Jun 19

Jun 19 Juneteenth and Black Foodways with Adrian Lipscombe

Listen in to the full interview above or by podcast to hear Chef and Urban Planner Adrian Lipscombe share about the Juneteenth holiday past and present, Black foodways and so much more.

Chef, Urban Planner, and Black foodways preservationist Adrian Lipscombe.

For Adrian Lipscombe, a Texas native, Juneteenth has always been a special celebration. Family would gather from near and far with BBQ, watermelon, salads, fried chicken, and other foods good for traveling, to mark this important date: June 19th, 1865 when 250,000 enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, were finally told - two years after Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation - that they were free. While the holiday has always been particularly big in Texas, it is celebrated in African American communities across the country and has been for 155 years.

Last year, Adrian, who is a Chef, Urban Planner, and mother of four, organized a very special Juneteenth dinner at the James Beard House. She brought together an amazing team of Black Chefs to partner on this dinner including Omar Tate, Therese Nelson, David Thomas, and Enrika Williams. As with many of Adrian’s food events, this one centered around heritage foods and storytelling from each chef through their recipes. She surprised diners with her Delta Tamales, which many northerners don’t associate with Black American foodways. This year in the midst of a pandemic, there won’t be any traveling or a big family gathering for her family, and the massive protests in support of Black lives and police abolition, are making the holiday feel especially relevant.

Adrian Lipscombe and Omar Tate at the James Beard House Heritage Juneteenth Dinner 2019. photo credit: James Beard House

Adrian Lipscombe (at left) with the whole team for the Heritage Juneteenth Dinner at the James Beard House 2019. Photo credit: James Beard House

The Uptowne Cafe and Bakery in La Crosse, Wisconsin is Adrian’s current home base. She and her family picked up and moved to this fertile land along the far northern mississippi river four years ago in search of a slower paced life. She was drawn in by a vacant restaurant and the revitalization happening in the area, which appealed to both the Chef and Urban Planner in her. Her restaurant was rooted in community from the start. Before she’d even opened her doors, dozens of people showed up to bake 5,000 bread rolls to send off to the Standing Rock Dakota Pipeline protests happening in 2016. Those same folks and many more have become her loyal customers that she and her staff know by name.

Volunteers in La Crosse, WI baking 5,000 rolls to help feed Dakota pipeline protesters at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in 2016. Photo credit: Adrian Lipscombe

Adrian’s family is famous for their great recipes and for knowing them all by heart. “If I couldn’t remember a detail in a recipe then I knew it was time to go home” Adrian said. Nowadays with the restaurant, she has had to start writing down some of the recipes, because there are just so many. The Uptowne Cafe and Bakery abounds with decadent cinnamon rolls, fluffy biscuits with fresh peach jam, chicken and waffles, butternut squash mac and cheese, and many more dishes inspired by her southern roots and the richness of the local produce in her new adopted home.

Photo credits: Adrian Lipscombe

The Covid-19 pandemic has not been easy for the restaurant, but their deep connections with their community has helped them shift well into a take out and bake-at-home menu. There’s no doubt that quarantine cravings for her incredible baked goods have helped business continue through this difficult time. Decisions about how to operate and when to open or not are being made together with staff, especially as Adrian is home with a newborn, and managing the restaurant remotely while sheltering in place. While their county has reopened recently, she and her staff made the difficult decision to delay opening back up fully, due to the rising rates of Covid they are seeing.

La Crosse, Wisconsin is located only two hours from Minneapolis, where the murder of George Floyd by a police officer sparked massive Black Lives Matters protests that have spread across the country and globe. While the main call of these protests is the abolition of the police, many people are also looking for ways to support Black lives and businesses. Adrian started getting donations sent to her from people who knew about her work to sustain Black foodways and lead community revitalization. She wanted to do something meaningful with the money that would leave a legacy and the new 40 Acres and a Mule project was born. With the money raised through this GoFundMe campaign, at least 40 acres of agricultural land will be purchased to create a Black owned farm and center that will: “guarantee farm to table resources for the food industry; serve to provide an outlet for Black foodways; and, establish a safe haven to secure the legacy of Black foodways.”

The creativity and motivations that drive Adrian’s work integrate the passion she has for her heritage and that of all Black folx, the clear joy and skill she has in the kitchen, and the beautiful complimentary knowledge she has of community driven revitalization. This is yet another manifestation of Black American foodways where restaurants have often served as community centers, and multi-talented chef/leaders like Adrian have used their skills to have a deep impact that extends well beyond their front doors.

On this Juneteenth of 2020 when it is difficult to gather in person to celebrate the end of slavery, let’s join together to end the ongoing evolution of slavery in American laws and practices like surveillance and mass incarceration, and come together to fight for Black Liberation, as core to the freedom and joy of all people. As Malkia Devich Cyril, a leader in the Black Lives Movement says “dignity and rights for all people are predicated on the liberation of Blackness”. For Adrian, part of this fight happens through preserving the complexity, the joy and stories found in Black foodways. Sustaining this heritage and using her platform to bring lasting change is already part of her legacy, and there’s no doubt a lot more to come.