• Let’s get cooking!  Parents may be spending more time in the kitchen at this time of year, even though there may be fewer folks over.  Without the pressure of laying out a big spread for a large number of people, this can be an opportunity to teach family recipes, experiment with new dishes, or just invite your kids into the kitchen while you cook.  It’s even okay if they just have a seat and watch what is going on in the kitchen.   They pick up more than you might think just by watching. And, time in the kitchen together can be an opportunity to have a no-agenda conversation with your kids.  There are some helpful age-appropriate ideas about cooking with kids here.

• Learn some family history.  Many of the senior members of our families may have more time to themselves during the Holidays this year.  This is a perfect opportunity to get these relatives on a video call or sit down with them if they are in your household and learn some family history through an informal question and answer session.  Kids can let their relatives know the questions beforehand so they have a chance to think about the answers.   They may even have some pictures and clippings to share that the kids might not otherwise have seen.  Kids can ask older relatives about growing up, what was going on at the time in the country and in the world, what they did during the Holidays when they were kids, how they met their life partners, how they chose a career, etc. It would be great to have the child write a summary of the interview and share it with the relative interviewed as well as other members of the family.

• Volunteer!  The need for volunteers has only intensified during the pandemic as many families have experienced difficult economic, social and medical and social circumstances. There are numerous ways to volunteer that are safe and appropriate for children and teens. Nonprofit organizations have been creative and adept at developing ways to keep volunteers safe.  Many activities can be done from home or done virtually. And it is easy to go through closets and drawers at home to collect sample toiletries, winter clothing, toys and other items to donate.  Children can even do a clothing, toy and/or food drive in their neighborhood and then arrange for drop-off or pick-up. Food drives are particularly needed due to food insecurity among many more families.  There are some good ideas here about volunteer activities appropriate for these times.

• Practice manners and etiquette.  Increased at-home time could be a good opportunity to practice how to set a table, engage in appropriate dinner conversation and use good table manners.  These are useful life skills that must be taught and practiced so they become habits. In a smaller family dinner setting, there may be more opportunities to go over these things without embarrassing or pressuring a child.

• List some of the unexpected good things that have come out of quarantine.  We all know the downsides of quarantine.  But there have also been a few surprise good things that have come out of this situation.   For example, many of us know our neighbors better.  Remote work and school have afforded more flexible schedules and allowed parents and children to spend more time together.  While more togetherness can be difficult at times, it can also strengthen family ties and draw us closer.  Children may have learned a new hobby, refined a developing skill, or read more books.  The point of this list is to get kids thinking more positively about their circumstances and what they might want to do in the remainder of quarantine and in some cases, continue when it’s over.

• I am grateful for…  This year it is especially important for parents and kids to identify and say out loud the things they have to be grateful for even in these uncertain times. Doing this can give kids a greater sense of control over their lives and put the things they have missed or lost in a different perspective.  It can be particularly useful for kids to hear more senior members of the family talk about what they are grateful for.  Often it is the simple things that we take for granted that older family members have learned to appreciate.

If you have other ideas, we would love for you to share them and tell other Beccastone readers how those activities worked for your family.

Note: Beccastone originally spoke to Dr. Poussaint in the wake of the killing of 17-year old Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012.  Dr. Poussaint’s words of advice are equally relevant today as parents try to help kids grapple with racial issues and the continuing violence against Black people.

Beccastone: At what age do you recommend that you first talk to a child about race and why?

Dr. Poussaint: The best time to talk is when your child asks questions, and you don’t know when that will come. Children become conscious of differences at ages 4 or 5. They begin to notice differences in skin color and what that means. They may not see much significance at first, but if they pick up things at home that indicate different attitudes toward people who have different characteristics, they may have questions. It will depend on how parents talk at home.

There has been a lot of media attention on the Trayvon Martin killing and violence against Black people. Kids as young as 3 or 4 may pick up something. They may hear parents or adults talking about racial profiling and racial discrimination. They may ask, “What happened to him, Mom? Why did they do that?” So parents have a tough job.

I suggest that parents try to be balanced and talk about how some people in every group have evil, angry thoughts and that this particular person or group of people may have had an evil motivation in shooting the boy.  You can talk about how it will go to the court to decide what happened. You should talk in a language your child can understand.

