Rediscovering America 2

“It Starts with Awareness”

Guess what.  America, apparently has made some wrong political and social decisions in the past.  I can hear a loud chorus of “well, duhhhhh” ringing out from countries around the world at this statement.  But, growing up with an American curriculum, and spending a whole High School year on US History, no one ever, ever gave a hint that America did anything wrong.  I checked with my high school classmates, and they said the same thing. 

I remember writing from Egypt to a history teacher in the States long ago, stating that I didn’t appreciate being struck with US bombs dropped on my friends and me in Alexandria, during the Six Day War.  His comment, “come home quickly before you get brainwashed into the wrong way of thinking.”   

So, when I recently returned to the States after a hefty year or two, I was startled, but very happy to notice a, what shall I say?  A turning point?  Public awareness?   There are people who are openly acknowledging the unseemly bits of America’s past. 

One big difference I experienced was LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT in California.  Posters in windows, in the theater foyer, and elsewhere made it clear that the land on which I was standing/sleeping/living/eating/shopping/walking was Ohlone land – an indigenous tribe that goes for a ninety-mile stretch of coastline from Big Sur to Carmel.  Even a house acknowledged that its land was taken from the Ohlone People. 

San Francisco airport has a poster that says:

I’m glad for that, because it’s always right to be welcomed onto someone else’s land, and to acknowledge that it is someone else’s land. For the Indigenous people one gets permission to do so before entering, as usual.  Here at the airport, they are offering a welcome to the world.  I didn’t go so far as to sprinkle some tobacco on the land (once I found it beyond the concrete), but at least I was welcomed.

And speaking of slavery, in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts I was strongly moved to see an amazing display of pottery made by slaves.  Slaves were forced to make pots in the 1800s.  There was a story of one woman beaten to death because she didn’t participate appropriately.  The pots are huge, huge, glazed, heavy, used for storage and pickling. They have been collected and are on display.   

One of the potters, Dave, learned how to write, even though it was illegal to teach literacy to slaves, and inscribed his name and little poems of wonder on the pots.  “who will see these words in the future?” was written on one pot. 

Well, they found some of Dave’s descendants.  The accompanying film shows their emotional responses, as they handled Dave’s pottery of long ago.  One man said, “I knew about slavery, but it didn’t connect to me until I handled something from my ancestors.  This is a part of me, a lost connection.  If you do not know who you are, you are not a whole person”.  Another descendent said, “A lot of Black Americans don’t know anything about slavery, but when you have that link, it tears at your heart and makes it personal.”  Have a look for yourself, before they remove the display:. 

https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/hear-me-now-the-black-potters-of-old-edgefield-south-carolina

(Click on the box it provides).

Of course there are thousands of yes-buts that arise.  However, after all these years, there is emerging a public awareness of the past, the true past.  There’s a hint of honesty being allowed to slip through the tight bands of control, and share what my history is really like. 

Vicki’s Peanut Sauce

“Radishes”, said Vicki dreamily when she was visiting here.  I looked at her sideways, my eyebrows raised.  I’d never heard anyone get excited about radishes, especially my sister.  She doesn’t usually swoon over uncooked vegetables.  Truth revealed itself in the next sentence:  “I have a delicious peanut sauce that goes so well with them.”   Apparently, this sauce goes well with so many foods, (some of them unavailable to me) that radishes slink down the priority list as others surge atop them.

Here, then is something for you to try.  You are free to choose YOUR selection of crunchies for dipping.

Ingredients:

(about 3 1/2 cups.)

[Note T = tablespoon, t = teaspoon, as we learned in Home Ec class when we were 13.]

A tin (can) of coconut milk (Vicki uses regular, not low fat, but not the cream)
3 T red curry paste (Thai or Massaman)
12 T  creamy or chunk Natural peanut butter ( measured about 6 ozs in a jug). Use the kind made only of peanuts…additional oil is not necessary.
2 T soy sauce
1 ½ t toasted sesame oil
2 t rice vinegar
1 1/2 t minced ginger (puree out of the tube)
1 ½ t sugar (V use light brown)

Place all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat slightly and cook for about 3-5 minutes stirring/whisking constantly. It doesn’t need more than that.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Serve sauce warm with satay, fried tofu, radishes & celery, or Chinese wide crisp noodles.

Keeps in refrigerator for several weeks, preferably in glass container.

Crispy noodles, radishes halved, celery sticks can be used for dipping; or pour over cooked chicken.

My sister Vicki is right — it does go well with radishes! The flavours mature over time, tastier after a few hours.