This interesting book focuses on food--encompassing nutrition as well as the social aspects of communal dining--as a means for Black women to be leaders in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. The author illustrates how these women made an impact through the use of primary sources and retrospective interviews with Freedom Rider activists who were nurtured by Aylene Quin's cooking in Mississippi and Cleo Silvers' work with the Black Panthers Free Breakfast for Children program in New York. The author also confirms, through newly declassified FBI documents, what Black activists suspected at the time: Hoover's intense hatred/fear spurred the FBI to actively thwart progress and harm Black Americans. Recommended for all libraries. ( )

A really interesting look at the role of food as both a logistical necessity and a means of community building in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the late '60s/early '70s. Suzanne Cope explores the roles of a number of women who performed food-centered "activist mothering"—primarily Black Panther Cleo Silvers and Mississippi restaurant owner Aylene Quin—and demonstrates just how important those roles were, while also considering the social and cultural connotations of food. A clear and concise look at an often-overlooked aspect of activism: the feeding of a movement. ( )