Religion and Food

William Johnson, Jesus and the Three Marys, 1935

Food rituals intertwined with the religious and spiritual customs of African Americans, both in Sunday church services and funerals. Religion has always played a significant and sacred role in the lives of African Americans. Sundays are the time for "spiritual renewal, family reunions, and fellowship for the community." Because many African Americans viewed food as important as the church, the two became easily connected. It is a common belief that African-American churches hold "very long and energy-draining services," so naturally people needed to regain the energy drained while "praising the Lord. "They needed to eat, and the home cookin' of the community took care of that. It soon became easier to bring the best of the communities foods to the church, to eat and socialize." "People ate dinner at the church as a family," said Pauline Holmes, of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. She also added that "the food carried and was guided by the Holy Spirit," and for that reason people prayed to thank the Lord.

Funeral ceremonies in slave communities tended to be "long and extravagant events, as it was the only day of freedom in a slave's life." Women played a central role in sustaining the continuance of African-derived food practices in these communities, not only because of the special ritual foods they prepared, but also because of their conscious efforts to channel these traditions intergenerationally by constantly telling and re-telling their children these stories. The collections of Jane Lewis of Darien, Georgia show, for example, the organized elaborate feast for mourners when a funeral occurred in the slave community:

Yes'm, dey sho hab regluh feasts in dem days, but tuhday, at most settin-ups, yuh dohn git nuttin but coffee an bread. Den dey would cook a regluh meal an dey would kill a chiken in front uh duh doe, wring he neck an cook um fuh duh feas. Den we all finish, we tak wut victuals lef an put it in a dish by duh chimney an das fuh duh spirit tuh hab a las good meal.

Other similar examples of funeral rituals involved chicken sacrifices, such as Shad Hall's recollections from stories his grandmother told him about slave funerals:

Yes'm, Gran Hestuh tell me uh set-ups. Dey kill a wite chiken wen dey hab wet-ups tuh keep duh spirits way. She say a wite chiken is duh only ting dat will keep duh spirits an she allus keep wite chiken fuh dat in yahd.

Many other slave rituals involved food, such as leaving food and water out for the spirits of the dead, or to place spoons, cups, or other personal possessions on a new grave. Based on West African cultural tradition, these examples are still practiced today in different evolved forms. "Beside Reese of Brownville, Georgia, for example, mentioned that she used to take food to her husband's grave on public holidays because she knew his spirit would be there to receive it. She described; "I carry duh kine uh food we use tuh hab tuh eat on duh days hw wuz off frum wuk. I take cooked chiken and cake an pie an cigahs-he like tuh smoke attuh eatin. I do di cuz I know he will be lookin fuh me tuh bring it."

Yvonne Wells, Crucifixion, 1986

Emma English, also of Brownville, recalled her mother never allowing them to go to bed at night without leaving some water for the spirits to drink. She recalled; "Muh mothuh nebuh would let us go tuh bed at night widout leabin plenty uh watuh in duh pails fuh duh spirits tuh drink wile yuh sleep. Ef yuh dohn leab no watuh dey wohn leh yuh res good."

William Johnson, Mount Calvary, 1939

The significance of these food rituals within religious ceremonies of the slave communities exemplify West African traditions. "These customs helped install a sense of solidarity within the slave community, and reflected the influence of African based belief systems regarding death and after life." The cooking at these events was very vital, because the food served as the symbolic link of the transition between death and after life. Josephine Beokku-Betts concluded that "The preparation of food and beverage was a necessary part of honoring ancestral spirits and sustaining the dead in their journey to the spirit world."

People prayed because they came together to partake in something God had given them exclaimed one church cook. Since food has become such an important part of the church life African-Americans not only consider food sacred in the church, but on special occasions as well.

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