One thing parents should not do is give their child the impression that all whites are potentially dangerous to Black people. If your child becomes scared of all white people, it will affect the child in school, in the street, and his whole sense of trust in society. You want to say that in all groups, there are some people who are not nice and have mean attitudes, but the bulk of people in any group are good people. Prejudice and discrimination exists in American society, but it also exists in many other societies and we should try to get rid of it everywhere.

You have to remember that even at age 4, a kid doesn’t have a blank slate entirely. A child is affected by the kind of neighborhood he lives in. Is it all black or multi-cultural? Is it low income, or suburban middle class? When my son was about 6, I took him to tennis lessons in a park in a Black neighborhood. He asked me one day, “Daddy, how come only Black people are poor?” It was something he picked up, because I had never driven him to neighborhoods where there are poor white people. He also went to school where the white kids he knew were primarily upper and middle class. So it’s understandable that he thought poverty was confined to Black people. We had a long talk, and he understood. But if he had not raised that question, he may have kept it in his head that only Black people are poor.

BS: Do you think parents should initiate a conversation about the Trayvon Martin case?

Dr. Poussaint: You can start a conversation with an older child, maybe 11 and up, but probably not with a child as young as 5 or 6. The best approach with kids is to find out what they already know. Ask them if they’ve heard anyone talking about anything in Florida or about a person dying in Florida, ask what his friends are talking about. There are so many things on television that we don’t know what they have been exposed to. It is also possible that even older children may not want to discuss the case or don’t understand it. You have to respect their right not to want to talk about it. It may make them uncomfortable — the idea that someone got shot because they are Black. There are times in the news where a Black person hurts a white person, and we should discuss whether that is racial or not.

BS: How can parents help a child develop a positive self-image?

Dr. Poussaint: I know Black girls who only have blonde Barbie dolls given to them by their parents or friends of the parents. If they are given only white dolls and these dolls are considered pretty, the child may pick up that there is something wrong with them, their skin, hair color and texture. The more common thing I have heard over the years is that little girls say, “I want to have long blonde hair.” The parents get concerned that the child will develop a negative image. So we have to be aware of the dolls that we give to our children. Parents have to intervene. A child needs reinforcement that their skin or hair is beautiful as it is, without overdoing it. Parents have to be careful whom they say is “pretty”. If parents refer only to fair-skinned children with straight hair as “pretty”, the dark brown child will pick up on these cues and begin to feel that she is not as beautiful.

The kinds of books that you read to your kids are important too — are there different characters and different kingdoms? Are the books about multi-racial families and neighborhoods? There are many good books out there, so there is no reason for a Black kid to have books with only white characters. That sends a message about who is important and who is not. The same is true with television. There are many stereotypes in television shows. Encourage programs like Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer that value people of different backgrounds and have special things to contribute to the community.

BS: What can parents do when there’s a racial incident at school?

Dr. Poussaint: It depends on what the racial incident is — subtle or overt? If a kid calls a black kid the N word, that’s extreme. It may be that the kid who did the name-calling didn’t know what that meant and they were just imitating someone. But that’s still not acceptable. Both parents and teachers need to take responsibility. The parents must talk with their child and explain that there is something wrong with the kid who used that word, not you, and you should never accept anyone calling you that name. I would encourage kids now to immediately report it to the teacher. Teachers are under an obligation to pay attention to this kind of incident.

I recommend that before any racial incidents occur, schools should put in place a process to deal with these kinds of incidents. A lot of this is multi-layered and complicated, so I think schools should have a standing committee that deals with multi-cultural issues. The committee should be made up of teachers, students, parents/PTA and school administrative staff. There should be policies in place so that when something happens, it will go directly to the on-going committee.

The committee should handle not just incidents but also work to promote real diversity in the school. The school’s standing committee should be made up of people from different cultures — Black, Asian, Hispanic, white. Also, as a practical approach, look at the pictures of important people/role models on the walls of the school. Are they mostly white? Is there a fair representation of all the groups? It affects students walking into a room or down a hall to see faces of many races on the walls. Make the rooms and walls multi-cultural.

Rather than operating only in a crisis mode, the committee should have positive activities that would enhance the school’s sense of diversity. Have a multi-cultural day. Do special activities around Martin Luther King Day. Invite special speakers. Bring in dance groups or musicians from other countries/cultures. Let’s deal with the enrichment side of multi-culturalism. The curriculum should be balanced in what is taught. Don’t leave out Native Americans and how we treated them. The committee needs to monitor the whole school. With demographics changing so rapidly, you need to have these standing committees in place and looking at issues constantly. And kids will feel better if they know a school has a committee that deals directly with these issues.

Another suggestion is that if schools have an organization that is for one specific group, such as a Black health organization, it is open to anyone interested in Black health, and is not just for Blacks. That’s how you teach cultural competence — not being afraid of each other but learning from each other.

BS: Do you have any views on how parents should approach the use of the “N-word” in certain music lyrics?

Dr. Poussaint: Kids pick up stuff from television, movies, and videos. They see the adults doing it, and they figure that since adults know what they are doing, it must be ok. So when kids hear the “N” word used constantly in videos, the kids think it’s OK. I think it’s unacceptable. That word is a negative word that you cannot make positive. The term is derogatory and says you’re no good. You cannot spin it in a good way. You cannot erase the negativity. And what about the white kids who hear it? They think it’s acceptable because they hear Blacks use the “N” word all the time, so it must be okay. But when white kids use the “N” word, it comes across as prejudice.

Parents should definitely take the position that the “N” word is unacceptable. They should tell their kids that they are not to use such language and they should not accept such language. The “N” word also demeans the relationship between the sexes. If they are willing to accept the “N” word, then they are more likely to accept “bitches” and “ho’s.” When the rappers are using the words “bitches” and “ho’s,” ask yourself, what does that say about how they think of women? What does that say about you and how you think of yourself? Do you feel you should be with guys who call you those kinds of names? Do you want to be dominated? Do you think that makes you authentically Black?

If blacks, whites, all kids say “I’m not going to buy this kind of music,” then maybe some of the rappers will start to pay attention.

Dr. Alvin Poussaint, now retired, was a Professor of Psychiatry and Faculty Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. Dr. Poussaint is a nationally recognized expert on race relations in America, the dynamics of prejudice, and issues of diversity. He has written many books (for example, Lay My Burden Down: Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis Among African Americans (with Amy Alexander) ; Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors (with Bill Cosby); and Raising Black Children (with Dr. James Comer)) and hundreds of articles, and is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees. 

Parents should teach children to be mindful of their interactions and online behavior so they have positive and safe online profiles.  This includes teaching them how to keep their accounts private, how not to over-share online or create a misleading online identity, how to spot potentially dangerous or risky connections, and how to communicate appropriately online.   

Here are seven things for parents to keep in mind as they talk to their child about social media use. 

1. Minimum Age.  Children must be 13 or older to sign up for social media accounts.  That is the law, and kids below that age should not be on social media. But even some 13-year olds may not be ready for the responsibilities of social media use.  If you think your kid isn’t ready, you should tell them and perhaps set some goals that they would have to meet to show they are ready. 
2. Do Your Research.  If parents are not already users of the social media platforms their kids want to use, they should become users and take the time to learn and understand the purposes and features of the platforms.  This means that even if a parent is already a user, if they do not already know, they should thoroughly familiarize themselves with all features and functions of the platforms their kids want to use. Parents should discuss with their child what each platform does, who uses the platform, how it is used, and what pages and services it has.  This may better equip a child to make good decisions about what to say and how to say it, as well as to avoid certain pages or services. 
3. Private Accounts Only.  Tell your kids that their accounts must be private not public, and that they should accept only friend requests or follow requests from people they know. Ask them to let you know if they keep getting requests from strangers.
4. Follow Your Kids (and Their Friends).  Tell your child that you are going to follow their accounts and their friends’ social media accounts.  Then actually do what you said and see what your child and their friends are posting. Try to figure out if their friends are age appropriate and posting about age appropriate subjects. Give them room, but stay aware.
5. No Secret Passwords. Ideally parents should know their child’s passwords. But kids may feel this is an invasion of their privacy, and they may not want to share their passwords.  If your child feels this way, you can probably learn what you need to know by monitoring your child’s and their friends’ posts on a regular basis and discussing with them anything you see that is inappropriate. 
6. Manage Usage. Social media is designed to engage its users, but it should not be an all-day activity.  Establish limits on social media usage even if  active parental enforcement of those limits may be difficult.  At least you will have discussed how social media intentionally entices persistent use and why there is a need for self-imposed limits.  
7. Encourage Constructive Use of Social Media. Help your child find peers online who share their interests or post about things they are interested in.  If your child wants to learn more about particular subjects, there may also be experts who are posting about those topics.  

