Author: Sylvia Wong Lewis

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Posted on by Sylvia Wong Lewis
Coming to the Table-NYC group meeting at my home in Lower Manhattan, dining on Soul-Caribbean food.
Coming to the Table-NYC group meeting at my home in Lower Manhattan, dining on Soul-Caribbean food.

That old Christmas carol always spoke to me, especially the Whitney Houston version. It could be that the world is going to hell. But maybe we will all be redeemed. I sure hope so. I participated in a silent vigil with Quaker Friends at the recent Millions March NYC. While I don’t have exact numbers, I know I saw a lot of old-school folks from many different ethnic backgrounds participating in the march too. I was there for a little while and walked with the crowd for few blocks. I am a seasoned New Yorker accustomed to walking many long city blocks. But big crowds overwhelm me. So, I did not stay long. Personally, I let the youngsters do the lying in the streets and all-night demonstrations.

We were mobilized to protest racist police brutality and unjust Grand Jury practices. Like many of you, I have been trying to exhale for months. The racial divide that we thought was closing was shown to be a widening gap. Yet, we see good will emerging everywhere. I really do hope many more of us will pray and work actively toward racial healing and reconciliation in our nation and the world. Can we really afford to stand idly by?

As co-leader for Coming to the Table – NYC (CTTT), I would like to invite you to learn more about our group. We focus on healing dialogue and ‘deep listening’ sessions. We “provide leadership, resources and a supportive environment for all who wish to acknowledge and heal wounds from racism that is rooted in the United States’ history of slavery,” as stated on the website.

We discuss racism in relation to topics such as power, privilege, institutional power, prejudice, stereotype, oppression, racism and how to be an ally. We attend films, museum exhibits, theater performances and university lectures. Sometimes we gather at each others homes, local libraries and cafes. We eat, talk, and listen. CTTT is a different kind of meet-up. It is deep, intense and fun engagement. We are all volunteers.

I became involved with CTTT while researching my ancestor’s lynching in Mississippi. I always knew about this family secret but never learned any specifics. Finally, I read the horrific details published in archival newspaper articles. I needed to talk to someone. Reading about my uncle’s lynching traumatized me although I did not know him. A cousin introduced me to CTTT a few years ago. Since then, I have felt so grateful for new friendships and expanded American history knowledge. I was paired with a Southern white woman who discovered that her ancestor, a revered judge-minister, had lynched and caused the death of several formerly enslaved persons. Through our new friendship I learned that we both were wounded by slavery. Together, we are on a healing journey. We are both active in our respective communities to help heal our nation’s racial wounds. We believe in action and the power of dialogue, listening and eating together. Check CTTT’s Face book page by clicking here.

As I close out this year, I am reminded of many blessings including feeling thankful for freedom. For the New Year, I wish everyone a joyous year full of tenderness, mercy, justice and most of all, peace.

My Year-End Reflections

Posted on by Sylvia Wong Lewis

 

My year-end reflections are all about thankfulness. I felt my light rekindled by sparks from so many people known and unknown to me. That is why I must express my gratitude to everyone for a wonderful year.

Here are two quotes about gratitude that I believe:

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” – Dr. Maya Angelou, from Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer

“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you value or appreciate into your life.” – Dr. Christiane Northrup, women’s health expert

I chose eight reflections on thankfulness in honor of my maternal Chinese grandmother, Violet Chan Keong. Eight is considered a lucky number. Eight is pronounced as ‘Ba,’ in Chinese and sounds like the word ‘Fa,’ which means to make a fortune. Included in the definition is abundance, prosperity, success and high status. Since Grandma Vi really loved this number, I continue her legacy by doing things in series of eights too!

1. Abundance. I am grateful for abundance in many areas of my life especially for my loving husband, dear family and friends. Some years ago, I lost everything. To start over, I uncluttered my life. I let go of all negative thoughts, people and broken things. I focused on gratitude, self-love, and hard work. Slowly, I found peace and a sense of gratitude about simple things like air and water. Prosperity began to return to my life. It was not easy. I rarely slept. I worked and studied day and night for many years. I never took vacations during those times. Today, I feel grateful for the light, strength and courage to have reinvented my life several times by now. And, I give daily thanks for basics like health, shelter, clean water, air, food and freedom.

