Origins of the Black Cookout

Spring 2022

The cookout has always been an event that allows Black people to celebrate culture, fellowship with new and old faces, sing, dance, play games and generally preserve the legacy of ancestors. The practice also has had lasting economic impact for entrepreneurs in the Black community. One notable fact is that the root of the cookout—the barbecuing itself—largely came Native American community’s practices of pit cooking, and in some part through the complex relationship between African Americans and Native Americans.  This class offered within the American and Indigenous Studies Program centers around Adrian Miller’s book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue to explore the main elements that have aided in shaping this pivotal form of placemaking among Black people.

Cooking and Eating as a Collective—the theme of the first of three projects—asked students to bring in a recipe that they hold dear to them. We utilized the kitchen at Alexander Gilson Place, a space for cultural exchange for students of color at Bard, to cook and fellowship as a community, teaching each other about the ingredients and importance of the dishes prepared through conversation and storytelling. As a culmination, students will create a class book of placemaking recipes to share with one another.

Joshua Livingston earned his PhD in social welfare from the City of New York Graduate Center and holds an MSW and a certificate in human services management from Boston University. Using his experiences as a Licensed Master Barber as a model, Professor Livingston focuses on how social innovation and “place-making” can be utilized by young people of color to challenge institutional environments through the use of community forms that hold cultural significance. His dissertation, “Place-Making by Black and Latinx Students in Predominantly White Institutions: Participatory Design and Meaning through a Social Enterprise,” addressed the problem of Black and Latinx retention in post-secondary institutions, particularly in predominantly white institutions. Despite efforts to welcome and support male students of color, he argues, the structures used are created through dominant cultural norms. The thesis outlines an innovative, solution-based retention effort based on the barbershop model. He conducted research for this work at Bard College, utilizing journals written by barbershop participants on their use of the space and the meaning of it to them. Dr. Livingston previously taught at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.

BS, University of Missouri­–Columbia; MSW, Certificate in Human Services Management, Boston University; PhD, The Graduate Center, City University of New York. At Bard since 2019.