Originally started as a multicultural lunch held only for members of MLK club, Soul Food Fest has evolved into a MFS tradition meant to bring people together. This year’s Soul Food Fest is on Friday, December 15. But have you ever wondered how Soul Food Fest became a tradition at MFS and when it originally started? WordsWorth managed to talk to Ms.Corsey, who originally ran Soul Food Fest but is now a middle school advisor, and Moises Cosme, the president of MLK Club.
Soul Food Fest, a tradition we love here at MFS. Soul Food Fest is held the Friday before winter break every year. It is a great way to enjoy the day before break and is also a great way to bring people together over a common thing. But what we at WordsWorth really wanted to know was the reason that we celebrate Soul Food Fest today and how it became one of MFS beloved traditions. To get the basic information we needed we talked to Ms.Tina Corsey who was the former advisee for MLK club. We asked her to tell us the story of Soul Food Fest and how it originally started.
“Soul Food Fest started off as a multicultural lunch that the members of MLK club put together. They would bring in different dishes and enjoy with each other. Eventually it turned into a celebrated upper school event called the Soul Food Fest. People would bring things in that they feel comfortable making, and it brought different cultures and people together. It also allowed people to come together over something as common and needed as food.”
“It’s an important event because people should be able to come together, and what better way to do that than with food? When you bring in food for the event, it’s like you’re bringing pieces of you and your culture along with it. In the beginning people would say “I don’t know how to cook soul food,” but soul food is not a specific food, but is rather the representation of who you are. Even if it’s not about a person’s specific culture, it’s about opening up to the African American culture. It does bring in other cultures and bring people closer together around something as simple as food.
A huge portion of upper school comes to the event. It brings people together in this space to celebrate this event. Across lines you have to have all students coming in and enjoying food, talking to one another. Teachers come, and alumni come back for the event. So it brings all these pieces together; staff also comes to the event too!”
We then talked to the President of MLK club to ask his opinion about Soul Food Fest.
“This is an exciting Soul Food Fest because it’s our 20th anniversary!!! We have new shirts, wristbands, geofilters, and so much more! Also MLK club has gained a tremendous following, diverse in grade level, which has only helped increase the success of Soul Food Fest thus far. Essentially, Soul Food Fest brings the members of our community together through the one thing this community enjoys the most: food! It’s a beautiful thing to see everyone in the D’Olier Room gathered with their plates full of delicious foods. And what warms my heart the most is the thought that the plate can have an infinite variation of foods from different cultures. Every food has a background, a story told by the student or faculty member who brought it in. All of these diverse stories coexisting in one place, create the vision of so many of us have for this community. That is why Soul Food Fest is so important to us.”
Overall we can say that this years Soul Food Fest will be one to remember. Make sure to come and enjoy the amazing foods from different cultures before the holiday. It’s a great way to start off the holidays and a great way to end the year.
