MPA LLC - The Global Kitchen at the Neighborhood Level IN Milwaukee

Urban MILWAUKEE | The American Museum of Natural History is visiting across America to talk about the awe of the history of Food.

Global Kitchen - Milwaukee Neighborhoods

To be sure that Milwaukeeans at the neighborhood level are involved, Milwaukee Professionals Association LLC has sought ways and means to get Milwaukeeans, especially African American, other People of Color, and the Work Challenged at the table of the Global Kitchen.

African American

The Principles of Kwanzaa

umoja (oo-MOH-ja)Meaning: unity
Action: building a community that holds together

kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-yah)Meaning: self-determination
Action: speaking for yourself and making choices that benefit the community

ujima (oo-JEE-mah)Meaning: collective work and responsibility
Action: helping others within the community

ujamaa (oo-JAH-ma)Meaning: cooperative economics
Action: supporting businesses that care about the community

nia (nee-AH)Meaning: a sense of purpose
Action: setting goals that benefit the community

kuumba (koo-OOM-bah)Meaning: creativity
Action: making the community better and more beautiful

imani (ee-MAH-nee)Meaning: faith
Action: believing that a better world can be created for communities now and in the future

Colorful Celebrations

Families gather for the great feast of karamu on December 31. Karamu may be held at a home, community center, or church. Celebrants enjoy traditional African dishes as well as those featuring ingredients Africans brought to the United States, such as sesame seeds (benne), peanuts (groundnuts), sweet potatoes, collard greens, and spicy sauces.

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Soul Food is a term used for an ethnic cuisine, food traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans of the Southern United States. Many of the various dishes and ingredients included in "soul food" are also regional meals and comprise a part of other Southern US cooking, as well. The style of cooking originated during American slavery. African slaves were given only the "leftover" and "undesirable" cuts of meat from their masters (while the white slave owners got the meatiest cuts of ham, roasts, etc.).

We also had only vegetables grown for ourselves. After slavery, many, being poor, could afford only off-cuts of meat, along with offal. Farming, hunting, and fishing provided fresh vegetables, fish and wild game, such as possum, rabbit, squirrel and sometimes waterfowl. Africans living in America at the time (and since) more than made do with the food choices we had to work with. 

Stay tuned.

We welcome your INPUT.