When Nicole Taylor was writing her first cookbook, publishers were expecting her to focus on soul food — because she’s Black. Like Freda DeKnight, the Ebony food editor we heard about last week, Nicole knew that Black American food was much more than that. Now, several years later, Nicole has released Watermelon and Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations. “Black Americans need this Juneteenth cookbook because we need a slice of joy,” says Nicole. She talks with Dan about her journey from her first book to now, why she wanted to reclaim watermelon from racist tropes, and the importance of writing about celebration in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. This is part two of our series “By Us For Everyone,” a look at how Black American food is represented in media, past and present, and how those portrayals change when Black people are in charge of them. 

Listen to part one of “By Us For Everyone” in your podcast feed. It’s called “The Table Freda Built.”

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with editing help this week from Oluwakemi Aladesuyi, Hali Bey Ramdene, and Alexis Williams.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.