Q. What piece of advice did your mother give you that was particularly valuable and useful in life?

A. My mother always encouraged me to be true to myself. The older I get, the more I appreciate and understand the value of her advice. Do not be ashamed to be who you are and do not worry about what other people think. The only way to have success, happiness and peace is to be true to yourself. You can’t do that without honoring yourself.

Q. Do you have any concrete suggestions for young people about how to be true to themselves?

A. There’s not a concrete answer. You learn through the process of growing. We know what we like and what we don’t like. Don’t listen to the outside voices, like TV, radio, the Internet and your friends. The answer lies within. Trust yourself, as opposed to following the crowd. A lot of that you can’t put into one phrase. The mother’s and father’s role today is so important and requires daily conversation with the child that fits what the child is experiencing at the time. Whatever outside pressures there may be, pay attention to what is going on inside. Get a journal, write down what’s going on, understand what you like and don’t like, pay attention to the people you are hanging around with and the impact they are having on your life.

Q. Can you share an important piece of advice you have given your daughter?

A. I tell my daughter — who is a teenager right now — that she can come to me or anybody that is in our family or in our life with an issue or a problem. She can reach out and talk to one of us. I did not do that as a kid — I did not know there was a safe place. I did not know that I could find refuge there, and as a result, life led me down a different path. I try to convey to my daughter the issues of life come from within and you need to address what is going on inside yourself. You need to find an outlet — so the problems don’t come out sideways. You can live your life on your terms. I tell my daughter she is okay the way she is. You have resources available and there’s nothing to be afraid of. I make it a point to try to instill in her to seek a spiritual solution to everything. I try to live my life that way now.

Q. Any additional advice you would give young people today?

A. One of the things I try to convey to young people is to find something they are passionate about and find how to use that passion to serve something greater than themselves. From Henry Ford, to George Washington Carver, to Harriett Tubman and Bill Gates, all of them used their passion to help humanity. So, get an education but also find your passion and use that to benefit others.

Q. Do you have a favorite charitable organization?

A. I started a foundation called Mack and Third. We started with an event a couple of years ago to benefit the homeless. We did a live performance and had corporate sponsors. The Foundation’s mission is to raise money for organizations that provide services for the homeless, abused women, women making a transition — it’s an organization that helps other organizations. This summer we are doing an event again in the city of Detroit. Mack and Third is where Detroit’s rescue mission is located. There are a lot of homeless people and substance abusers in the area. The Salvation Army is there. It is the epicenter of a lot of need.

Q. What do you consider one of your most important professional accomplishments? What is on the horizon for you next?

A. My greatest highlight recently was being nominated for two Grammys — for best male R&B vocal performance and best R&B song for Why Would You Stay from my latest album Intimacy. I was up against great competition, people like Usher and John Legend. Being nominated for a Grammy is a pretty high honor. That was the highlight of my career this year. Right now, I have just come off tour. I’m still traveling on the weekends, doing one-off performances. I’m cultivating new songs for my next album. I have also developed a new fragrance which I am in the process of naming. My plan is to continue making great music and to use my music as a ministry that can help others and build upon the gifts I have so graciously been given.

Well, I am hoping that my book, “To The Mountaintop: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement,” published by Roaring Brook Press and The New York Times, will help change how young people understand the Movement.  The book is designed, in part, to help young people understand that, indeed, “there can be no progress without struggle,” as Frederick Douglass put it in words that surely emboldened that generation of high school and college students in the American South. Through their struggle, they changed the face of America as it brought the South and its racist, separate and unequal laws in line with the rest of the country that guaranteed liberty and justice for all. And while Franz Fanon, that other Freedom fighter in another country, told us that each generation must find its own cause and embrace or deny it, the lesson of the US Civil Rights Movement is that young people can make a difference. Their struggle led to the election of the first Black president, who acknowledged that he stood “on the shoulders of giants.” What is required, to be sure, is courage, commitment and righteous human values, in the case of the students of the Movement— values that were informed by the principles freedom, justice and equality. Values that my generation was prepared to die for, and far too many did, as I chronicle in the book. Far too many also paid a price of being beaten, tortured and thrown into overcrowded and cold jail cells, with few amenities. And yet, when the first group of young Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C. to test the law forbidding segregation in travel across state lines, so dedicated were they to their cause, they were prepared to die and left their wills behind in the case of that dreadful eventuality.

