The Okra Festival in Burkville, Alabama was one of the first things I came upon when starting to do research on okra and the South and I knew that I had to go if I was going to really find out what okra was all about. I talked up going to this festival for several months before, and, of course, everyone was willing to go at that point. When it came time to actually drive the two hours to Lowndes County, just west of Montgomery, only one of my friends agreed. So we hopped in the car around 11:00 AM Saturday morning and headed south on I-65, not knowing exactly what we were getting ourselves into.
The only information I had regarding the Okra Festival came from the website, which does not offer much, but it was enough to know that it would be entertaining – original art, incredible food, and live blues and gospel. The Burkville Okra Festival started in 2000 as a celebration of the rural Black community. The okra plant is the perfect mascot for this type of “big family party”. The okra plant was introduced to the Americas via slaves and was incorporated into Southern cuisine by African American cooks. Beyond that, okra, with its slimy mucilage, is often used as a thickening and binding agent in many recipes – gumbo is the perfect example. So why not use the okra plant to symbolize an event that brings the Black community together, enriching it, and making it stronger? In an interview with one of the festival organizers, when she was asked “Why okra?”, she matter-of-factly replied that it was the only vegetable that could survive the hot Alabama Black Belt summers, everything else withered up and died. That’s a good reason, too, I guess.
As I turned off of Frederick Douglass Road onto Harriet Tubman Drive, I saw the Okra Festival, stretched across three people’s front yards on either sides of the road. We parked in dirt lot and headed towards the smell of delicious fried foods and the sound of blues, quickly working up a nice sweat. Neither of us had eaten lunch yet, so we immediately began to check out our options. My friend decided on a cup of gumbo, while I went for the fried catfish plate – $7.00 for a whole fried catfish (“I want to know what pond these catfish came out of!” the woman serving my exclaimed as she made my plate), fried okra (different from the breaded fried okra, this was simply cut, tossed in spices, and thrown in a big pot of oil until crispy perfection), okra casserole (tomatoes, okra, cheese, and some spices), collard greens, cornbread, AND pound cake.
After we satisfied our stomachs, we walked around looking at all of the various vendors’ items. The majority of the vendors were selling fresh fruits and vegetables, but there were several tables with homemade quilts and other crafts. The festival was centered around Annie Mae’s Place, a small community arts organization. Inside was filled with local folk art and posters by poster artist Amos Paul Kennedy. When I saw the posters, I knew I had to buy one. One exclaimed, “OKRA LOVERS UNITE!!” but the one I bought simply said “THE PEOPLE’S VEGETABLE.”
After some more moseying around, listening to the band play – from the front porch of someone’s house no less – Lionel Richie’s “Easy Like Sunday Morning” several times over, talking with some local vendors, and trying a bit more food, we decided to call it a day and head back to Birmingham. Just from spending a few hours in Burkville, it was clear how important that this festival was for their community. In its 11 years, the festival has given the community something to rally behind. I will quote form the festival’s website to illustrate:
“Because the Okra Festival crosses racial and class lines, it has an impact on the whole community. Not only do people participate as vendors and participants, it gives us a chance in Lowndes County to brag about our community. For instance, "Black" Burkville was a little known neighborhood; indeed Alabama lists Burkville as being close to the Alabama River. Now we have a road sign, and many more people are aware of Lowndes County, its history and its talents because of the Okra Festival. This has made our County Commission pave our roads (4 roads have been paved in the Burkville community since the inception of the Festival; more than any other area in Lowndes County), and has made residents much more prideful of the look of their community. Everybody spruces up before the Okra Festival!”
This Okra Festival was a perfect illustration of how important the okra plant has become in the relatively short period of a few hundred years in the American South. But just how and why did it become like this? I now need to find that answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment