From Sweet to Bitter: Chocolate in Black Memory
Chocolate is an ancient Mayan delicacy that is cultivated from the beans of a cacao tree. Created through a process of harvesting, roasting, and refining cacao beans, the treat is a global staple with three main types: dark, milk, and light, and a variety of desserts and beverages such as chocolate cakes, pies, cookies, icecream, milkshakes, and hot chocolate. As a significantly popular food, chocolate is seen as an essential part of some cultures’ and communities' diets and, as such, is embedded in many people’s, most specifically, African Americans' historical memory. In exploring the search term “chocolate” within The HistoryMakers Digital Archive both the sweetness and bitterness of chocolate are exhibited within HistoryMakers oral interviews.
HistoryMaker Dorothy Harrison, The HistoryMakers,
https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/571291
HistoryMaker Dorothy Harrison (1907-2010) who served as a board member of the Chicago Metropolitan YWCA and the National Council of Negro Women as well as a president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority recalls during her interview the sights and smell of her childhood, and in doing so, exclaims her lifelong love for chocolate, “They had stored chocolate drops, you know, you know, a large closet. And my brother and I went in there and ate those chocolate drops until our stomach hurt. I remember getting a stomach ache from eating those chocolate drops. You know, chocolate over this and white on the inside. They were delicious, I still remember that delicious taste and I love chocolate to the right--to this--to this day, I must have one little piece of chocolate each day somewhere.” Harrison’s love for chocolate as a child is echoed by HistoryMaker Andre J. Hornsby (1953-) an education chief executive, as his overwhelming enjoyment of chocolate milk caused him more than an upset stomach, “But I became anemic to chocolate milk, I loved chocolate milk, wouldn't drink white milk only chocolate milk.”
HistoryMaker Andre J. Hornsby, The HistoryMakers,
While chocolate’s delicious taste gave HistoryMakers joy and delight, the ability to commodify and sell it added to its sweetness for struggling Black families. HistoryMaker Reverend Addie Wyatt (1924-2012) the first female local union president of the United Packinghouse Food and Allied Workers supported her mother whom she loved dearly by frequently selling chocolate fudge, “I made some very good fudge. And I'd have coconut fudge, and I would have chocolate fudge and wrap them up in paper, you know, wax paper. And we would sell them two cents a square. And I would tell them I did very well. All of them I didn't eat, I'd sell it. And we were able to bring and give to our mother from the sale of our candy.”
HistoryMaker Reverend Addie Wyatt, The HistoryMakers,
Parallelling Reverend Wyatt, Frederick C. Ford (1926-) who was a real estate executive reflects on how during the 1930s Great Depression his brothers sold chocolate candy to earn income for the family, “So, in effect they bought the hard candy wholesale. I remember we were around the kitchen table, we would have a scoop and fill bags fairly well and we had boxes all the way down the hall for later delivery to the schools. At the same time, they had, they sold Christmas candy, chocolate candy and there they the manufacturer would do what they called a "sample box."
HistoryMaker Frederick C. Ford, The HistoryMakers,
According to HistoryMaker Christopher R. Reed (1942-), a History professor, “Africanisms” which are the unique linguistic and cultural elements of people within the African diaspora influence the naming of the Goobers chocolate candy, “Yeah, I was telling one of my colleagues that you can go to the dictionary, Random House, Webster, any big dic- and you look up the word goober, G-O-O-B-E-R. The origin is nguba from West Africa meaning peanut. And there are several words like that. The most noticeable will be goober because there's this product, you know, chocolate covered peanuts called Goobers.”As evidenced by Reed’s quote, in distinct ways beyond its sweet taste, chocolate connects African Americans back to their origins through something as simple as a Goobers bar.
Candy Concepts Inc.
HistoryMaker Christopher R. Reed, The HistoryMakers,
At the same time that chocolate is sweet within Black memory, it is also bitter. HistoryMaker Dr. Rachel Keith’s (1924-2007) experience of hot chocolate during the Great Depression is a harsh reminder of the period, “But I remember well the Great Depression. I remember standing in soup lines and bread lines with my father, and oftentimes I was hungry. I remember one time there was nothing in the house but oranges and hot chocolate. And I was so hungry that I just kept on eating and kept on eating, until I was literally sick. And to this day, I don't like hot chocolate. I'd just been conditioned to it. I keep thinking each time I see somebody with hot chocolate, I remember how hungry I was at that time. But we made out, we made out.”
