_{^{written by: évah myles}}

Every New Year’s Eve, my grandfather would cook black-eyed peas. It wasn’t unusual for the man: he was a cook. He served in the military as a chef and continued his duties post-release with his family, cooking for his daughters and wife before his night shift at the neighborhood school. No one questioned these habits; every year it was clockwork. My grandfather cooked the peas as his father had done. 

Now, decades later, every New Year’s is a time for reclamation and community. I spend time with my family, rid of old energy, and set intentions for the new year ahead of us. 

New Year’s as Black People know it began December 31, 1862, when both enslaved and free Americans gathered in anticipation to see if the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect: Freedom’s Eve. People near and far sang hymns, prayed, and wept with eachother in hope freedom would embrace them across the pond in a new day. The service is known modernly as Watch Night, a service rooted in African American traditions and used as a form of resistance against colonialism, racism, and enslavement. 

Just like Watch Night is a resistance and a place to nurture community away from the looming eyes of whiteness, our ancestors’ food held deep significance not only to themselves, but to our village’s belief system. 

Black eyed peas symbolize prosperity, collards symbolize paper money/wealth, cornbread symbolizes gold, and pork symbolizes progress and moving forward. All of these foods have ties to West Africa and the transatlantic slave trade, as black eyed peas were served on ships to the Americas and became a symbol of survival, and pork became a symbol of resourcefulness and perseverance. 

Traditions such as these keep up close to our ancestors who have been practicing centuries before us, making noise to ward off spirits and keeping us safe from the outside world. Black New Year’s isn’t just a holiday, it’s a form of liberation and preserving African spirituality beyond the bounds of White Christianity.