📚 **Celebrating 9 Years of *The President’s Kitchen
Nine years ago today, the University of North Carolina Press published my second book, The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families from the Washingtons to the Obamas. It was a finalist for both the 2018 NAACP Image Award for Best Literary Nonfiction Book and the Colorado Book Award for History.
I’m honored to create the first collective biography of African Americans who labored, often invisibly, in presidential food service. Their culinary skill, professionalism, and resilience shaped not only the White House but American food culture more broadly.
My book’s message feels particularly relevant right now.
At the President’s House in Philadelphia, the recent removal of a slavery exhibit has reignited public dialogue about historical memory, public interpretation, and institutional responsibility. The exhibit recognized the nine enslaved Africans, including Chef Hercules and his son Richmond who ran the kitchen on that site. Their stories are essential to understanding the early presidency.
Fortunately, a federal judge has temporarily enjoined the Trump Administration from erasing this Black history.
Moments like this underscore why scholarship, storytelling, and public history matter. Leadership is not only about shaping the future; it is also about how honestly we engage with the past.
Get your own copy here. If the shipping function doesn’t work, please contact me.
Hungry for more presidential history? Get my co-authored on Asian Heritage presidential chefs here OR bundle both books!
#Leadership #PublicHistory #BlackHistory #FoodHistory #InclusiveNarratives #ThePresidentsKitchenCabinet