On my Spotlight Amongst Black chefs

Thanks to BcaGlobal team and chef Alex Askew for having nominated me as the featured chef for this year's BCAGlobal Conference. It was an emotional day as it also happened to be the day Kenya gained it's independence from the British back in 1963. Equally important, it was my second daughter's 12th birthday. It was amazing to me to be speaking to long list of top African American chefs with all types of accomplishments. I am humbled by the work that many African Americans chefs have done in the past to make this possible for us to do what we do today. The work that many visionaries and forward thinking activists continue to can never be overstated. It was encouraging to see Akua Amefia, a Togolese woman food scientist amongst the presenting today. It's not fun always being one of a handful or even the only African in many such forums. I can go on and on but I will be brief today because a picture is worth a thousand words. Before speaking, a family member surprised me with a photo I had never seen It was a photo my oldest sister and myself at the age of 4. The photo was taken at my ancestral home. That is where the foundations of my interest in food can be traced. When my oldest sister was 4, they were living in a colonial concentration camp that had been created to deny the freedom fighters waging a war against the British from the nearby forest from access to food. Keeping all the villagers in a camp that was locked up at night meant limit control on their movements. During that same time, my father was in the British Gulag where hadcore men and women were detained for their involvement in the frredom struggle. I grew up serenaded by stories of revolutionary valor amongst our people. I hanged around some of these men. Unfortunately, their chilvary and code of honor restricted them from devulging the inner working of their organization. I still benefited tremendously from hanging around them and watching them navigate a new country whose nature they knew little about. Stories of battles fought and challanges were freely shared. They songs were invaluable part of those stories. Whenever I get any spotlight, I always start or end by acknowledging the many who have always taken a strong stand in the past. It's on their shoulders that I stand and on their principled stand that provide me with the courage to continue, even when doubt and doubting allies cast their dark shadow on this narrow path.

Chef Kabui

The Hex Kitchen is a collaboration between Chef Kabui and the Hex community in a bid to promote food literacy, mindful eating and wealth creation. There is a natural connection between those who are fighting against fiat currency and those engaged in the struggle against fiat food. The two social ills of fiat currency and fiat food are at the heart of the tyrannic global world system we are now living in. That tyranny is directly connected to the climate crisis we face and there is no way we can solve one part of the problem without being mindful of the whole system, For a start, the Hex Kitchen is keen on addressing the issues of real money and real food as a basis on regaining our sovereign power. It is no accident that the struggle for food justice would find allies in cryptography and more specifically cryptocurrency. It is not a usual collaboration but yet it is one that makes sense on many levels. Chef Kabui has been studying and applying the power of food literacy, mindful eating and food justice in the struggle against oppression in general and specifically to people of African descent.

Chef Kabui has studied the disciplines of politics, anthropology and culinary arts and has designed a cuisine or rather an approach to food that is informed by the above experience and the indigenous knowledge that he gained from his Kenyan family’s history as sustainable farmers for generations. The combined experience and education resulted in the creation of a cuisine called Afro Futuristic Conscious Cuisine. It is a combination of the most sustainable practices in the growing, preparation of food with the goal of causing the least damage to the environment and maximizing the health benefits of the food. Those two conditions are necessary for a mindful community that ensures that justice thrives.

Chef Kabui has been pushing organic food and healthy eating based on his research and his own experience. The idea of healthy food and justice is not something that chef Kabui got into but was born in it. His family operated a farm and his father ran a restaurant in the capital city of Nairobi. Kabui grew up in the village with his mother where they grew almost all the food they consumed. It was at his family farm that he Kabui developed a love for fresh food and the art of consuming food following the natural cycles of seasons.

The collaboration aims to share the skills for healthy food to the Hex community and beyond. No community can survive without food and the Hex community is no different. The Hex Kitchen is another assembly point for the community to be nourished both physically and socially. While wealth is private, food is social and having a kitchen for the community to assemble is a great option for a community that is causing ripples across the world.

What to Expect

The Kitchen will have virtual classes, content on Youtube and other social media presence for a start. The goal is that the Kitchen will have a physical place that will have a kitchen in a farm that will grown food and have space that guest can visit. The farm will have a demonstration farm for the vegetables, fruits and herbs,

For the schedule of upcoming classes please visit our events section and find a class that is fit for your schedule.