Good Food is taking the day to reflect on the word “independence.” In a 1979 commencement speech at Barnard University, Toni Morrison spoke to the graduating class of women about freedom and power. “You are moving in the direction of freedom. The function of freedom is to free someone else,'' she told them. Fannie Lou Hamer and Audre Lorde famously made this same point: “I am not free until you are free.”

Food is a lens. This week Good Food looks through that lens and poses the question, “Who is free?” To write their own story. To record their own recipes. To dine where they want to. To own land. To be crowned the best restaurant in America.