“I prayed for twenty years. Nothing happened until I got off my knees and started marching with my feet.” PrayingBlack Lives MatterMarching Book:Tyler Johnson Was Here Source: Tyler Johnson Was Here
“I tell myself that I love this skin, that I've always loved my blackness, that if the world doesn't love me, I will love myself for the both of us.” WorldLoveSelf LoveBlackness Book:Tyler Johnson Was Here Source: Tyler Johnson Was Here
“Hey, you just 'member it's all in the butter. I keep trynna tell your cousins that, and they don't listen for the life of 'em." Butter is probably Grandma's favorite ingredient, and she puts it in nearly everything. I believe she'd put it in her raisin bran in the mornings if she could. One year, she made deep-fried sticks of butter and dipped them in chocolate sauce and melted peanut butter. I'm not gonna lie. It was pretty flame, but I'm sure at least one of my arteries clogged up.” ButterExperimentingIngredient Book:Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love Source: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love
“I cut the chicken breasts into halves, season them with the dry seasonings, and bake them. When they're ready and cooked all the way through, I wrap each half in bacon and fry them with onion slices until the bacon's a nice, crispy, golden brown and the onions are soft and cooked through and through. The whole time they cook and simmer, I run the stick of butter around the chicken halves for even crispier edges and that buttery taste that brings anything to the next level- a strategy probably everybody black knows, and I guess it's to my benefit there's not many black people in this competition.” CookingButterChickenSoul Food Book:Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love Source: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love
“Once I find my way to Grandma's restaurant, after what feels like a zillion wrong turns and dead ends, I walk in and smell all the bomb soul food- her famous fried chicken with all the creole seasonings, thyme, rosemary, and tarragon. I even get a whiff of her famous sweet potato pie, and I'm practically drooling.” SeasoningsSoul FoodCreole Book:Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love Source: Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love
“Who gets to be free? Is someone free when they don't have to think about the way people look at them or treat them because of the color of their skin? Is someone free when they don't have to spend time on this earth with people who have hearts made of hate? Or is someone only really free when they're no longer a part of this world?” WorldHateFreedomBlack Lives MatterHearts Book:Tyler Johnson Was Here Source: Tyler Johnson Was Here