Black Coffee and Black Childhood

Like coffee, black children have a history of being affiliated with adulthood well beyond their true level of maturity. Coffee, in these accounts, reflects the true youthfulness and curiosity that is commonplace amongst all children.

Figure 1, Coffee Machine in the International Space Station

Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr, the first African American to walk in space (1995), was one of many children who had coffee snuck to them by their grandparents.

“She (Harris’ Grandmother) would let me sip. Now, I don't know if, you know, the old folks used to have the coffee and the, you know, what do you call that? The saucer, right? And she would mix her coffee with lots of sugar and lots of cream, so it was really tasty. And she would, you know, and they'd boil it on the stove, right, so it’d be exceedingly hot. So you couldn't just drink it out of the cup. So she would pour it, and let it cool, and then you would sip it, you know. And I just remember sipping, you know, sipping her coffee and going, "This is heaven," yeah.” [1]

Figure 2, Black Girl with a cup of coffee.

Source: Freepik, https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/drinking-coffee-tea-enjoying-delighted-little-african-american-girl-s-portrait-yellow-studio-background-cheerful-kid-concept-human-emotions-expression-sales-ad-copyspace-looks-cute_18326663.htm

For Tai Beauchamp, founder and served as chief executive officer of BluePrint Group, LLC (Tai Life Media, LLC), drinking coffee was a bonding experience for her and her grandfather.

“But like my grandfather and I were so close. So every morning he would get up to go to work and he worked either the overnight shift or the early morning shift. And we would have breakfast together and I'd sit on his lap. And it's one of the reasons why I love coffee, because I would sit on his lap and he would make Sanka. No real coffee here (laughter). But he would make his Sanka and he would make it nice and caramel looking, and sweet. And he would--it was so interesting 'cause here was a man from the sticks of South Carolina, right, but he was so proper with his coffee. So he had a mug and he had a saucer. And then he had his side plate with his toast that was done very brown with his, with his Welch's grape jelly. And I would sit on his lap and he would let me have whatever coffee fell into the saucer. So I would intentionally hit his arm (laughter) just to have the coffee. So I remember the smell of coffee.” [2]

Historian and genealogist Clara Sylvia Cooke Martin, held a similar experience of having her curiosity entertained by her grandfather.

“And so I would go down and Granddad, my father's father, would pour coffee in his saucer and let it cool so that I could sit on his knee and sip some coffee with a spoon. Just enough to, you know--so I knew I was special because he'd let me drink coffee. No one else in the world would let me drink coffee. But then, when I would finish breakfast with my paternal grandparents, I could run across the street to my maternal grandparents and I could sit on Pap-Pap's knee, that's Harrison Evans, but I called him Pap-Pap, and he would, you know, pamper me and take me for walks and take me to the corner store and buy me anything. So I had a very fortunate childhood.” [3]

Figure 3, Black girl bonding with grandfather

For Roland Martin, a former CNN analysist, had an exposure to the caffinated substance that never quiet faded from his memory.

“So we would just hang a left on Georgia Street, and go right to their house. My grandparents were ridiculous coffee drinkers. And they were always, I mean I'm talking about afternoon, always drink coffee. So, what they had--we'd be drinking coffee. Maybe that's probably why I'm so wired today, and it was weird, I don't even drink coffee. I, I, seriously, I think the last time I probably had coffee was at their house when I was maybe eight or nine [years old] or literally, we were that young. I haven't had coffee since then, but I probably got enough caffeine in me. That's probably why I'm so wired today. I don't, I, I don't do coffee. I don't do hot tea. I don't do a energy drink.” [4]

Figure 4, Roland Martin on CNN

Physicist Calvin Howell, professor at Duke, recalled a bout of mischievousness he engaged in and experienced a lasting impact upon his taste.

“It was maybe eleven, twelve years old. And it's a reason why I don't drink coffee is that my parents used to drink coffee and in the morning it was--you would smell coffee brewing in the house. It smelled very good for me as a child. And, but children weren't allowed to touch it. And so things that were taboo for children tend to I guess build our curiosity at that time. And so one day they had gone somewhere shopping and had a left over half a pot of coffee on the stove. So I warmed that up and thought I'd test it myself and I think I must have been ten, eleven, something like that. And I--it tasted so bitter so I added some sugar and I added some milk and it still didn't taste sweet. So I kept --and by the time I finished with it, I had a molasses of coffee and I drank it and it made me so sick, so nauseous that I've never touched a cup of coffee from that day till now.”[5]

Production Executive Nelson Davis, who is the Los Angeles Area Vice President of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, discusses coffee as a coming of age experience.

“And I couldn't wait to taste coffee. And it got to be when I was twelve, thirteen, somewhere in there, they would allow me to have some coffee, somewhere in there, but I found the taste, once I tasted it, was an acquired taste so I wound up putting so much cream and sugar in the thing, I was making a latte, though I didn't know it, and, to this day, I'm not a coffee drinker, after that fabulous fragrance of coffee brewing in the morning, today I'm not a coffee drinker. So those were some of the fragrances.”[6]

Just as coffee has served as a reflection of adulthood and maturity, it has also served as a memory of youth and comfort for many young black children raised in loving families.

Citations

[1]Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. (The HistoryMakers A2013.034), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 6, 2013, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. describes his earliest childhood memory.

[2]Tai Beauchamp (The HistoryMakers A2014.228), interviewed by Harriette Cole, October 7, 2014, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 1, Tai Beauchamp describes her paternal grandparents' household.

[3]Sylvia Cooke Martin (The HistoryMakers A2004.210), interviewed by Racine Tucker Hamilton, October 18, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Sylvia Cooke Martin describes her paternal grandparents, pt. 2.

[4]Roland Martin (The HistoryMakers A2012.063), interviewed by Larry Crowe, May 2, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 3, Roland Martin describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Houston, Texas.

[5]Calvin Howell (The HistoryMakers A2012.039), interviewed by Larry Crowe, February 21, 2012, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 2, Calvin Howell talks about his siblings and describes his earliest childhood memories.

[6]Nelson Davis (The HistoryMakers A2008.114), interviewed by Larry Crowe, September 18, 2008, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 3, Nelson Davis describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood.