NEW Y EA RS

S UPERS TI TI ON

OUR

Fac t o r F i c t i o n ?

“Peas f or penni es , greens f or do l l ars ,and cornbread f or go l d . ”

Before i t became a New Year ' s

supers t i t ion for A f r i can Amer icans ,

b lack -eyed peas were a common

plant in West A f r i ca . The s lave

t rade and greed made i t a common

plant in the U .S . You see , s lave

owners in South Caro l ina and

Georg ia were look ing for a

prof i tab le c rop that wou ld make

them r i ch .

They knew that West A f r i ca was a

prosperous c rop reg ion , so

captur ing peop le f rom that a rea

would not on ly prov ide s laves but

s laves that were exper ienced in

mak ing money in fa rming . The i r

p lan worked we l l ; r i ce product ion

made so many peop le r i ch , they

ca l led i t the "go ld seed . "

Af ter that , they searched for more

crops and found b lack -eyed peas .

B lack -eyed peas was another h i t . I t

was eventua l l y produced in more

s ta tes inc lud ing Texas and V i rg ina .

A mix o f West A f r i can supers t i t ions

and food that were ava i lab le to

s laves a t the t ime turned b lack -eyed

peas in to a hopefu l New Years

d ish .

Many people believe that slaves chose

greens as a dish for the new year because

the color green means wealth, just like

U.S. currency. But the color green has a

deeper meaning, and it started during the

slave trade.

A political movement called, Pan-

Africanism was formed to unite Africans

all over the world during the time when

Africans were enslaved and shipped to

Europe, North and South America and the

Caribbean. It was built on the principles

of self-reliance and to unify and uplift

Africans worldwide.

The Pan-African colors were:Red - our blood

Black - our color

Green - Africa's rich land.Gold - wealth

As countries became independent, they

adopted these colors in their flag.

Cornbread originated from a West and

Central African dish, fufu. It's a mixture

of palm oil and flour. It evolved into

cornbread as slaves made a modified

version in the U.S. Like fufu, cornbread

was prepared for most meals, so it's not

surprising that it is also a part of the New

Year's dish.

Fac t o r F i c t i o n ?

“Peas f or penni es , greens f or do l l ars ,and cornbread f or go l d . ”

Share your thoughts i n the B l ackHi story School D i scuss i on Board .