Strange Fruit

Aunt Vi, the matriarch of the family on Ava DuVernay's Queen Sugar, knows her way around a kitchen. Not only can she cook, but she bakes a mean pie -- a skill that becomes a side business. Aunt Vi's pies became like a character unto themselves. She's in sort of a second act in her life, finding love again after an abusive relationship. Dr. Tanisha Ford is an associate professor of Black American Studies and History at the University of Delaware -- and a huge Queen Sugar fan. She says Aunt Vi's story line started her thinking about what pie making has meant for black women, and what it means for a woman like Aunt Vi in particular. She joins us this week to talk about how food is central to how we understand community, and how Queen Sugar uses food as a way to have deeper political conversations about capitalism and appropriation.