BAR

A few weeks ago, three chefs from Washington D.C. posted this on Instagram:

“Bakers Against Racism is a call to action: to fight and stand up against the unjust treatment of BLACK people in the United States. We are armed to fight racism with the tools we know how to utilize, our FOOD.”  The premise was straightforward: a virtual bake sale to sell treats and donate the proceeds to a charity that supports Black lives. I bet they didn’t realize at the time that this would turn into a global event raising over $1.3 million for numerous charities around the world.

So Many Cookies

I’m so thankful that I got to be a part of it, and grateful to my family, friends and co-workers (both old and new!) whose response was so swift and generous that I had to cut off orders after I reached 30 dozen cookies. We ended up donating $1,300 to the Black Legal Action Centre, an organization in Toronto that provides free legal services to low and no income Black Ontarians.

It felt productive to be able to take some action, even just in my kitchen, beyond making donations, reading articles, watching documentaries and educating myself about the rampant anti-Black racism not only in the US, but here in Canada, and in the community I live. I fully recognize the privilege I have in being able to learn about racism instead of experiencing it, and have been thinking a lot about that, as well as the role police play in our communities, my own unconscious biases and why it took me until now to get involved. I know I have so much more work to do.

Cookie Pack

One more note: it’s been very eye-opening to see how the food bloggers I follow have reacted to George Floyd’s killing and the Black Lives Matter movement. Some ignored it completely [Update: she finally addressed it in July], and others felt the need to go out of their way to explain why they wouldn’t address it. Needless to say I won’t be reading those sites anymore. Not surprisingly, Deb and Joy (who has been drawing attention to Black issues for years in her Let it be Sunday posts) led the way with supportive and educational posts. Deb also published a list of Black cookbooks and memoirs here.

Finally, Here are the recipes I used, with a few notes to self, in case I do this again. All the recipes are from Sally’s Baking Addiction, another blogger who has been vocal in her support of BLM: