Hi friends.
Where are we this week? In such a dark dark place. I read this headline today and could only say “My God” aloud. It’s hard. It’s always hard sometimes we feel it more deeply.
We have a lot of places to go in today’s Sunday post but let me start here:
I read every single one of your comments on my birthday post last week. THANK YOU! From deep inside my heart Thank You.
That feeling that has us believe we’re friends who have never met? I think it’s real. I actually know it’s real because so many of you have come to a Bakehouse class and you literally walk in the door and WE’RE FRIENDS. It’s just that you need to remind me of your name and then there’s no stopping us. So – thank you for your friendship. I realized even more strongly this week that it really means so much to me.
In epically small news, Tron just used his paw to open the door to the bathroom and walked it. It’s such a funny thing… like he’s going in there to use the restroom but really he’s just going to lay his overly fury body on the cool tile. A sure sign that summer has arrived in New Orleans and I don’t have the air cool enough for his pleasure.
In more epically small news, I’m working towards a big Fall project you’ll have in your hot little hands come October 26th. From now until mid-July I’m working on Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes so my kitchen world continues to be topsy-turvy, my craving for Turkey Pot Pie is absolutely out of place, and I’m just rollin’ we all these punches and grateful for opportunities (and making sweet potato pie in May). I’m excited about this one, y’all.
The offering this week is below. It’s a lot of downs and a few ups. Take what you need and leave the rest for another day. We understand each other.
• An Incalculable Loss. 100,000 deaths is hard to understand and overwhelming to feel and of course we haven’t properly mourned. (The New York Times, Medium)
• Also an incalculable loss like so many TOO MANY before him: The Death of George Floyd, In Context. Friends. My heart is so heavy and so tired. This is the history we haven’t learned past. The trauma bred in our bones that we perpetuate. It’s our deep sin that we can’t cast into the fire. My jaw fell open earlier this week watching the video of Amy Cooper repeatedly and with increasing hysteria refer to the race of the man asking her to leash the dog she was choking. That’s it – this present maybe dormant racism that flares up so quickly, with such high consequences. My God – this is what we have to face about who we are. Have you listened to The 1619 Project. This is why we are who we are. We must to change it – but we’ve known that for a long time haven’t we? We have to take better care of each other. (The New Yorker, The New York Times)
• Have you been to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Lynching Memorial. Have you read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson? (EJI, Indiebound)
• A very strong list of Anti-Racism Resources. (Google Doc)
• I need to say something about social media. I’ve had a handful of people on Instagram call me out for not Instagram-addressing all that’s going on right now. Wow – what an interesting fight to take up at this time. I think maybe those people don’t know me. I’m Joy, a mixed-race woman with a black father and family. These tragedies are not suddenly new to me. It doesn’t feel natural to me to post an anti-racist post on Instagram this week – stillness and mourning is where I am. These tragedies, these murders, have always been devastating, and unjust, and completely incomprehensible. Every single one of them. I’m also deeply sorry for the people holding their breaths through riots in their cities. My family and I also lived through the Los Angeles riots, my dad spraying down the roof of our house so it didn’t catch fire from the nearby businesses set ablaze. It’s so scary, I know. This is hard- every way you come at it. It’s all of our pain. None of us are separate from it.
• Millennials: The Unluckiest Generation but like… with the coolest sunglasses? (The Washington Post)
• This, from touring musician Rosanne Cash: I Will Miss What I Wanted To Lose. (The Atlantic)
• We’re all gardeners now. My friend Kristin of Dine x Design is an incredible home gardener and she shares a lot of tips and enthusiasm in her Instagram stories. (Outside, Instagram)
• Or you could make a houseplant that anyone can take care of. (House That Lars Built)
• BOOK TALK: You read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, yes? I can’t wait to read her latest book: The Glass Hotel.(Parnassus, Amazon)
• This week I’m listening to this POLLEN playlist on Spotify.
