Home

Stephanie Teasley

Stephanie Teasley is a writer living in Palm Springs, CA. Her work has appeared in Lunch Ticket, Cuisine Noir, and NuOrigns, among other publications. Stephanie enjoys writing and crafting other people’s stories and sharing narratives to the masses. She completed the Muses and Melanin Professional Writers Fellowship through California Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment of the Humanities. Stephanie is currently working on a collection of experimental, personal essays. When she is not writing, Stephanie enjoys playing video games, being a Trekkie, and spending time with her loved ones, both human and furry.

For inquiries, please email stephanieteasleywrites@gmail.com.

GFDI •

The Black History Behind St. Mary’s Stuffed Ham

St. Mary’s County is located in Southern Maryland, forming a peninsula bordered by the Potomac River, the Patuxent River, and the Chesapeake Bay. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the region housed tobacco plantations that depended on hand labor from enslaved people from West and West-Central Africa.
As mentioned in our previous Cultural Briefs, the enslaved were forced to innovate with the scraps and less desirable meats given to them, which over generations has come to be seen as a delicacy. One...
GFDI •

Restaurants That Played A Role in the Civil Rights Movement

During the Civil Rights Movement (1954 – 1968), many Black-owned restaurants doubled as safe havens for activists and leaders, providing sustenance and sometimes serving as hideouts. These restaurants stood strong during challenging and violent times and are still in operation today.
Here is part one of a list of Black-owned restaurants with ties to the Civil Rights Movement.
During the 1910s, Jones Bar-B-Q Diner opened its doors in Marianna, Arkansas. Established by pitmaster Walter Jones, Jone...
GFDI •

African Diaspora's Impact on Traditional Mexican Food

The foundational history of traditional Mexican food is deeply intertwined with systemic resistance. Long before the Underground Railroad or the Jamaican slave markets reached their peaks, Mexico was home to one of the earliest successful maroon revolutions in the Americas.
A West African prince named Yanga led a massive enslaved rebellion against the sugarcane lowlands of Veracruz, establishing a fortified maroon community called a palenque that the Spanish military could not defeat. This for...
GFDI •

The Food Science of Ancestral Cooking Techniques

Throughout our educational blogs, we’ve covered ancient African cooking techniques that are still in use today. The one-pot meals, simmering bitter greens with a protein, slow-cooking meats over a fire, and wrapping proteins or dough in large plant leaves and then steaming them are examples from the diaspora.
However, many other transformative cooking techniques rooted in ancient food science were introduced to the Americas by African people.
Culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris wrote her aw...
GFDI •

Plants and Foodways That Guided the Underground Railroad

Although food and identity in the African diaspora are closely linked to widespread violence, their culinary traditions are not just a passive reaction to systemic racism but a deliberate form of resistance, survival, and cultural preservation.
In the United States, food and identity among the enslaved connected them to their ancestral roots, which they passed on to the next generation. Soul food serves as a primary example of this intersection, as contemporary culinary dishes and medicinal orig...
GFDI •

The Culinary Masterpieces of Caribbean Food

Thirteen nations and dependent territories, including island nations, make up the region known as the Caribbean, which spans the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the generations of heavy colonization, Caribbean food and its foodways are an amalgamation of West African, Creole, Amerindian, European, Latin American, Indian/South Asian, Chinese, Javanese/Indonesian, North American, and Middle Eastern cuisines.
Before colonization, the Caribbean islands housed a massive population of dee...
GFDI •

How Gullah Geechee Preserved the Soul of Black Foodways

In the United States, Gullah Geechee people are direct descendants of the Rice Coast Africans, the largest group of enslaved Africans stolen during the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Because of their advanced agricultural knowledge, over 50,000 Rice Coast Africans were targeted and systematically concentrated to work on rice, indigo, and Sea Island cotton plantations along the lower Atlantic coast.
The enslavement of the Rice Coast Africans was uniquely defined by geographic and social isolation. T...
GFDI •

Roots of Louisiana Creole Cuisine in the United States

Louisiana Creole cuisine, typically referred to simply as “Creole” in the US, is rooted in Louisiana’s multicultural colonial history, drawing on French, Spanish, West African, Native American, Caribbean, and Southern influences.
In the kitchen, Creole cuisine and its mixed culture are known for layered flavors, seafood, and rice dishes, with the best-known being gumbo and jambalaya. In our Understanding Black Foodways blog post, we examined how enslaved Africans became architects of flavors and...
GFDI •

How Freedom Seekers and Ancestral Roots Forged Soul Food

In the United States, soul food is a Black American cuisine with a social, ethnic, and political history. Its baseline directly stems from plantation food rations, where the enslaved were forced to transform discarded animal parts, like ham hocks, hog jowls, and intestines, into dense sustenance through prolonged cleaning and cooking, using salt, lard, and herbs from their gardens.
Across generations, greens, pork, cornmeal starches, legumes, and Indigenous crops like okra remain integral to sou...
GFDI •

