Internship Perks: Tony Gleaton

One of the greatest aspects of interning at the NMAAHC are the amazing presentations I get to sit-in on. Prime example being Tony Gleaton. Gleaton gave a presentation about his photography that challenges and transcends the boundaries of the African Diaspora to be truly inclusive of all African descent peoples and not just those connected to the Trans-Atlantic enslavement experience in the United States. He traveled throughout the Americas in the late 90s capturing photos of people within the African Diaspora and they are beautiful. Gleaton also has a collection of photographs dedicated to African American cowboys throughout western North America and his latest work captures the untold stories of the African American narrative that lay in landscapes.

His work is phenomenal, and Gleaton, as an artist is just as inspiring. Very humble, he acknowledged that his work with capturing the African Diaspora during the 90s had its flaws. The people in the photos often did not call themselves African or attributed any part of their heritage or culture to that of Africa, so the term for the collections, Gleaton noted, was more about him ascribing a title to these people, then the people themselves self identifying as such. All photos, he noted, are truly just about the relationship between the photographer and the subject. Gleaton's relationship with self-reflexivity is something that all social scientist can learn from. Now the photos provide a space for dialogue about identity. I look forward to his current project with landscapes. Checkout more HERE!

Foodtruck Festival DC: Truckeroo

so many food trucks! so little money

There is always something to do in DC. I, along with two friends attended the Truckeroo Food Truck Festival, a monthly day of junk food frivolity. Because I failed, yet again, with trying to cut out seafood from my lifestyle I chowed down a crab sandwich from Feelin Crabby. The only thing that made the day better were the sweet potato tots I had on the side from of trucks one dedicated to serving pizza, DC Slices. Running and weight training aside, a day of junk food does the soul good.

so many choices! so little tummy space!

THE crab sandwich

sweet potato tots

Chakula Tayari: Mushroom and Spinach Flatbread

This is one of my quickest meal options that always leaves me wanting more. It proves that anything sauteed with garlic and red onion can do no wrong. Throw in spinach, mushroom, and zucchini and you have magic in your mouth. Throw that one some Trader Joe's Flat Bread with a thick line of garlic hummus and you have dinner.

What you need:

• flat bread
• mushrooms
• spinach
• zucchini
• garlic
• red onion
• your favorite hummus 
• evoo

 Enjoy!

Mississippi

You can read the story of Mississippi in the trees. The twist and turns, from wind and water have pulled them and made them living statues. They stand tall dedicated to a narrative that speaks not only about struggle and triumph but survival. The gashes in the bark read like braille about fallen houses and oil spills; both human's and god's hand writing both cruel and honest stories on the landscape. The stumps read like the fallen souls who bodies perished in storms and the creatures that drowned in black gold that spit up from pipes and swallowed them whole. The story has sweep over the land like the way vines grow along walls that stand alone. And weeds cover what use to be parking lots and driveways for family cars. It's beautiful because it's truth. A raw truth mixed in with happily ever afters and disasters. Even though the twisted trees scream about the pain that pulled their roots and disfigured their bodies, they grow leaves of green like the next chapters in books. Their stories continue. 

Tree at the University of Southern Mississippi.

I wrote the paragraph above the first night I was in Mississippi. I never thought I would ever set foot in the state of Mississippi, but I had a training for my summer internship so I boarded a plane. In my mind Mississippi was both myth and legend. It was a state that held such a dark past for African Americans that just thinking about it brought  a noose or men hiding under white sheets to mind. I had read the stories about Freedom Summer and was sure the soil was so rich in the delta because of the all the black bodies that died there.

I went to Long Beach, Mississippi. On my way from the airport was a long stretch of beach that was breathtaking because of the trees that lined the streets. Those trees where the manifestation of beauty. They seemed to be dancing and their leaves rattled to the wind's song. I didn't stay long. Only three days to be exact but I knew I had to write something about those trees. 

Chakula Tayari: Strawberry Banana Vegan French Toast

My mom has been freaking out over the amount of food that is now in her refrigerator. This happens every time I visit because I down produce like no tomorrow; which is why I'm always stocked up on fruits and veggies. 

On the menu is strawberry banana french toast. It is super quick, easy and yummy! I threw a banana and four strawberries in a blender with some honey and about a cup of soy milk. While I soaked three slices of toast in the strawberry banana mixture I heated a pan with some earth balance. The toast cooked so well and the final result was crisp and yummy. 

On the side I had more yummy strawberries, walnuts and a large mug of dandelion root tea. I'll be honest and say that dandelion root tea has a very earthy taste. Most of my friends are completely turned off by the taste but it is by far my favorite tea.