• Best podcast episode of the week is The Daily’s Genie Chance and the Great Alaska Earthquake. The end of her story had me in tears. (The Daily)
• You’re well into Brene Brown’s new podcast, Unlocking Us. Welp… she’s America’s therapist now thankyouverymuch. (Apple Podcasts and Texas Monthly)
• Pretty sweet: Love At First Quarantine. (NPR)
• I started grilling… like outside with actual charcoals, a few years ago and if you’re not into this – now is your moment. Gas grills don’t count, k? Everything You Need To Know About Charcoal Grilling. (The Kitchn)
• The Sunny Project is a print sale of work by Florida-based photographers with 100 percent of proceeds split equally among three Miami-based nonprofits that support vulnerable women and children who are at especially high risk due to Covid-19. There’s some really lovely work here. (The Sunny Project)
I hope you enjoy this day.
My love to you.
xo Joy
Darla Layton
Good morning Joy, and to all fortunate enough to connect with you each week. I find myself in a bit of a funk. A heavy heart and emotions all over the place. These are very troubling times. I am working hard to see the gifts in each day: reading outside with the sun shining. Warm biscuits for breakfast, with butter and jam. Time spent with loved ones, and missing the ones I can’t be with right now. I KNOW this time is a harsh reality, and time for all of us to learn, and decide what is truly important; not only to ourselves, but to mankind. A time to pause and reflect. We will get through this! We always do. I pray each of us uses our voice.
Thank you, Joy, for showing up, especially in these difficult times. We truly appreciate you.
Cherelle
I usually comment on Instagram but read this almost every week! Since your making sweet potatoes for a pie, try baking them a la Deb pearl man. Her slow roasted sweet potatoes are divine. Love you love this and hope to one day make it to the bake house, friend!
Cheryl
The mental image of hundreds,if not thousands,of people dropping to the ground, with heads turned,arms held tight behind and crying out for 9 minutes I can’t breathe will remain with me forever.Along with the image of a library burning.To me the non violence of that group spoke loud and clear of the pain and fear blacks live with on a daily basis. To you and all the others that have been touched by hatred I sent love.
Thank you for the wisdom you share with us each week, food for thought to help us get through another week.
Chrissie Allen
Joy, like others have said, be you. I come here every Sunday because I love to catch up with you, see what is going on, dream about a bake house class and see what you are reading. These are unusual times and some folks are lashing out. Because you are Joy, others will be jealous. Be you and be well.
Vicki
A few weeks ago I rolled the shopping cart out of Trader Joe’s and tried to load the groceries into my car. I was a bit close to the space line and the car next to me was way too close on the other side. I noticed a lady inside on her phone and figured she was going to leave. She waved, backed her car out and then, cranked over a bit and pulled back in. As she got out of her car she said “I’m so sorry. I thought there’s no way this poor lady is going to be able to get those groceries into that car.” To say I was stunned was an understatement. I thanked her profusely and told her never in my whole life had anyone done that before. She was delightful and we had a fun little chat. She was a younger black gal, I am an older white gal. We had a moment that I will remember as one of kindness and consideration for the rest of my life. Fast forward to yesterday in the same Trader Joe’s and an elderly white woman was bossing a young black woman to move off the designated waiting mark. It began to get heated and the younger gal asked the checker if she could move up to the register because this lady was harassing her. The checker went against store policy and allowed her to move forward. The older woman toddled on back to the end of the line, I don’t know if it was her first time to Trader Joe’s and she didn’t understand the unique check out set up, but here’s what was sad….. The younger gal turned and stopped purposely as she exited the store and called the older woman an obscenity. I get it. The older woman was completely rude and out of place, literally and figuratively. And that’s the tipping point, when injustice boils over into rage. We all lose. No matter our color of skin, our culture, our faith if we have one, we all lose out on being the best part of being human and become the worst.
Whitney
Vicki, why did you feel the need to share this story? And why is the sad part to you that the Black woman called the rude white woman an obscenity?
Amy
Whitney- I read the sad part as being the injustice getting the young woman to the “tipping point”, not her actions.
Whitney
Well, that is a very generous reading on your behalf
Alison
Please just imagine for a second, Vicki, that the young woman experiences this same thing in EVERY single store she goes into. Think about the toll that takes on a person just trying to live.
