February 19, 2024 -The African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society of IL is hosting an upcoming event that will demonstrate how African Slaves brought certain grains to the new world, forever changing the Western economy.
The event will be held on February 24th at 2 pm as part of AACGS’s celebration of Black History Month.
During the African slave trade, enslaved peoples found ways to retain their agency, and keep themselves and their cultures alive in ways that were not widely acknowledged by Western historians until the late 2000s. As Dutch slave owners forcibly transported people from West Africa to colonies in modern-day Brazil and throughout the Americas, some African women, namely rice farmers, braided rice seeds into their hair as a means for survival of themselves and the culture of their homeland.
These seeds were safely transported to the New World, and became one of the primary ways that the rice crop came to be cultivated in the Americas, from Brazil to South Carolina. As research shows, West African women were the main contributors to the success of rice farming, due to their knowledge and practice in not only transporting seeds but also cultivating the plant for mass consumption in a lucrative and exploitative plantation economy built on slavery.
The event will include a live demonstration of how the grains and seeds were braided into hair. Attendees are also invited to bring their oldest family recipes for a chance to win prizes.
The event will be held at the African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society at 235 W. Eldorado. All activities are free, but donations are accepted.