My Style: The Hipster/Mormon Maxi Skirt

Ever since I saw Natural Belle's post with her very cute maxi skirt I've been looking for one of my own. I finally found a brownish pinkish one in a shop in Ann Arbor called $15 Dollars or Less. The shop gave off a distinct air of hipster and smelt of hemp and kush incenses. I saw this skirt and fell in love. It's stands at the intersection of hipster and mormon daughter and I love it.

Eastern Farmers Market

You haven't been to a farmers market until you've been to the Eastern Market in Detroit, Michigan.There were about five sheds the size of warehouses full of all my produce wonders. If the refrigerator at home wasn't already full I would have bought more but I'm tired of playing ispy in my mom's frige. Instead mom and I went there with a couple goals.

• Buy bean custard pie. Ok so about a week ago Andrew Zimmern, of Bizarre Foods, did a show on Detroit and took a visit to the Eastern Market were he tasted and then proceeded to fall in love with a bean custard pie by Love's Custard Pie. My mission was to find that stand and eat the custard. Mission Accomplished!

• Find a plant for mother's outdoor patio. A couple a years ago when my mother was out of town I, along with my cousin, were asked to take care of her plates. They died within the first week because we forgot to water them. Mom, years after the incident, is just now buying more plants. Isn't it a beauty! 

• More fruit. The price of fruit was wild! I would never go to the grocery store if I lived closer to Eastern Market. There really would be no need to shop anywhere, because all my grocery needs could be found somewhere at this market. Oranges were 10 for $5. Strawberries were $1 for 12oz. Pineapples were $1 each. 6 pack of garlic for $1. Amazing prices!

•  After walking around for about two hours mother and I went to get pizza at Supino Pizzeria next to the market. I was...ok. The ice cream shop next to the pizzeria was to die for. Yummmy. I can't wait to take Jua here when he comes into town.

From the Bookshelf: Assata: An Autobiography

I think I have a new found sweet spot for autobiographies. I'm trying to type the words that could explain the emotions that spill off the pages in this book. There are none, or at least I can't eloquently lay them out so I oped for a list instead:

• It is a brilliant illustration of the pervasive, gross, and dehumanizing prison system we have in America.

• It is the story of a political prisoner; a story not unlike many political pensioners that seem to have fallen on deaf ears since the 21st century.

• It is the story of a black woman that made the choice to stand for a cause. 

• It is a must read for members of my generation that are striving for  social justice, equal education, economic freedom so that the pursuit of happiness doesn't seem so damn impossible. 

• It is powerful ad empowering. 

Chakula Tayari: Broccoli and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

When I was in Tanzania  last year my professor's wife use to always yell "chakula tyari," which is Kiswahili for "food is ready," to call everyone to the dinner table. Everyone ate dinner are 4pm, which was insane to me but the food was always prepared so well by the woman hired that the phrase stuck with me. 

Dinner is ready and on the menu we have broccoli and mushroom stir-fry in lettuce wraps with a avocado and lemon spread. The sides are yummy strawberries and walnuts. This is me trying to be a little adventurous and it worked! The result was mouth watering.

The stir-fry was just a mix of garlic, red onion, mushrooms, and broccoli with a little evoo. For the avocado spread, I mashed half an avocado with sea salt and lemon zest. Next time I think I add some black beans to the wrap.

Just Keep Moving...

I love my Nike+ app

 My goal is to run a marathon by next summer. For right now I'm only half crazy currently training for my first half-marathon with Jua this summer. I'm not really big on pace, unlike Jua, I just want to finish! I started running about four years ago with my friend Jhenny (I just got serious about it in the last year). For a while we just jogged and walked our way to 3 miles and it was a good week when I did that more than twice.

Now I'm working towards that 13.1 milestone. There are days when the couch potato inside of me tells me not to move much less run. But we all have things that push us further; here are two of mine:

• Cupcakes! I know it sounds silly, but I every time I break my longest mile record I reward myself with a cupcake. Its one of many vices I have. The Cupcake Station cupcakery in Ann Arbor, MI has my vote for the best vegan carrot-cake cupcake. 

• My path! Sometimes running ten miles can fly by when the path you're running on is beautiful. 

What I see when I run

From the Bookshelf: Ar'n't I a Woman

Ar'n't I a Woman written by Dr. Deborah Gray White

For the last few weeks I've gotten into the habit of reading a chapter of a book each morning before I start my day. Typically this gets me through a book a week which is nice because once school starts I'll no longer have time to read for pleasure as much.

The book this week was Ar'n't I a Woman written by Dr. Deborah Gray White. It was given to me by Dr. Tiffany Gill a professor at my new home, UT Austin. I love this book. Its pages are covered in highlighted lines and written notes. I look forward to applying it to my masters thesis.

