Building a Carolina Coop at the Mendocino County Jail
Unconditional Freedom recently collaborated with Carolina Coops, a North Carolina-based company that donated materials and came to teach the incarcerated men’s and women’s garden crews how to construct a chicken coop.
Linda and Joy
Linda and Joy come every week to Free Food Harlem, usually midway through dinner service. A mother and her adult daughter. I say hello, ask them about how their week has been, sit and talk for a bit. Joy’s face always lights up, her name perfectly describing the emotion she evokes in others. Linda’s eyes […]
A Correctional Officer’s Journey Inwards
Often we are too caught up with what’s going on around us to realize what’s going on within us. In addressing what is happening within us, we will better realize what we need to do for ourselves and for those incarcerated under our care and custody.
No Apple Left Behind
We had lived on a 162 acre property for a few years before we noticed the apples. I know, it seems odd that you might not see 80+ fruit trees in the garden, so somewhere in the back of our consciousness we must have known they were there, but no one remembered seeing them previous […]
Two Hungry Women
Last night at Free Food Harlem, when the initial crowd died down and service was slow, I took a break from serving and stopped to eat the meal we had cooked. One thing I love about our meals is that I always want to eat the food. When I’ve volunteered at soup kitchens or other […]
Love in Burrito Form
When my friend Rachael told me we were serving breakfast burritos in Harlem, I couldn’t quite make the connection. Love to Table was all about farm to table food, a restaurant experience, serving love and dignity….and burritos? I prided myself on how we used the seasonal vegetables grown in our farm for our meals, how […]
Healing the Soil
Ecologist and filmmaker John D. Liu, renowned for his work to regenerate large-scale, degraded ecosystems, shares four tips for how anyone can help to heal our planet. 1. Broadcast native plant/seed flowers using DIY seed bombs. They’re all the craze, just look up online how to make your own. Go out and find an empty lot […]
On Being a Letter Writing Volunteer
I think the problem with our society is that people choose to live in the illusory world of the mind when the mind cannot be trusted to bring you peace and love, unless those experiences are cultivated daily. It’s like a discipline.
Segregated Minds
In my mind I had quickly slipped into the “Because I’m black trance.” We thanked her and carried on to find food elsewhere. This was a test of my practice, of not assuming I’m being oppressed. Not assuming I’m being discriminated against because I’m black.
Trifle
Trifle has cake and jam, whipped cream, pudding and fruit. It is made like lasagna, in layers. Trifle is festive. You make it in a big bowl and dive in with a big spoon to serve it. It is sensual, decadent, the way a party dessert should be.
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