A bottle tree covered in colorful glass

The Healing of Gardens: A Diasporic Conversation

Saturday, June 15, 2024

10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Ross Hall

Curated by Dr. Jessica B. Harris, African American Garden | Diaspora: Same Boat Different Stops will highlight the plants and gardening traditions that are at the heart of the experiences and histories of the African diaspora in the Americas. This exhibition will open at the Edible Academy on June 15 as part of NYBG’s Juneteenth celebrations.

The symposium will explore plant and food stories associated with memory and belonging, as well as the culinary journeys of people and plants. Following the discussion, be sure to join us at the African American Garden for an Opening Ceremony where Dr. Jessica B. Harris will inaugurate the latest iteration of the collection. Then head across the way for hands-on gardening fun, cooking demos, crafts, and more at the Edible Academy as we celebrate Juneteenth Weekend!

This event is free and open to the public. Presented by NYBG’s Humanities Institute with generous support from the Mellon Foundation. 

    This event is free and open to the public.

    Presented by NYBG’s Humanities Institute with generous support from the Mellon Foundation

A conversation with Camille T. Dungy about Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden

Award-winning author Camille T. Dungy will sit down with Dr. Jessica B. Harris to talk about Dungy’s latest book, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, and the many ways in which gardens, plants, and food show up in her life and work, as well as the cultural traditions and histories associated with them in the African diaspora. This conversation will touch on landscape, environmental justice, power, and belonging as manifested by our relation to the soil beneath us.

Photo of Jessica Harris with a stack of cookbooks

Dr. Jessica B. Harris is America’s leading scholar on the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. Dr. Harris received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020, and she was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2021.” In the same year, her book High on the Hog was adapted into a Netflix series; in 2022, the series won a Peabody and an NAACP Image Award, and was renewed for a second season. She serves on NYBG’s Board of Trustees.

Views from the Diaspora: A Panel Discussion

In 2024, the African American Garden will highlight the traveling histories of plants between Africa and the Americas. Panelists will discuss the history and culture of the African diaspora through the multilayered lens of food.

A person in a flowing white dress poses for a photo outdoors at sunset

Erminia Apolinário is originally from Vitoria, Espírito Santo, a small island in the southeast of Brazil. She moved to New York in 1984 and founded her catering business ZKA Brazilian Soul Food (after her children’s initials: Zaira, Kamau, and Alaor). She learned to cook watching and cooking alongside her mother and aunts. Today, she shares her cooking as a way to educate people about the African influence in Brazilian cuisine through private events, restaurant pop-ups (especially Mad Tropical in Brooklyn), and private cooking lessons. Soon she will return to cook for Shef.

A person with long dark hair and a white shirt poses for a photo outdoors in the sun

Korsha Wilson is a food journalist and the host/founder of A Hungry Society, a media company and podcast that takes a more inclusive and diverse look at the food world. She has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, Eater, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine Magazine and was included in 2020’s Best American Food Writing anthology. She is a 2019 Southern Foodways Alliance Smith fellow and was part of Jack Jones Literary Arts’ inaugural #Culture,Too fellowship. Korsha is also the co-author of two cookbooks due out in 2025.

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