The Recipe Junky

My staple cookbooks

Confession time:

I've spent countless hours online looking up recipes and too much money on cookbooks. Personally I blame Amazon's 1-click shipping option. I can be spotted snooping around Whole Foods with excitement and apprehension all because I want to be more adventurous with my meal choices. I'd love to get to the point where I can look in my refrigerator and whip something together without a glace at a recipe. Whenever I lack creativity or am just plain lazy I always head back to my staple meals.

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal steamed in almond milk with golden raisins, walnuts, agave nectar and cinnamon. Throw in some slices of banana and it taste just like banana bread in my mind.

Lunch:

• Mashed avocado sprinkled with sea salt with a soft fried egg on toast. Along side some roasted plantain chips, or fruit bowl and I'm set.

Dinner:

• Favorite sandwich! Avocado, hummus, mushrooms, sprouts between bread. Quinoa salad on the side.

It's dinner time!

Breaking New Ground in Montgomery County

I am currently working as a Research Fellow with the Breaking New Ground project. Breaking New Ground is an oral history project dedicated to preserving the history of African American farm owners since the Civil War by collecting oral history interviews from Black farmers, Black landowners, and the descendants of those farmers and landowners. The interview recordings and transcripts will become a permanent part of the Southern Oral History Collection at the University of North Carolina.

As a Research Fellow it is my job to gather contact information for potential interviewees. I want my interviews to focus on the stories of Black farmer, landowners and their descendants located in historical Black towns in the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area. So far I'm having a blast doing so! I've taken a particular interest in Montgomery county Maryland and I've already located about a dozen of historical black towns and pocket within neighborhoods.


Ms. Hunter, a community member from  the Boyds, Maryland drove me all around Montgomery county Maryland pointing out all of the historic black communities that have just about vanished over the last 30 years. Just like in Gainesville, Florida there was a Lincoln High School dedicated to educating all the black students in the whole county of Montgomery. Because of this one school all the mzee in the county know eachother and have formed a bond that is incomparable to anything I've seen.

My grandparents are not that old. In fact both that are still living and in their 60s so when Ms. Hunter began introducing me to the community elders it was so amazing to be embraced as family. They are excited about this project as am. They understand the need and importance to preserve their community's history. The land that holds so much history is literally being bought from under them and the struggles that their ancestors  faced to acquire such land, keep it, and cultivate it, are being silenced by the million dollar houses that now sit on top of much it...

Being an Archaeologist

I'm not sure what people are calling these but i couldn't find one for archaeologist so I made one.

Avocado Smoothie and Lent

Last year for Lent my Aunt gave up bread, facebook, and meat on Fridays, so this year as I'm sitting in her favorite butterfly chair which I have commandeered  as my own property in her living room by placing all my tech gadgets and books around it, she asked me what I intend to give up for Lent. This will be my first time partaking in Lent and not for any religious reason but more for a test of self-control.

After going back and fourth between what I'm addicted to I decided for Lent I will be giving up Facebook, going vegan, and giving up junk foods. The new boyfriend (oh yes there is a new boyfriend by the way) is also going vegan so this will be an nice endeavor to go through together. 

I'm already vegetarian so the main obstacles that has always been standing between me and vegan has been dairy products. Cheese makes everything taste better, but somethings gotta give. So with my new task came a new interest in vegan recipes. Introducing the Avocado Smoothie. I love everything avocado and this smoothie was so  nice and fluffy. It felt like sipping on green pillows of goodness!!! 

The recipe is from Healthy Blender Recipes and can be found here! I used almond milk to cut time and added another avocado which made it more creamy and bit more green. I also only added two tablespoons of agava nectar because I'm not a fan of too sweet smoothies. It was sooooooooooooooo good!!!!!

the creamy goodness!

Post Graduation, Unpaid Internships, and New Decisions

Two months into the 2012 and I’m still running on the high of it being a great start to a new year! Key Points:

• I Graduated! Now living my post-undergraduate life I’m loving all the free time I have in-between my internship, conference preparation, and training for a half marathon. I’m going to miss it come Aug when graduate school starts.

• My internship is working at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American history and Culture. My aunt has kindly named me “one step above hobo” because the internship is unpaid and I’m currently living out of two suitcases and sleeping on a blowup mattress in her one-bedroom apartment. Hobo or not I’m enjoying the internship and can honestly say that it feels nice being a part (even if it’s the smallest) of an historical institution in the nation’s capital.

• Graduate school decisions are coming out soon and some important decisions need to be made! I’ll keep you posted!