Seeds in Hair Debate: Oral Traditions Vs. The Colonial Archive

Oral traditions are the oldest form of storytelling, dating back to the time when humanity evolved to speak. Knowledge and history were passed down from the elder generations to the younger, and over time and circumstance, the history became legend, which, in some academic circles, became folklore.  For the Maroon communities in Suriname and Brazil, these “legends” are real and are the botanical blueprints of their survival.
The Portuguese began exploring and then colonizing West Africa in the m...
GFDI •

The History of Black Foodways Through the Plate

Foodways in the social sciences refer to the ways food, culture, traditions, and history intersect and influence one another. This also extends to economic practices relating to how food is produced and the eating habits and culinary practices of a people, region, or historical period. Food is history, and its origins span millennia. As humanity evolved and grew, so did Black foodways.
Black foodways pertaining to the African diaspora carry deeply embedded cultural meaning and history, maintaine...
GFDI •

History of Food Sovereignty in West Africa

The Neolithic Revolution was the era when early humanity transitioned from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals. While this period is linked with the Fertile Crescent starting around 10,000 BCE, it became a global phenomenon of independent innovation.
For ancient African civilizations, specifically those in West Africa, the Neolithic Revolution established them as major players in history. Until 1977, many attributed West Africa’s evolution solely to external factors,...
GFDI •

West African Roots of Carolina Gold Rice

Carolina Gold rice is one of two rice species of Oryza sativa, also known as Asian cultivated rice, which was first domesticated in China between 13,500 and 8200 BCE.
The first recorded introduction to rice in America was in 1685 in Charleston, South Carolina. Referred to as Carolina Gold rice because of the golden color of the unhulled grains, it quickly turned South Carolina into a global trading hub by becoming the state’s largest cash crop. Rice plantation owners were among the wealthiest of...
GFDI •

Ancestral Superfoods of the African Diaspora

The modern wellness industry goes through cycles of “discoveries,” like how hibiscus, moringa, and baobab have been pushed forward for the last few years as superfoods. It’s important to note that the word superfood is not a scientific term; it’s just a marketing word, but it doesn’t mean the foods aren’t powerful.
Proteins like salmon, leafy greens, nuts, and berries are packed with vitamins and minerals. However, hibiscus, moringa, and baobab aren’t just food in Africa. For millennia, they’ve...
GFDI •

From Memory to Record: Saving Black Recipes

So much of Black history in America has been lost through time, violence, and circumstances. Among the many untold stories are the Black recipes born out of desperation and ingenuity, and passed down orally through the generations. This was necessary for the enslaved who were not allowed any education and had to rely on memory and oral communication.
Even after emancipation, the oral tradition stayed central. Recipes stayed locked in the minds of the elders, who are often the sole keepers of the...
GFDI •

A Look at Food Systems Through a Black Lens

A food system is a network that interconnects processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population. It encompasses production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management, along with the people, resources, and institutions that facilitate these activities.
Food systems exist in every country and are generally well-known and recognized. However, when looking at these food systems through a Black lens, the history and knowledge that shaped them are overlooked or absorbed w...
Cuisine Noir Magazine •

Black Farmer Fund Helps Fill Capital Access for Black Farmers

Black Farmer Fund was created to address the long-standing gap in agricultural capital access. A nonprofit, community-led investment organization based in the U.S. Northeast, the fund supports Black farmers and food businesses to build community wealth, health, and long-term stability.

Unlike traditional financial institutions, the fund centers community governance and therefore does not rely on personal credit reports and limits personal guarantees. Community-based committees make investment decisions, ensuring capital supports growth rather than reinforcing debt.
Cuisine Noir Magazine •

Short Term Rentals Platform Whimstay Fills Vacation Needs

Whimstay is a dedicated vacation platform for short term rentals that offers discounted, last-minute bookings for professionally managed properties. It caters to what co-founder Alex Alioto calls “the next‑generation traveler.”

“We focus specifically on last-minute bookings, helping hosts fill unsold gap nights,” Alioto says. “For travelers who are open to spontaneity, that means access to vacation rentals at about 30% off typical Airbnb prices if they’re willing to book last-minute. That’s the model. We’re not reinventing the wheel — it’s similar to Nordstrom Rack, grocery outlet stores, or other concepts that sell inventory at a discount.”
Cuisine Noir Magazine •

How Food Businesses Are Leading Innovation in Ghana

Ghana’s food scene is undergoing a dynamic transformation, led by a new generation of culinary innovators reclaiming and redefining the country’s rich food traditions. Whether they were born abroad, have returned to Ghana, or are rooted in Ghana from the beginning, these creative food entrepreneurs are part of a rapidly growing movement.

Blending Ghana’s heritage with modern innovation and creating a fusion that respects the past and embraces the future, their efforts demonstrate that Ghana’s culinary identity is enduring and evolving, reflecting its robust culture and influences.
Cuisine Noir Magazine •

Container Gardening: Guidance to Grow Food in Your Apartment

Cuisine Noir often spotlights community gardens and outdoor farming in conversations about climate and food, but not everyone has space or access to a garden outside. Apartment and container gardening offer practical ways for food you can grow in your apartment.

Container gardeners like Timothy Hammond and Quincey Adams have been practicing this approach for years, showing how accessible food you can grow in your apartment can be with the right techniques.
Load More