2. Civil Rights Movement. I am thankful for growing up during the Civil Rights era. The timing of my birth, at the end of Jim Crow racial segregation laws and colonialism, allowed me to witness astonishing change in my family and the world. Affirmative Action laws opened doors for me. “Put on your rhino skin and be grateful you woke up this morning,” my aunt often advised me. As a child of activist parents, I did not realize that I was learning how to be a leader. I participated in boycotts and lead protest marches. I organized strategy and held fundraisers. We survived terrorism, exploitation, racism, sexism, degradation, and marginalization. I may be thankful, but I am not satisfied with today’s unfair world. There’s still so much to do.

3. Family. I am grateful for growing up with two caring parents and an extended family and community. I wish more youth grew up like me. I had responsibilities and great expectations placed upon me. Family dinners, meals at neighbor’s homes and everyone’s stories fueled my life and career. I am grateful for the memories of all elders –Jewish, Chinese, Africans etc.—as they passed down their culture, history, language, music, dance, arts and religion. Through family stories from Africa, South American, China, Caribbean, Europe, Louisiana and Mississippi, I inherited an open mind, valuable advice, and a thirst for knowledge.

4. Food. I am thankful for my family’s food legacy. Everything I learned about life was learned at my family’s kitchen table. As a child of Southern migrants and Caribbean immigrants, conversations naturally turned around on poignant observations about American life as well as knowledge about the production and consumption of food from the South, Caribbean islands and beyond. My parents kept a garden and a large pot of beans and rice and some baked treats ready for visitors. It was considered good luck to save the last drop for unexpected guests! We never knew who was coming although we had some regulars. But if a spoon dropped, it meant that a woman and child were coming; if a fork dropped, our surprise guest would be male. These superstitions and spirit stories over meals with friends and strangers were part of a daily routine.

5. Creativity. I am thankful for my left-handedness that developed creative abilities like playing musical instruments, writing, and ‘thinking outside of the box.’ You really do need creativity to re-imagine and re-invent yourself. Thinking the unthinkable to transform your business or life is hailed today as ‘disruption’ or creative business strategy. Our ancestors who made a way out of no way were creative. Creative people possess improvisational, ingenious, and adaptability skills. How many of our mothers ‘improvised’ in the kitchen to create feasts out of leftovers?

6. Soul. I am grateful for my soul. I am thankful for soul as it relates to music and Black people as well as it relates to our spirit. In order to create and improvise anything you need to be in touch with your soul. You must look deep, beyond your physical self to find your soul, heart, faith and perhaps religion. Although I am not a church member, I am very spiritual and find myself at altars often in churches and temples. I am thankful for my family exposing me to many faiths. I grew up as a Buddhist, Catholic, Candomblé, Pentecostal/Holiness, Baptist, and Methodist in a Jewish-Hasidic neighborhood in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I was born in Harlem.

7. Gardens. I am thankful for the herb garden on my kitchen counter, a sleeping winter garden on my roof, and gardens everywhere. I love gardens for flowers, bees, butterflies, flavor, fragrance, spices, seasons, nourishment, empowerment, and beauty. Mostly, I am thankful for everyday life lessons to be learned from gardens.

8. You, the reader, current and future clients. I am thankful that you paused here to read and look at my pages. I started the year of 2014 with plans to simply collaborate and post more. I am proud that we produced stunning results and received global recognition for our projects in NYC, Brooklyn, Ohio, the UK and Japan. Because of you I have work and purpose. I hope you continue to find joy and reasons to stop by. Happy Holidays!

Chinese Diasporas

Posted on by Sylvia Wong Lewis
Guest lecture via Skype @ Binghamton University
Guest lecture via Skype @ Binghamton University

I was a Guest Lecturer at Binghamton University (SUNY) recently, where I presented to a History and English departments multidisciplinary course called “Chinese in the Americas.” Professor Lisa Yun, a noted historian and author of the landmark book “The Coolie Speaks-Chinese Indentured Laborers and African Slaves in Cuba,” presided. My film “From Shanghai to Harlem,” (on Youtube) was shown as a vehicle to drive discussion about lost history about the Chinese in the Caribbean.

My mother’s (Trinidad and Guyana) Chinese-Caribbean “coolie” ancestors are featured in my film. Some of them were ‘Shanghaied’ to the Caribbean from Hong Kong by the British government shortly after the African Slave Trade was abolished. But we all know by now that slavery was not truly abolished. Slavery continued to be practiced using Chinese and Indian workers in place of the African enslaved people. The mostly Asian students in the Binghamton University class were surprised by these family stories. The students were also interested in my African-American paternal family’s escape from Mississippi after a lynching and eventual arrival in Harlem as part of the Great Black Migration.

