Sheri Raleigh is a prominent chef Instructor and the owner of Cast Iron Skillet Culinaire, LLC, based in Waco, Texas. She has made significant contributions to the culinary world as the founder of the Gifts From The Ancestors Foodways Project and the author of two notable works, "Okra & Tomatoes" and "Creole Celebrations."

With a rich background in cross-cultural education, Sheri offers community cooking classes across various sectors, including education, hospitality, and healthcare. Her establishment, Cast Iron Skillet Culinaire, is dedicated to delivering "culinary edutainment" and fostering team-building experiences, with a particular focus on Creole cuisine.

She is also the founder of the Lawrence J. and Viola M. Raleigh Hospitality Scholarship in honor of her parents at Northwestern State University in Louisiana, which is current accepting donations to ensure it is fully endowed by the end of this year.

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Learn more and donate to the Lawrence J. and Viola M. Raleigh Hospitality Scholarship.

Zabriel Rivers is a Gullah Geechee singer, cultural artist, and educator celebrated for his "soaring voice and magnetic stage presence that brings both spiritual depth and storytelling brilliance."

Hailing from St. Helena Island in South Carolina, Zabriel shares the language, stories, and songs of his heritage that inspire audiences while ensuring that the living legacy of Gullah Geechee music continues to thrive through his program, "A Gullah Evening with Zabriel."

He stops by to raise awareness about the continued fight of Gullah Geechee communities to keep their land and the life they know from developers who aim to erase and benefit from generational land stewardship.

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Related Article from Cuisine Noir

Gullah Geechee Cooking: Savannah's Gina Capers-Willis Keeps Family Traditions Alive

Fabrice Armand is the founder of TRIB Marketing Agency and the co-founder of the Creole Food Festival, the only Creole cultural festival taking place in four cities while connecting the American South, the Caribbean, Latin America, South America and South America.

Born and raised in Haiti, Fabrice came to the U.S. as a teenager and in college began connecting to the work of building community. Through the Creole Food Festival, he is not only lifting the richness of Haitian Creole food and culture, but other unifying Creole cultures one event at a time.

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Related Article from Cuisine Noir

The Creole Food Festival Unifies Through Culture and Taste

Hawa Hassan was born in Somalia and left before the age of six due to conflict in the country. As a refugee in Kenya with her mother and siblings, Hawa would later receive an opportunity to leave the country at the age of seven and relocate to Seatle, Washington where she would complete her schooling before moving to New York to pursue a career in modeling.

After a years of modeling, successfully, she began to look at her life differently and time visiting her family in Norway where they now lived, set her on the course of using food as a way to connect with loved ones and create a space to bring people of diverse backgrounds together.

As a James Beard Award-winning author for her cookbook, "In Bibi's Kitchen," she is set to release her sophmore book project "Setting a Place For Us, where she sheds light on the importance of preserving recipes and food traditions in places of conflict and migration.

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Diaspora Food Stories is produced by The Global Food and Drink Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit. Together with your generous donation we can continue to preserve the oral history and culture of Black food and drink stories both in English and other languages spoken throughout the African diaspora. To donate, visit globalforgood.org.

Website: Diaspora Food Stories

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Doreen Irungu is the founder of Ustawi Afrika, an amazing organization that trains women farmers around food sovereignty and sustainability. To date, her organization has worked with thousands of women and continues to champion women's contributions to agriculture in Kenya. Her work has transformed the livelihoods of over 10,000 women farmers, significantly improving food security, economic independence, and resilience to climate change across Kenya's semi-arid regions.

Born in rural Kenya to parents who are coffee farmers, Doreen saw first-hand the hard work and also the impact of farming and its ability to put food on the table and support additional needs of families such as education. These early experiences helped to shape how she wanted to build and help communities, especially women farmers.

She is also a co-author of the book, "We Took a Risk," a book highlighting the bold steps women take to create transformative change in business and leadership.

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Diaspora Food Stories is produced by The Global Food and Drink Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit. Together with your generous donation we can continue to preserve the oral history and culture of Black food and drink stories both in English and other languages spoken throughout the African diaspora. To donate, visit globalforgood.org.

Website: Diaspora Food Stories

Episode Sponsor

Hayti

Nigerian chef Gbolabo Gibbs Adebakin, known simply as Chef Gibbs, founded the Nigeria Food Summit to host the largest gathering of chefs, restauranteurs, farmers, producers and more for an amazing day of speakers, panel discussions, master classes and networking.

Set to take place again on Friday, March 21 on Victoria Island in Lagos, Nigeria, Chef Gibbs joins us along with restauranteur and chef Nkesi Enyioha to discuss the conversations taking place as well as the work being done to amplify the rich traditions and heritage of Nigerian food culture as Nigerian cuisine continues to take its place on local and world stages.

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Related Article from Cuisine Noir

Food Summit Celebrates Nigerian Food Culture on Local and World Stages

Diaspora Food Stories is produced by The Global Food and Drink Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit. Together with your generous donation we can continue to preserve the oral history and culture of Black food and drink stories both in English and other languages spoken throughout the African diaspora. To donate, visit globalforgood.org.

Website: Diaspora Food Stories

Episode Sponsor

Hayti

Zule Ankamah is the chef and owner of Zuleeats in Windsor, Ontario, known for her savory Ghanaian meat, veggie and vegan pies.

Once a hobby to take up time during the pandemic, the mother of 4 left her 26-year career at Caesars Windsor to start her entrepreneurial journey and hasn't looked back. Passionate about connecting others to her culture through food, foodies can enjoy Zuleeats at its location on Howard Avenue, at local retailers and at events.

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Diaspora Food Stories is produced by The Global Food and Drink Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit. Together with your generous donation we can continue to preserve the oral history and culture of Black food and drink stories both in English and other languages spoken throughout the African diaspora. To donate, visit globalforgood.org.

Website: Diaspora Food Stories

Episode Sponsor

Hayti

If there is anything we remember from our childhood, it is food and the hands that prepared it.

For Carl Vann, it is his grandmother who he would sit and watch in the kitchen as she prepared some of the family favorites that he as an adult would later recreate. This time spent together before losing her when he was 12 would be the inspiration behind his business and app called Pass the Peaz.

The South Carolina native is on a mission to help families save their cherished recipes for the next generations while supporting food insecure individuals through its food rescue initiative.

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Diaspora Food Stories is produced by The Global Food and Drink Initiative, a 501c3 nonprofit. Together with your generous donation we can continue to preserve the oral history and culture of Black food and drink stories both in English and other languages spoken throughout the African diaspora. To donate, visit globalforgood.org.

Website: Diaspora Food Stories

Episode Sponsor

Hayti