Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day: A Day of Service and an Evening At Uncle Bobbie's Coffee & Books

This lovely meal gifted to me once we discovered all the vegan pizza was eaten (only meat/cheese pizzas and leafy salad were left). I thought the gesture of this Awesome Foods Chickpea Salad with Kaiser Roll too kind an offering, especially since the giver was another vegan. I would have gladly ventured out to Tattooed Mom's or Hip City Veg after volunteering today, but someone said, "stay, have this meal, and eat with us."

Today was another wonderful tribute to the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

For Day of Service, on what would have been the slain leader's 89th birthday, I headed to Uhuru Furniture to hear about their visions and bask in the glowing "uhuru" spirit (Swahili for freedom, independence). They shared videos about the civil rights movement, featured spoken word poetry, a remarkable keynote by Ticharwa Masimba from ADEDF St. Louis on the Black Power Blueprint Project, allowed volunteers to discuss why they came out via an open mic segment, and took a group photo of us outside. We then broke down into various groups (some walking others driving), each participant carrying 200 door fliers to hang in various neighborhoods to let people know about Uhuru Furniture-- an organization as well as furniture store.

At lunch, they announced handing out 4,000+ fliers (almost reaching their goal of 5,000), raised over $600, and handed out prizes like gift certificates, posters, and artworks via raffle drawing.

This place was packed and hopping.

I finally stopped by Marc Lamont Hill owned Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books Shop in Germantown, blocks away from the Nile Café. It was a lovely dedication to the written word that contained some of the most conscious authors/activists/biographies of past and present from Coretta Scott King, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and Ta-Nehisi Coates to fictional greats Zora Neale Hurston, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and so much more. There are t-shirts that ask people to “read more and talk less.” There is one that says “writer.” Poetry by Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni, Ntozake Shange, and Tyhembia Jess. Theory by bell hooks. Economics, history, gender and queer studies, cookbooks, art, and relationship advice are other topics that fill the laid back space. Eyes will water on the displays about Emmitt Till and prison culture.
The décor is straight up vintage-- sewing machines and irons that entail seamstresses and domestic employ, Mammy figures of disturbing principles, globes, trunks, and suitcases of migrant travels from South to North, typewriters that make one think of James Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry.

This is near the entrance of the coffee shop, giving a taste of what readers can find on the shelves.

I picked up a copy of Nalo Hopkinson's short sci-fi tales called, "Falling In Love With Hominds" and a Sabiir Bakery's Vegan-Ish pudding cake (the only vegan food option available right now).

It's definitely a quieter place to write and read as opposed to other places. The music isn't loud or intrusive.

The laminated, coned pages floating down like bright lights were very creative touch.  

Shameless bathroom selfie with Alice Walker tee.

The cake is dense and moist, almost too moist and just a little salty (or was that baking soda?), but overall satisfactory if you're a vegan in need for a treat at this spot.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time of giving others your attention, your creativity, your knowledge, your aide. And that's what I set out to offer today.

My cell phone turned alarm clock rang at 6AM. I hurried along, packing two Chao slice sandwiches and a Daiya Blueberry Yogurt for breakfast and headed off to Germantown Friends School to participate in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. As soon as I came in, I checked off my name from the Create Books-on-CD list, filled out a name tag, and picked up a nice complimentary medium sized 60th Anniversary Montgomery Bus Boycott t-shirt. Rosa Parks is the cover girl, but we history buffs know all about Claudette Colvin, Bayard Rustin, Irene Morgan, and others.

Today we salute the strong, nonviolent orator with humanist flaws, Martin Luther King Jr. Yet we cannot forget the great woman standing beside him. Coretta Scott King, a force of venerable strength and graceful dignity who should have a commemorative day as well, happened to well-educated, compassionate, supportive of the arts, and later on-- vegan.

Before each attendee were summoned to prospective activities-- community trash pick up, card and jewelry making, baking pies and hot pockets, preparing Syrian refugee supplies, singing civil rights songs among incredible opportunities-- we were treated to hearing a once-in-a-lifetime guest speaker, Phillip Hunter.
Hunter is a Selma, Alabama native. He was a seventeen-year-old foot soldier in all three Selma marches including the horrific "Bloody Sunday" before and after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived. In a rather candid speech, he instructed us all to go forth from this day of service, to move through strife that can be as terribly frightening as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, to push others along, to find the greatest potential in ourselves and share those findings with the world around.
The most seemingly impossible thing can possibly gift the most profound fruit ever given.