Professor Yun’s students asked some amazing questions that ran the gamut — from queries about light-skinned-white privilege; daily life of a mixed-raced person; the value and power of women’s oral histories; to comparisons between Chinese indentured “coolie” workers and African enslaved people. One student wanted to know why I didn’t keep my family story a secret! And yes, some of my relatives are angry that I discuss these stories in public!

I was filled with gratitude to be able to meet Professor Yun and her young inquisitive students who were open to learning and greatly contributed to an important discussion. It is dialogues like these that inspire me and so many others like me to keep digging for more true American-Diaspora stories! We hope to follow-up the class with an outing to a New York Chinese-Caribbean restaurant and a museum exhibit.

To book me and my film for future university guest lectures, send email to Hello@YoNarrative.com or call 646-530-1056.

 

 

 

Mixed-up Ethnic Thanksgiving

Posted on by Sylvia Wong Lewis

Thanksgiving may be a uniquely American holiday but the people in my world love to mix up the holiday menu. I know a lot about mixed-up ethnic holiday fare coming from a Southern, African-American, Native-Creole-Chinese-Caribbean family. We always include items and ingredients to honor the legacy of the colorful people coming to dinner. Ours is a true melting pot!

I was trained by my elders to cook using a variety of traditional methods. Some examples are ‘add a handful of this and a pinch of that’ and the ‘by eye and nose or pay constant attention to what you doing’ methods. Years ago, I published “Cooking Your Way – MTA Employee Cookbook,” a sold-out, edition of over 800 recipes from New York City’s most diverse workforce in the nation. And, I am still searching for ways to mix it up in the kitchen.

My holiday menu for this year is still in the works. I will find inspiration from farmer’s markets, friends, relatives, memories and dreams.

My Persian friends turned me on to their version of Thanksgiving: “Mehregan, a Persian version of Thanksgiving, is an ancient Iranian holiday that celebrates the fall season and harvest. In New York City, Cafe Nadery in Greenwich Village kicked off its first Mehregan celebration recently with a literary and culinary arts festival. Highlights included storytelling, a pomegranate-peeling contest, readings, music and delicious food. The themes were memory and food.” Click here for the full story.

My Native American, Creek-Cherokee friend shared her Thanksgiving: “Since Thanksgiving has such a complicated history for my people, I think it was especially important for my family to integrate our traditions into this holiday,” she said. “We do that in several ways. We pray in our own Native languages at the table and also host a Stomp Dance the night before.” Click here for the full story.

How do you mix it up for Thanksgiving?

Lessons from the Garden

Posted on by Sylvia Wong Lewis

Lessons from the Garden will feature women storytellers and organic food at a Pre-Thanksgiving conference, set for Saturday, November 15, from 8am-4pm, at The Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith, 1200 Brentnell Avenue, Columbus, Ohio.

This mind, body, and soul event will offer intellectual, spiritual and physical nourishment, including a walking tour of a new urban garden and mini-farm that was launched during the Spring of 2014. The program will feature deliciously cooked, homegrown food and speakers who will cover topics such as storytelling, food, health, family and social media.

The presenters are: Paula Penn-Nabrit, Bio-Diversity: Great for the Garden and for Life, Barbara Nabrit Stephen, Seed Starting: The Essential Nature of Nursing, Organic Feeding & Good Nutrition, Sylvia Wong Lewis, We are Heirloom Seeds: Know Your Family’s Story, and Patricia Patton, Spreading Your Seeds: Learn to Master Social Media with Responsibility and Profitability.

“Hello Ohio! You are invited to celebrate Columbus’ newest urban garden at ’60 Lessons from the Garden.’ This event is our way to say ‘Thank you’ to the great people of Ohio and beyond who helped us to build the Charles Madison Nabrit Memorial Garden,” said Paula Penn-Nabrit, CEO, Telos Training, Inc., the non-profit organization presenting the event.

“Gardens have Biblical themes and metaphors in life. From the beginning (Genesis), God planted the Garden of Eden and Revelations mentions gardens, gardeners and growing plants. In life we speak of seasons, soil, seeds, roots, visions, platforms, growth, sustainability, and interdependence,” said Penn-Nabrit, founder of the garden named for her late husband.

“We are pulling all of these topics together and serving home-cooked food too! This event is for all women. We are following-up our “Power of Women – Day of Discussion” event held in 2010 that attracted over 100 women from many generations–Milennials to the Elders and diverse religious or ethnic backgrounds. This is also a birthday party to help me celebrate 60 years on the planet,” Penn-Nabrit added.

Cost is $60. To RSVP, call 614-835-6784. Free parking is provided. Visit www.telosinc.org, or send an email to: info@telosinc.org.