We already have everything we need... AND MORE!

We have to lift up the builders who envision a better world

I started writing these notes on the plane early Saturday morning… after last week I was truly feeling beat down and haggard. But I boarded my flight to Raleigh, North Carolina with this feeling of hope. There are very few spaces these days that call to your spirit and IG doesn’t always match up with reality, but from what I’ve read (Vogue and The Washington Post) - I could tell that everyone who experiences Revival Suppers really left feeling something. I’d been following Gabrielle for a couple years - ever since I was introduced to her story from Netflix’s High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

A screen grab of Gabrielle Etienne in Season 1, Episode 2

Beyond the excitement that comes from meeting someone you admire, I was looking forward to coming into a space with my people, a place where I could feel restored. As she so beautifully puts in on her site, her team is cultivating sacred space to connect, nourish and remember.

I’ve been following her Substack for months waiting for her to drop the date and as an experienced Beyonce concert goer, I was #2 in the online ticket queue. I wasn’t playing around LOL… what’s crazy though, is that I nearly missed my flight by literally going to the wrong airport. Luckily JFK and Laguardia are only 15 minutes from each other.

You know what they say… what’s meant for you can never miss you. 🙏🏽 ✨

And that was true of this experience for Gabrielle too. It’s almost like something out of a movie. During her annual signature event - the Autumn Equinox dinner- a hurricane also named Gabrielle touches down. The owners of land where she originally wanted to host changed their minds (who knows why that was) but they had to change locations last minute and in the most special way, her sweet aunt and uncle said “Come on over here. We’ve got you and we’ve got neighbors who if we need to, we’ll ask them to use their barn.” Her uncle pulled out his mower and cleared a place to set the tables and would you believe it? With the hurricane rains coming down throughout the week, a rainbow appeared over that very spot.

That rainbow told her it was gonna be okay and it was more than ok. We gathered in the very space the rainbow had blessed and as night fell we were covered by a canopy of stars… All of us sharing laughs and special connections with strangers who came for the same reason- to feel connected and fortified and importantly to honor Gabrielle’s vision. The conversations, the love, the warmth - it was all there.

And it was even more powerful because it was across generations - she had us on family land that belonged to her great grandmothers. We sat between pecan trees for a special meal with elders and inspiring members of our generation partnering to keep traditions alive. One of the most impactful conversations I had was with Farmer Bernard, co-founder of Nebedaye Farms. He’s Gullah Geechee but originally has Haitian roots and talked about his family’s non-traditional path to the U.S. after the revolution.

Remember that Ancestral Skills Workshop I attended earlier this year? He’s working on starting something similar. When we asked about what he wanted to teach he rattled off many things - textiles dying, canning, agricultural skills - I chimed in and said all the things that sustained us. And he replied “Exactly. We have everything we need.” and someone chimed in “and more.” And we all said it together AND MORE.

Before the age of convenience and 2 day shipping… before we had a closet full of shoes for every occasion or the ease of door dash delivery - we had what we needed because we had each other. And each of us knew how to make something out of nothing.

How to turn indigo into beautiful denim suits… how to turn fresh peaches into preserves for a cold winter that would last long after the harvest season. If we slow down enough to realize it, if we just look to our left and our right… we have each other and that’s a hell of A LOT.

As I continue to shape the vision I have for what we’re building in Jamaica. I get so much energy from these experiences. I know in my body what I want to do and it’s sometimes hard to put into words. But sitting around the fire having this conversation is exactly what I mean. I want to build a space that gives that to people. One that embraces you and tells you to put your burdens down. Reminds you who you are, what you’re made of and fortifies you before sending you back out into the world.

I want to build a space of respite, something like church. It’s an altar to the ancestors that calls in their souls… their wisdom, love, and strength so you can fill your cup. It’s a reminder that we’re all part of something bigger and a home you can always return to. These experiences like the Autumn Equinox supper inspire me when I feel afraid. Not just the beauty of the evening, but also knowing all of the problems she had to solve and the obstacles her team had to overcome to bring that to life.

Gabrielle said she’s world building and she’s operating from a place of so much love and intention… she’s drawing inspiration from our collective stories, her family folklore, and the truths that so much of our nation refuses to see.

She builds her world - one that honors all of those things and solidifies who we are and whose we are. Our lives are our own and we have the power to paint the picture that feels most true to us. Experiencing the beauty of someone else’s dream made manifest keeps me encouraged to keep pursuing my own.