I also agree that there should be healthier options on the menu because sadly, the soul food is slowly killing us (diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension,etc.).

As for the NBC menu, it’s not like I’m eating there anytime soon. But to single out Black History Month as the reason to serve soul food, hmmm, I can see why it can raise a few eyebrows. Did they have this on the menu for the other 11 months out of the year?

And since Questlove clarified that he, too, was simply joking, it should be pointed out that he acknowledged that NBC doesn’t even own the cafeteria. It’s merely in their building.

Laureli, maybe I’ll try them…eventually.

And let’s be real, NBC ain’t been about black history since A Different World went off the air, so this just makes it worse.

I disagree with this because it doesn’t mean that’s the only black history event going on at NBC or that it has to be. That was just the cafeteria’s contribution to it. Food is not the only part of culture, but it is part of it. I don’t see why it can’t or should not be included.

I also disagree with the notion that black history month means we can’t celebrate black history all year. It’s a time to put an extra emphasis on it. Christmas and Easter don’t mean Christians celebrate or think about Christ only at those times. I don’t think we focus enough on black history, but I don’t see black history as an impediment to that. Quite to the contrary.

Soul food is what we (our ancestors) cooked for “the man,” so it’s no surprise that everyone (of all ethnicities) would equate this with Black history. I swear Black people are the only ones hung up on their own damn problems, yet we still have the nerve to blame every other race for our own problems. My dad always said if he came back in the next lifetime he would NOT want to be black. And I tend to agree with more and more with each passing day

What homegirl didn’t say: Whether or not she tried to get fried chicken, etc. on the menu for any day of the week outside of February. I know she was passionate about it, but I’m guessing the employees that use the NBC commissary have never lodged a complaint about not having soul food during February.

It fits in with the same mentality that we have to remind white folks once a year that we’re black. Can’t we celebrate black history all year? Or the same people who complain every single year about blacks not winning a Golden Globe before MLK Day. “DON’T THEY KNOW IT’S MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY?” If the Golden Globes were the week after, they still would’ve lost.

And yes, I know it’s the commissary in this case…. but it does seem like the de facto way for any employer to celebrate BHM is with food. The only other comparable thing I can think of is Mexican potlucks on Cinco de Mayo, and Susie from HR always brings in her half-assed attempt at guacamole with store brand tortilla chips. No ma’am.

Like, I know soul food is part of black history and I’m not ashamed of it, but it just seems kinda lazy at this point. It takes less effort to flour and fry up some wings and bring it to work for the monthly potluck than to do something actually worthwhile. It does diminish the culture to just being about what we eat and that’s where people might be concerned.

“those Creoles (which is a cute way of saying Negro with a history of French owners and rapists)”
YES.