Rebecca
A belated birthday post honoring the beauty you bring to the world today and everyday. I don’t know how I found your blog, but I am so grateful that I did. Your wisdom and compassion, especially as evidenced in your Sunday posts, are so inspiring. Thank you for the sweet recipes and the rich challenges. Have a wonderful year, Joy. You are so well-named. I look forward to sharing the journey with you.
Natalie C.
I second this, love me some Joy! Wishing you a beautiful 39th year. You are a gift to your readers.
Dee
Am giving your parents a shout out this morning, Joy…..they got it right….
God bless and protect us all….
Erin
Agree with you 100%!
Jayme Brown
People really need to STOP WORRYING about what everyone else is doing and start paying attention to what THEY are doing. How AM I inspiring change? How AM I making a difference? As if your followers don’t already know that you would be devastated by all the terrible news this week, as anyone with a heart and some empathy and compassion would. There’s a lot who don’t. People need to focus on those who don’t. Thank you for your insight and dedication, as always.
Cathie
I have unfollowed every white instagram influencer that has not spoken up about George Floyd and the racial injustice in this country. It is not the job of Black people to educate us white people. It is our job to educate ourselves and other white people so we can stand with Black people to change America. We alone need to use our privilege to change injustice to justice.
Robyn
While that is your right, please remember, like Joy those influencers have life stories the public is not privy to. As a daughter of retired police officers, I am horrified by what a small number of officers are doing. We as humans must respect each other, show compassion and understanding.
Leanne
Yes, thank you Robyn. Instagram is not the only way people can choose to address serious issues, in fact – throwing it up on instagram and calling it “achieved” is what i feel like a lot of people are doing. Judging someone based on their IG (unless it is of course partaking in racism or such) should not be what we have come to. The world could use less “influencers” anyways.
Joy – I always look forward to your posts, even with some trepidation as they often have very hard, thought provoking or uncomfortable pieces in them. Thank you for being brave enough to share them. I don’t cruise the internet looking for them (particularly as i am Canadian and following American news is crazy making) but i know i’ll find them here each Sunday. Thank you.
Suzannah Kolbeck
It’s so strange to be grieving and mourning in a nation that has consistently had blood on its hands since its founding, but there we are. I have wondered about the lack of posts on Instagram not addressing the deaths of George Floyd and others (not necessarily from you but from others), and your post is a good reminder that many people have stories we don’t know and it’s important to ask questions first or at the very least offer some compassion.
As a writer myself, I am struggling with posting about food and other things when the killing of black folks by police is ongoing and ever-present. Trying to find a balance.
rebecca shriver
You keep being you because you’re wonderful! I look forward to enjoying this friendly chat from you every Sunday morning with my coffee. (The recipes are pretty awesome too!) Thank you and hugs.
Shona
Hi Joy, Thank you for your wonderful Sunday offering this week. They pop into my mailbox around 9pm Sunday evening and I enjoy your curation. I live in New Zealand. I am a Kiwi. I read with horror about the murder of George Floyd and felt sick to my stomach. I watched with gob smacked amazement the video of Amy Cooper. I am a Pakeha New Zealander, privileged to wake up every day with a white skin.. I read Just Mercy last year with my bookclub- I winced a lot while reading it. Thank you for everything that you do. And the baking as well. We have opposite seasons. I am waking these mornings to frosty whiteness. Strong hug.
DPLK
Happy belated birthday, Joy! ?
You have never shied away from a difficult subject; I was looking forward to this Let it be Sunday because I knew this is where you would bring the conversation about what’s going on right now. Like you said, those people must not know anything about you to think you needed to say something prove anything. You’ve always been having this conversation about race and other difficult subjects week in and week out, and highlighting tough reads all year long. We all need to be more like you.
Suki
So much has happened this week, all so sad and frightening. And so, I’m commenting on how lovely those flowering bushes are. Is this in your backyard? We need simple beauty right now.
Thank you Joy, and happy belated.
Pamela
Joy, thank you! I’ve been reading your Let It Be Sunday post for years now. I appreciate all the love you pour into these posts. I’m tearing up as I’m writing to you. This is incredibly hard. I just love you! And wanted to say thank you.