot. It’s best for you and the photographer to grab a bite in a coffee shop before. Reason one: you’ll be on the same eating schedule. Two, it’ll give you a moment to chat about the day.
And of course, relax and have fun during your shoot!
Selfie on the Brooklyn Bridge with my photographer, stylist, and creative director.
