Taste of Sierra Leone
Our sense of time depends on where we grew up, our family, culture and circumstances. When I was invited to a graduation party for my African niece, held today in a park, I knew better than to be there at the starting time of 2pm. I arrived at the park around 3:45pm and was still the first one there. About when I started to wonder if I was in the right place I saw a car pull up. The four-year-old son of my African niece got out of the car and ran at me calling “Uncle Bob!” and jumped into my arms. His “cousin” followed and also jumped into my arms.
Soon the family and friends started to arrive with smiles and children. Most of the African Americans were first or second generation from Sierra Leone and consider themselves related. My African niece calls me Uncle Bob and her four year old child also knows me as Uncle Bob.
At an African-American celebration like today everyone brings food and drink and everyone takes home food and drink. Most of the foods are ethnic dishes from the culture of Sierra Leone but the drinks, like Guinness beer, are usually items brought into their culture or from the American culture.
Eating is the central event of the celebration. There is an ethnic dish for everyone’s taste. Before the meal there were two prayers, one an Islamic prayer in the language of the Koran and one by a Christian minister in English. Like the sense of time and the sense that everyone is related, it does not matter what one’s religion is. The important thing is not the individual but the group, family or tribe.
If you want to be at place where everyone is related, where the food is great and where diversity is unifying, attend a Sierra Leone celebration in the city of festivals, Milwaukee.
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