Honoring Heritage Through Food, Memory & Community
October serves as both Gullah Geechee Heritage Month and a time that we prepare to celebrate Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). As leaves deepen their hue and the light softens, we enter a season devoted to remembering — to honoring the tradition, resilience, and innovation of our ancestors.
The rich cultural tapestry of the Gullah Geechee people — descendants of West and Central Africans who, through resilience and creativity, preserved unique traditions, language, crafts, and foodways along America’s southeastern coastal lands. In kitchens across the Lowcountry, communal cooking is more than sustenance — it’s ritual, resistance, and reclamation. When resources were scarce and conditions often unjust, Gullah cooks transformed humble ingredients into dishes that carry memory: hearty stews, preserved greens, seafood, greens simmered with smoked meats, and sweet treats that told stories of home, sea, and soil. The act of breaking bread together is an act of care, continuity, and presence — affirming that our cultural roots are alive in the way we feed and care for one another.
Just as Gullah Geechee people use food to honor ancestry and build community, the tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Latino/a cultures shows us another way food enshrines memory and connection. Rather than mourning, this celebration leans into gathering, offering, feasting, and remembering. Families build altars, called ofrendas, and offer favorite foods, pan dulce (sweet breads), tamales, mole, and other dishes to welcome returning spirits.
In both traditions, food isn’t merely what we eat — it’s how we remember, reclaim, and return. It is a bridge between the living and those who came before. Through recipes, methods, and shared meals, these traditions deepen our sense of belonging to places, peoples, and possibilities.
Celebrating Culinary Ancestries: A Few Ideas
Share a recipe: Invite your network to cook or barter a Gullah-style stew, greens, or rice dish — or a pan de muerto or tamales — and tell the story behind it.
Host a memory table: In your market, community space, or meeting, invite people to bring a food item, ingredient, or a photo that honors a loved one, and share why.
Learn together: Create a space for storytellers, elders, or cooks from Gullah or Latinx communities to share the wisdom behind these food traditions — how they evolved, how they nourish, and how they carry memory.
As we move through this sacred season, may these traditions remind us that heritage is not static. It lives in our hands, our kitchens, and our tables. May we continue to honor the past through care, gathering, and the nourishment we share.
Flowing Forward: What the Water Teaches Us
One principle from this heritage resonates deeply with the work of Ehime Ora, work: “Spirits Come from Water, An Introduction to Ancestral Veneration and Reclaiming African Spiritual Practices”
Water teaches us about life, memory, and movement. It nourishes and connects, shapes and restores. It reminds us that everything we do is part of a larger flow—of care, of knowledge, of purpose. For SageD, this teaching mirrors the way our collective operates and grows.
Sustenance: Just as water sustains all life, our work in markets and food systems sustains communities—physically through nourishment, and spiritually through connection and joy.
Continuity: Water always finds a path, linking places and people across distance. In that same way, our Legacy Leadership Project keeps wisdom flowing through generations, ensuring the next wave of leaders carries forward both innovation and reverence.
Reclamation: Honoring this heritage is an act of remembering and healing. It’s how we reclaim the stories, skills, and spiritual technologies that have always been part of our survival and our thriving.
For those who wish to explore this more deeply, we invite you to read Ehime Ora’s work. It’s a powerful resource for reflection, reconnection, and renewal—personally and collectively.
As we move through this season, may we remember that water—like spirit connects us all. May it continue to guide us toward healing, harmony, and the shared work of cultivating a beloved community.
