Abstract
The question of the possibilities of Food Justice within Black communities has been widely debated in both the Food Justice and Food Studies fields, with scholars such as Margaret Ramiréz arguing that there is a racial, social, and economic disconnect between Food Justice Organizations—most of which are white—and the communities they seek to do work in. However, these works have not entirely addressed the critical role that Black women play as they have always practiced methods of care and sustenance for the livelihood of the Black community. My paper addresses the issues of food access within Black communities with special attention to Black food geographies traversed as alternative foodways, the anti-Black climate that has precipitated this, and Black women’s long, unwavering role in either of these issues. Specifically, in my project, I will be looking at The Street by Ann Petry in order to depict Petry as a proto-Food Justice theorist. I will discuss how her depictions of the food landscape in Harlem, through the eyes of the main character Lutie Johnson, significantly contribute to an understanding of the racial and economic underpinnings that characterize Black food geographies. I will contribute these to archives of the range of Black women’s roles in her community and juxtapose them against common opinions about her being to blame Black community’s inferiority. This will reveal the previously misrepresented connections between Black food justice and the center of the Black community, Black women. This will convey that an understanding of food justice within Black spaces must start with an understanding of the position of Black women within them. I argue that as pillars of the Black community, Black women work to materialize Black food geographies in a strive towards a Black food justice that centers self-reliance, resistance, and community. In conclusion, by closely examining Black Food Justice, this project sheds light on the little recognized contributions that Black women have made in the conversations surrounding Black food geographies as an inherently resistant space and regenerative ground for agency and spatial imaginaries.