And while many of them were exposed to physical acts of hatred and brutality by racist white mobs, they kept on keepin’ on, in one of the lines they spoke or sang during that time.

They also sang “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ‘roun,” and they meant it.

I tell their stories, as well as my own, as I took my place not on a Freedom Ride or sitting in at a lunch counter or registering black people to vote for the first time in their lives, but walking through a hostile white mob to get the education at the state University of Georgia that as a citizen I was entitled to, but which I and thousands of Black students in Georgia had been denied, even though it violated the 1954 Supreme Court decision outlawing the lie of “separate but equal.” In the book, I describe the reality of “separate but equal” in my own elementary school, which got the hand-me-down textbooks, often with pages missing, from the white schools. And many of the other indignities Blacks suffered because of separate and far from equal.

And while I hope that the young people for whom this book was written will be informed by this history and the value of fighting for what you believe in, I hope they will also appreciate the words of the philosopher George Santayana: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Look around the United States today and listen to some of the virulent rhetoric of the immigration debate or at some of the not-so-veiled racism in politics and public discourse and think about what they are doing to a country that once identified with the words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free;
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Are these words still relevant to the increasingly Black and brown homeless, tempest- tossed, huddled masses yearning to breathe free? And what will it take to make those words a reality for them, and to help all Americans realize the possibilities of the American Dream?

Whatever it takes, there are lessons from the Civil Rights Movement that may inform a new generation. Not to sit in at lunch counters or to go on Freedom Rides, but to determine their own path, emboldened by the victories of young people like themselves at a different time.

It is my hope that To The Mountaintop will, in the words of the late Edward R. Murrow, “illuminate, educate and inspire.”

Click Here to purchase “To the Mountaintop: Teaching the Civil Rights Movement.”

It can be quite challenging to get kids to tackle their summer reading lists or read books that are not “assigned” for school.  Beccastone spoke with Katie Titterton, communications director for the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), for some tips on why summer reading lists are important and how we can get our children to read more.

Bonnie Boswell: Whitney Young was a civil rights leader and the Executive Director of the National Urban League from 1961 to 1971, one of the most critical periods in the civil rights movement. He is probably best known for fighting job discrimination and pushing for equal educational and employment opportunities for African-Americans. During the tumultuous period of the 1960’s, he was able to hold onto and grow the business community’s financial and other support for the League’s programs. He was a key organizer of the March on Washington in 1963 and helped secure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He served as an informal advisor to Presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. He died at the age of 49 in 1971.

Whitney Young was also my uncle, my mother’s brother. I started thinking about doing a film on Uncle Whitney shortly after my mother died in 2002 and I was asked to speak on her behalf about my Uncle. The experience caused me to reflect on his contributions as a bridge-builder, a peacemaker, and an activist for social change. His leadership skills seemed particularly relevant in 2002 when the US was engaged in various military actions around the globe and the gap between the rich and poor in America was growing dramatically. I thought Uncle Whitney would be a good role model for the times and that holds true today too.

BS: What are your personal memories of your Uncle?

BB: To me he was always larger than life (he was over 6 feet tall), even though I really didn’t understand the significance of his role until the March on Washington, when I saw him for the first time on television. I remember asking my mother, “Why is Uncle Whitney on TV with all those people?” I remember him as a very generous man who was kind to everyone in our large family. One of my fondest memories is when I was in West Africa and it was a particularly busy time for Uncle Whitney, he sent me a postcard telling me how much he missed me and that unless I found an African prince to marry me, I should hurry back home! I know he picked out the card himself because it was for a 5 year old and I was 20-something at the time! But the card was memorable because no matter how busy he was, he took time out to write me and, as you can see, he had a sense of humor.

BS: What do you hope people will take away from the film?

BB: While the film is historical, it’s principal purpose is forward-looking. The film shows a man who could function effectively in many different worlds and build bridges between those worlds. He could walk between corporate America and the Black community, many of whom were angry and disillusioned at white America at the time. He was at ease in both settings. He could talk to rich and poor. He had an outgoing personality that let him reach out to all kinds of different people and across different lines.

