Inspired by scholarship like Psyche William-Forson Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power that sits at the intersection of food studies, ethnography, and business, “A Taste of Nostalgia” explores the entrepreneurial of a hot tamale vendor and neighborhood “candy lady” in Natchez, MS. Grounded in the belief that the personal is political, this essay uses autoethnography as its critical framework to explore how one woman’s domestic labor represents a larger trend among Black women in the South. Ultimately, I suggest that this traveling vendor and neighborhood candy lady reflects a broader trend in Black women’s entrepreneurship.
Part of V4-06 Asphalt Kitchens: The Communal Meanings of Roadside Food, Thursday, October 12, 8:00 am–10:00 am