Frederick Douglass Opie is a thought leader on teaching with technology, coalitions and social movements, and food traditions. He has been a Fellow at The W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard, an author, contributor on radio and television, and the editor of a food and history blog. He is completing a biography and a movement study through the lens of food for multiple platforms. Opie's most recent book is Upsetting the Apple Cart: Black and Latino Coalitions in New York From Protest to Public Office (Columbia University Press, 2014) which looks at the history of black-Latino coalitions in New York City during the years of 1959 to 1989. This is a story which highlights largely unknown agents of historic change in the city and the noted politicians, political strategist, and union leaders whose careers are built on this history. It is a story that delves into the role that food plays in social movements with representative recipes from the U. S. south and the Caribbean planted throughout.
Appetite City: Soul Food
Host William Grimes takes a journey back in time to the glory days of Harlem when he explores the origins and evolution of “Soul Food.” At a favorite local restaurant he speaks with soul food expert and author Frederick Douglass Opie and later has our historic gastronomist whip up a soul food favorite. Then viewers can join award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson at his newest Harlem-based restaurant where he’s putting a whole new spin on this down-home favorite.
The Splendid Table
Fred Opie Talks About Food and Music on the Splendid Table: Listen Now [8 min]
Photo credit: Marion Post Wolcott / Library of Congress