I think my grandparents raised Uncle Whitney to be outgoing and encouraged him to make connections with people. My grandfather told a story that once Uncle Whitney was furious about the refusal of a local establishment in Kentucky to serve him when he was a teenager. My grandfather told him he should never let anyone drag you so low as to make you hate them. He taught Uncle Whitney and all of us to maintain our own dignity. My grandparents also embraced everyone in their community, Black and white.

To give you some background on my mother’s and Uncle Whitney’s parents, their father was the principal of the Lincoln Institute outside of Louisville, Kentucky. The white community established the Institute after a Supreme Court decision upheld Kentucky’s Jim Crow laws requiring that Black and white students be educated separately. The Institute had a large campus and beautifully designed buildings. But all the trustees of the Institute were white and all the students were Black. My grandfather had to work to keep the school going in a very hostile environment, but he learned to keep his own anger in check for the long-term survival of the school. My grandfather developed a very practical approach that I think influenced Uncle Whitney’s leadership style.

BS: Why is it important for parents to encourage their kids to see the documentary?

BB: Kids today live in a many faceted, multicultural world. To be successful, they need to be able to engage in dialogue with people they don’t necessarily agree with and who may have different values. Young people should understand how much they have in common with others and not judge others quickly. They need a bigger worldview than just their own community. Uncle Whitney is a good example of how much can be accomplished through broadening your perspective, reaching out to others and working toward consensus.

BS: Your son was a director and co-producer of the documentary. What was it like to work with your son?

BB: My oldest son helped shape the dramatic arc of the film and gave it energy. Having a youthful perspective helped make the film more accessible to young people. For example, my son had a better appreciation than I did of the importance of visually showing viewers what it was like to be in a segregated climate where economic opportunities for Blacks were severely restricted and Black aspirations were not recognized. I remember what it was like when I stayed at my grandparents’ home in Kentucky in the 1960’s, but my son’s generation has no idea. He pushed to get more scholars and current leaders to explain the tensions and complexities that existed within the civil rights struggle. This helps younger viewers better understand that the movement wasn’t just one group of people marching and protesting. He also urged us to explore more deeply the changing times and views towards the end of Uncle Whitney’s life.

BS: What is the best advice your mother gave you?

BB: Both my mother and my grandmother whom I spent a lot of time with, gave me a sense of dignity and compassion. I was always taught to reach out to others and to respect others while at the same time finding common ground.

Powerbroker Trailer.

Note: More information about the life of Whitney Young and the documentary “The Powerbroker” can be found at www.whitneyyoungfilm.com. There are also supplemental teaching and educational materials at the website.

As a mentor to me and dozens of artists, art historians, collectors, students and more, Driskell  brought his personal touch to teaching, curating, collecting and writing. After he retired in 1998 as a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, Driskell flourished as an artist exploring color, nature, family, religion and the power of African ancestry. Dr. Driskell passed away peacefully in April 2020.

Born an artist

Born in Eatonton, Georgia in 1931, Driskell’s creative spirit was recognized early in his life. He eventually went to Howard University where he studied art and art history and became associated with the major figures in the field such as James A. Porter and Lois Mailou Jones. While building a career as a professor of art and art history at major universities such as Fisk University, Howard University and The University of Maryland, Driskell continuously nurtured his own artistry and has become an artist of renown in his own right. One interesting aspect of his work over the years has been his dedication to representing his family, both immediate and ancestral.

Family Spirit

Since the Harlem Renaissance, black artists have been exploring the links between Africa and African Americans. Driskell, after his 1969 trip to Nigeria, began creating works that were inspired by the spiritual connection he felt to his African ancestry. He began incorporating African masks into his paintings, prints and collages. Winged Mask, a woodcut print from 1999 is a good example of the way Driskell fuses the human face with the mask while introducing leaves and patterns for a decorative effect. He based this work on a Dan mask from the Ivory Coast that he has in his personal collection. Driskell once told me that the mask-like faces found throughout his body of work represent the collective power of the ancestors who are always present in our lives.

Much of Driskell’s work is rooted in memories of his youth, his parents and family life growing up in North Carolina. Echoes: Let the Church Roll On, 1995-96, currently in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, is a tribute to his father’s Baptist church and ministry and represents the family chapel watched over by a protective angel floating above. Again, Driskell incorporates lush foliage that recalls the North Carolina landscape as well as his lifelong devotion to gardening. Driskell’s creative reflections on memory and ancestry remind us of the importance of family and the spiritual connections through the generations that sustain our lives.

