What is Your Ministry?

This month, we saw the first Top Chef whose cuisine is purely Afro Caribbean. From the first episode this season, Tristan Epps brought the food of his people. He did not feel the need to “elevate” it. He did not feel the need to fuse it with European techniques. He simply cooked it with excellence and grace. And, almost without fail, he impressed the judges.

I come from an arts background. A creative background. Black creatives are always encouraged to share our experiences, our culture, even our history. But the expectation is frequently there that we present it for a White audience, which means that we explain these things or we interpret them through a European lens. Making art that is by us and for us? That has traditionally been a one-way ticket to poverty. Creating art by us and for us while also opening the door to the White gaze is an act of rebellion and resistance.

For a very long time, we have seen progress as black folks by being ushered through the system, receiving assistance, navigating the system, to find a place within the system. And then came Trump. And then came DOGE. And then came 2025 America.

We are rapidly finding out that navigating through a broken system still leaves us vulnerable in ways that our grandparents never imagined. The only way is to change the system. What I love about Tristan’s story this season is that he changed the system.

There were challenges this season where Tristan had to blend his Afro Caribbean style with something a little more Canadian or something a little more Italian. It was never Canadian or Italian with hints of Afro Caribbean. It was Afro Caribbean that utilized a style from another culture. The Afro and the Caribbean were always centered in everything he did, everything he cooked, every competition he won.

Many of us are realizing that the system is too broken for repair or salvage. What we need to focus on is building a new system that is actually just and equitable. We need a system that is actually built to serve we the people, all of the people. We need a political system in which we are truly represented. We need a system that is not built on privilege, but that is built to guard against privilege. We need systems that ensure justice and equity.

The current political administration is built specifically to ensure that this does not happen. Resistance is making sure that it does. And it does not matter if that is in the kitchen, or a classroom, or on the streets of the United States of America.