Breaking The Bubble Of Food Writing: Cultivating Diverse Stories
In the late 1980s, a friend gave me a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "BLACK BY POPULAR DEMAND." That gift came during a time when strong expressions and affirmations of black identity enjoyed a surge of popularity not seen since the 1960s. I've been thinking a lot about that catch phrase in the context of the recent, vibrant discussions about the place of African-Americans in today's national food scene. For people of color who want to tell food stories, "Black by Popular Demand" poignantly exposes the twin challenges we face: getting the key decision-makers in mainstream food media (I call them "gatekeepers") to desire our stories, and getting our own communities to devour our work.
Except for those times we self-publish, food writers try to persuade gatekeepers to publish our work. Gatekeepers are those who determine what content will go in magazines, newspapers, radio shows or websites; those who decide which
