I wanted more. More of myself, more of my goals, more energy, more love, more clarity, more wellness, and more life, and that is exactly what I got when I made the choice to be vegan. I was drawn to high raw veganism because I truly believe in the theory that, you are what you eat. I wanted to live out loud, so I turned to foods that lived loud too! These foods helped heal my chronic bronchitis, asthma, acid reflux, and my annual gastrointestinal pain that would often send me to the hospital.
In 2013, I was doing a presentation for over one hundred beautiful brown students in Brooklyn, NY at an elementary school. These students told me they didn’t like vegetables! They had no idea about kale. And one student even said, “ That’s white people food.” It broke my heart to think that some of these students believed that vegetables weren’t for them. While there are many organizations working hard to give students access and resources, I found myself wanting to join in those efforts, yet from a different angle.
The Tale of Chef Kale was created while visualizing abundance and wellness for black children. How can I use imagination to recreate the narratives these children have around fresh fruits and vegetables? How can I motivate their minds to visualize wellness for themselves? How can I use creativity to create a different perspective on what soul food is? These questions and many more began my quest.
The Tale of Chef Kale is an interactive stage performance that centers around the adventures of a fictional character named Kale; a young girl who has an afro made partly of kale and a tremendous story to tell. She invites young audiences to explore wellness, self-care, identity, and develop a relationship with their food and digestive systems. Each show also includes samples of Kale’s recipes created only of fresh fruits and vegetables for everyone to taste.
I am passionate about identifying as a black vegan, not just a vegan. It is very important to see color. It does not have to separate us, it actually can bring us together. I created The Tale of Chef Kale to allow the world to see and hear a universal story of black wellness from young brown eyes.
Social Media
Website: http://www.thetaleofchefkale.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetaleofchefkale/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTaleofChefKale/?fref=ts
GoFundMe:
Performance Schedule
United Solo Theater Festival on November 2nd at 3:30pm in New York City. They are also very excited to present their performance to Berkshire Farm; a local group home for children that have experienced trauma. As they so graciously work to help children re-establish a happy and healthy life, they would like to donate 10 seats so that their children and families may enjoy the show. If you would like to donate to help seat our friends from Berkshire Farms, you can donate to our GoFundMe.