Driskell often said that for him art is a “priestly calling.” I think of David Driskell as an evangelist who traveled the world spreading the gospel of African American art, making the most of his “calling.”

Recommended Books on David Driskell

David C. Driskell Artist and Scholar by Julie L. McGee, Pomegranate, 2006
Evolution: Five Decades of Printmaking by David C. Driskell by Adrienne L. Childs, Pomegranate, 2007

Dr. Jessica Harris is a noted author, journalist, professor, and culinary historian. Dr. Harris is a professor of English at Queens College in New York City, and was the inaugural scholar of the Ray Charles Chair in African American Material Culture at Dillard University in New Orleans. Dr. Harris’ latest book, “My Soul Looks Back”, is a memoir of her life and relationships with other black writers in the 1970’s. “High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America”, a new Netflix documentary series, is based on one of Dr. Harris’ books of the same name. For more information about Dr. Harris, see www.africooks.com.

Q: What can parents do to encourage healthy eating?

A: Teaching by example is probably the best approach. You can also use a child’s preferences in taste to introduce them to healthy foods. We all have particular tastes. Figure out what your child likes — for example, creamy, tart, sweet or salty — and then tempt them with things that are consistent with this taste. So if your child likes creamy things, give them yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit; if they like sweet things, add honey to snacks like applies, bananas and peanut butter. Also teach children moderation, rather than telling them that certain foods they like to eat entirely off limits. So ice cream might become a once a week treat, instead of something to eat every night.

Another idea is to teach children to read labels. They might become fascinated with comparing the percentages of ingredients in different foods and what that means in terms of nutritional value. Teaching children to cook is also a way to get them more involved with healthy food.

Q: Any tips on teaching children how to cook?

A: Allow your children to be underfoot while you are cooking. Let them watch you. Even better, assign them a task and get them involved in the process. You can have them follow a recipe which gives them hands-on practice with reading, measuring and following directions. I find children more open to trying new foods when they have helped with the preparation.

Teaching your child how to cook gives you the chance to talk about family recipes and cooking “secrets” that give your child a keener sense of family history. Family recipes can serve as a bond between the generations that can be shared, enjoyed and remembered. Great recipes create lasting memories and reminders long after the original cook is gone. There are certain things that I cook that I learned from my mother and grandmother and I always think of them when I make those foods.

Q: How important is the family meal?

A: I think it’s very important. The family meal is the place where children can learn table manners and how to start and hold a conversation. They get to practice their conversation skills. When you think about it, the family dinner table is really the first place where we learn how to “play well with others.” I am also a firm believer in teaching children how to set a proper table for the meal. This is a mark of civility and home training, and every child should know how to do it.

Q: What are your favorite sources for recipes?

A: I like the site epicurious.com because it has all different types of recipes for different seasons, events, time of preparation. It has a broad choice that is bound to have recipes that meet your needs.

I should also mention that I am working on an African American food plate that contains foods that are familiar to our culture and history. The objective is to make it easier for people to pick a nutritious mix of foods from choices they recognize and know how to cook. The African American food plate will be published on my website africooks.com.

Q: What was the inspiration for your book “High on the Hog”, the basis for the new Netflix documentary series of the same name?

A: I have always been interested in history and cooking, and the book is a way of marrying these interests and telling the story of the African-American role in U.S. culinary history. As a people, we have always had a very intimate and extensive involvement with food — we grew it, we harvested it, we cooked it, and we served it. Our cooking traditions show how resourceful we are, and our ability to improvise. Many African-American cooks were at the highest level of their craft and were acknowledged masters, such as James Hemings, who was Thomas Jefferson’s Parisian-trained cook (and Sally Hemings’ brother).

Q: What advice did your mother give you that has stayed with you?

A: My mother lived the saying that it’s never too late. My mother was a trained dietician who became a master jeweler at age 65. She taught me to always keep on growing. She used to say she was “a divine work in progress.”

Q: Any new projects for you on the horizon?

A: I will continue teaching English at Queens College and consulting with Dillard University. I am working on a book on my collection of antique postcards depicting African-Americans and food. I am also editing a collection of works on African-American material culture

Renowned culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris is the author of 11 books and the world’s leading expert on the foodways of the African diaspora. Dr. Harris has shared her scholarship with audiences around the world, in print and live, including at such major museums as the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.