White Sugar, Flour, and Dairy Products
Stacking bags of raw sugar, Courtesy of The New York Public Library
We all have changing opinions about food including their taste and health benefits. Shortly after the Congress of African People (CAP), Amiri Baraka incorporated Marxism into his governing philosophy as a black nationalist. Barka also expressed reservations about the kind of dietary restrictions that James Cone, Alvenia Fulton, Dick Gregory, The East, and the Nation of Islam recommended and he had once embraced. Baraka’s new views led to a split within CAP such as the East’s Jitu Weusi and director of Chicago Institute for Positive Education Haki Madhubuti. Both had been ardent Black Nationalist who viewed improving the diets of black folk as an important strategy in the black liberation movement. In fact, Madhubuti and black activist like Gregory insisted that one needed a healthy diet in the freedom struggle free of the triple threat to African American strength: white sugar, flour, and dairy products. Sugar is a topic that Anthropologist Sidney Mintz has studied and written about in his book Sweetness and Power. It's an excellent book on the topic that will make you rethink sugar and consuming it.
Want to book Dr. Opie for an upcoming event or media appearance?
