02/16/2024
#3 Soulful Expressions features our wonderful summer neighbor and global renowned scholar.. Dr. Jessica Harris ❤️
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Soulful Expressions Portrait # 3 - Dr. Jessica B. Harris an icon of American culinary scholarship and lifelong Oak Bluffs summer resident. Author of 20+ books, including 12 cookbooks, a memoir and her book turned into Netflix series “High on the Hog.”
Jessica has spent summers in Martha’s Vineyard from childhood brought by her parents who sought a loving and welcoming place for their family vacations. She faithfully and happily returns to the Victorian cottage her parents purchased in Oak Bluffs when she was just 8 years old.
She is a professor emerita at City University of New York earning her PhD from NYU. She was named Time Magazine “Most Influential People” and won the coveted James Beard Lifetime Achievement award. Her work provides profound understanding of the intersection of food, history, and identity. She transports us on a culinary odyssey, celebrating the vibrant flavors and enduring traditions of the African Diaspora.
On a summer evening walking through Oak Bluffs (if you are lucky) you may hear her laughter and lively conversations drifting through the neighborhood often fueled by her rich stories and “real talk” wisdom that is as effervescent and potent as the flowing sparkling rose on her porch.
A sage elder, a global trailblazer, a world renowned scholar, a cultural historian, a treasured neighbor, and a dear friend.
She has shown us that our most treasured inheritance is our connection to the shared heritage found on the plates and tables right in front of us.
The lens of captures her warmth, her wit, her generosity and her determination.
In honoring Dr. Jessica B. Harris, we pay homage to a luminary whose soulful expressions illuminate the path towards a more inclusive and flavorful world.
Soulful Expressions, “Embodied Flavors” Portrait 3 of 20. Taken on location: Jubilee MV, Juneteenth Weekend 2023. Photographer: Lynsey Weatherspoon, Juneteenth Artist in Residence.