HistoryMaker Dr. Rachel Keith, The HistoryMakers,
Similar to Dr. Keith, civil rights leader and U.S. congressman John Lewis’ (1940-2020) experience of hot chocolate protesting during the Civil Rights Movement is a painful memory, “ And we occupied every lunch counter, every restaurant at the variety stores like Woolworth, Kresge's, McClellan, Walgreen's drug store. And we were just sitting there in an orderly, peaceful nonviolent fashion. And then the sit-in just started spreading all across the South. Different cities. And then we would go and sit-in every single Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday. 'Cause the T days we considered like class days--and Saturday. And we would be sitting there in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion. No one saying a word doing our homework. And some one would come up and put a lighted cigarette out in our hair or down our backs, Poured hot water on us, hot coffee, hot chocolate, pull us off the lunch counter stool, spit on us, start beating us and we would sit there.”
Politico Magazine
HistoryMaker John Lewis, The HistoryMakers,
HistoryMaker Isaac Hayes, The HistoryMakers,
Additionally, film actor, musician, and singer Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) did not have a saccharine experience with chocolate during his youth, “And we had a fundraiser at the high school to raise money for band uniforms and stuff like that, so we--they gave us consignment. World's Finest Chocolate candy bars. The big long bars with almonds, you know. And I took forty on consignment. And, you know, you used to sell them and you'd turn the money in. Well, I was so hungry. I was sitting up there one night, box, took one bite. I said I'll just take it, but I'll pay it back. Well, one became two, and so forth. And in a two-week period, I ate forty candy bars. I lived on that. So it was time to come to turn the money in. "Well, I don't have the money. I ate the candy." The penalty was you don't get no diploma. Even though you graduate, you don't get that piece of paper, and they held it back.” Chocolate within the memory of these three HistoryMakers occupied a paradoxical space in which something seen as sweet and comforting instead became a reminder of childhood struggles, a denial of a high school diploma, and racial hate crimes.
In examining chocolate in The HistoryMakers Digital Archive we can see how chocolate in its many forms have manifested within and influenced Black life. The sweetness of chocolate is reflected fondly in childhood, whereas in adulthood its bitterness was a dark reminder of some HistoryMakers’ youth. Whether sweet or bitter, chocolate illuminates the nuances present within African American experiences and for some, such as civil rights leader James Breeden (1934-2020) marks their very first memory, “Well, this--the earliest one I can remember I think I could remember is when my mother was in the hospital for an operation around Eastertime. And I was given a chocolate rabbit for, you know, compensation for her being away from me at that time.”
HistoryMaker James Breeden, The HistoryMakers,
Sources:
Dorothy Harrison (The HistoryMakers A2007.015), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 18, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, Dorothy Harrison describes the sights and tastes of her childhood
Andre J. Hornsby (The HistoryMakers A2004.250), interviewed by Racine Tucker Hamilton, December 7, 2004, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 8, Andre J. Hornsby describes his earliest childhood memory
Reverend Addie Wyatt (The HistoryMakers A2002.096), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, June 1, 2002, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 2, As a child, Addie Wyatt contributes to her family's finances
Frederick C. Ford (The HistoryMakers A2003.028), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 31, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 8, Frederick C. Ford talks about his brothers selling candy
Christopher R. Reed (The HistoryMakers A2009.149), interviewed by Larry Crowe, December 17, 2009, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 4, story 6, Christopher R. Reed remembers St. Clair Drake and Lorenzo Turner
Dr. Rachel Keith (The HistoryMakers A2005.023), interviewed by Larry Crowe, January 21, 2005, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 4, Dr. Rachel Keith remembers the Great Depression
The Honorable John Lewis (The HistoryMakers A2001.039), interviewed by Julieanna L. Richardson, April 25, 2001, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 2, story 5, John Lewis describes Jim Lawson's efforts to end segregation with nonviolence
Isaac Hayes (The HistoryMakers A2003.142), interviewed by Larry Crowe, June 25, 2003, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 3, story 4, Isaac Hayes explains how candy bars prevented him from receiving his high school diploma
James Breeden (The HistoryMakers A2007.258), interviewed by Larry Crowe, September 12, 2007, The HistoryMakers Digital Archive. Session 1, tape 1, story 8, James Breeden describes his earliest childhood memory
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