Back in 1965, Phillip Hunter was a seventeen-year-old foot soldier-- a former paperboy and shoe shine boy-- inspired by his blacklisted news editor father, Phillip desired to take a stand for civil rights, campaigning alongside many organizations such as Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and other groups. Listen to some of his speech here. I apologize in advance for the sounds of talking children and random people who kept getting up in my camera view. 

Once denied and deemed an unlawful certificate, Phillip received a Freedom Diploma signed by Martin Luther King Jr., proudly displaying it to us. After his speech, I am honored to have thanked him and shook a brave man's hand.

Phillip was honored along with other original foot soldiers with a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor to be bestowed upon a civilian. If one looks closely, the late Amelia Boynton Robinson is on the far left.

Sitting on the steps of Germantown Friends School's Free Library with a treasure of a book by a phenomenal poet and one of the greatest post abstract-expressionist painters that ever lived. Also FYI: a day of service shouldn't always be performed on the third day of January. Everyday is a new day to inspire, to enrich, to encourage any person to do something they never thought they could do.

Vegan Jalapeno-Garlic Zucchini-Apple Cheese Sauce

Marvelous, fantastic one-of-a-kind sauce.

After three weeks of having a broken laptop and using only mobile internet, I am back. Yiippee!!! Sure, the library's computers are nice, but their browsers are a bit outdated. Writing Blogger posts in that format proved to be beyond difficult. And I consider myself to be adequate at these things. I have a large roster of recipes to put up. There may be days of utter cramming- like two recipes a day maybe. A few like today's are from my winter break in Ohio. I just need to share the joys of making all these new fantastic cuisines with all of you. Today, I'm even making almond meal polenta- beyond excitable!
As for this week, Philadelphia has been hit by snowstorms. In fact, it is snowing now. Minor, but enough to have two back to back snow days- have class twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I almost stayed in all week with daily pumpkin spice hot chocolates and an impressive stack of library books (Phillis Wheatley and Sylvia Plath poetry plus J.K. Rowling's A Casual Vacancy). On Monday, however, prior to Jack Frost cancellations, I did have the fortunate opportunity to participate in Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts students were driven to Germantown Friends School (in an orange-yellow school bus- we were escorted with style!) to participate in a wide range of activities that benefited various non-profit organizations. I chose to record a book on CD, one of several for Philadelphia Reads, a program dedicated to promoting strong literacy to young ones.

T-shirts gifted to volunteers.

I recorded "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" by Laura Joffe Numeroff, one of my favorite books from childhood. Now I know what Levar Burton must feel like. Reading Rainbow was one of the best shows ever. I was happy to participate because reading is one of my biggest loves. To not know how is grand robbery- a great injustice. Reading is a gift, a privilege. After what transpired, I feel obligated to volunteer more for Philadelphia Reads. The guest lecturer was right- service shouldn't be for one day.

Recently won a wonderful holiday gift pack from Bolthouse Farms which included Carrot Juice, Carrot-Orange Juice, Mocha Cappuccino, and Green Goodness. The Daily Greens beverage will be used to make the almond meal polenta instead of dairy free milk or water.

By now, everyone knows my obsession with Daiya's Jalapeno Garlic Havarti. So far, it is the only vegan cheese that I can eat straight out of the package. It is so rich and flavorful, making a plain slice of cold wheat bread divine. That mild garlic intensity, those little bits of jalapeno pieces, and creamy texture- yum! This amazing jalapeno-garlic zucchini apple cheese sauce came about as a creative vegan anniversary meal. Rich and enticing- taste and color wise. It seemed so simple. A glorious red apple combined with a zesty green zucchini and then pureed together. The melted Daiya sealed the deal.

Vegan Jalapeno-Garlic Zucchini-Apple Cheese Sauce Ingredients and Preparation

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 Gala apple, diced
1 zucchinni, diced
1/4 cup Daiya Jalapeno Garlic Havarti, diced
1/4 cup almond milk
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

In a medium heated skillet, saute diced apple in olive oil for 5-7 minutes.

Add zucchini and stir for an additional 5 minutes.

Puree apple and zucchini together. Pour back into the skillet.

Add remainder of ingredients and stir on medium heat.

Doesn't take that long to melt into a wonderful sauce!

Serve droolworthy sauce atop desired pasta.

Eat.