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Courtesy of: blacklivesmatters.carrd.co
Community Spotlight: Solidarity Space
We recently had the opportunity to talk with Sule Anibaba and Kate Mellon-Anibaba, the creators of Solidarity Space in Central Park, Davis. Sule and Kate are amazing activists and are raising two young boys of their own as long-time residents of Davis.
It was truly illuminating to converse with Kate and Sule to learn more about their tireless efforts and experiences in fighting against racial injustice and the advice they have for those joining the fight. Read more below to learn about the great anti-racist work happening in Davis and how you can help in the Black Lives Matter movement.
How did you get started in the black lives matter movement?
Kate: Just a little back story, because we did not just pop into the Black Lives Matter movement because of George Floyd.
Racial injustice affects our family with two black sons and I’m trying to be a supportive partner to my husband who is in a predominately white space in Davis. He’s been profiled and he’s been harassed by police. He’s had experiences where I, as a white partner, can’t really understand. Since we’ve had our kids, about 6 years ago, I’ve been trying to do better and unlearn my privileges. It’s opening up my eyes, but learning that has been a journey and I’m still working on it. It was really important for me to understand the fact that I gave birth to my kids, and while they are half-black and half-white, they are still viewed by society as a threat as they enter public spaces.
While we were not necessarily a huge part of it in the beginning, we’ve been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement from the inception.
What inspired you to start Solidarity Space?
Kate: So I’m usually the one that is usually more emotional and spitfire. My husband, Sule, is trained in therapy. He always has his emotions in check, he’s really good at helping people process and is a really great listener. That being said, when George Floyd was murdered, I saw my husband emotionally react, but I didn’t think I was the right support system for him. He kept saying that he felt so isolated because of COVID-19 and that there wasn’t anything he could really do for his mental health. We had our kids to raise to begin with, and he was just so withdrawn and upset. And it’s traumatic for him. The scab forms after every one of these murders for black folks happens, and it keeps happening and this wound just reopens. This time, something just erupted in him and I kept hearing, “I need a space”. I talked to him about setting up a memorial that was visible, and he liked the idea and so we just kind of ran with it.
How did you develop Solidarity Space?
Kate: I’m an artivist. I did the Statement of Love that’s over on the Odd Fellows Hall with a group of artists. For Solidarity Space, I made these portraits and set up a Facebook event that said that it was a space for the community, to mourn, to process, to have those tough conversations. If you’re white folks, it’s to talk about racism and what you can do to make a commitment. For the black folks in our community: this is your space to find community, to process, and to grieve. And while I can’t tell you that it’s what you need right now, I hope that at least it’s there for you.
Solidarity Space is such a collaborative effort. They’re so many people that have so many amazing ideas and prolific things to say. I couldn’t do it without them, and I’m literally just using my privilege to hold that space so that folks can do what they do.
How has the davis community responded to solidarity space so far?
Kate: So far, the community response has been huge. I had a few portraits and a few candles, and people came out in droves to bring signs, art, and candles. We lined a huge extension cord and use power from the Jewish fraternity that supports us. The first night we did it, a good 200 people came out. We had a group that wanted to do a candlelight vigil and we had an amazing die-in that was really impactful. A few community members and my husband actually spoke as well. We really just wanted to make a space that was authentic that was made for the people by the people. It’s been a huge collaborative, public process that has just grown from there, and it kind of evolves. We’ve had a person that was upset by this space and ripped it down, but we all just put it back up and made new art and signs. The space has been there since the end of May, so it’s been a long time, but we’ve had great support in trying to make it permanent.
Why did you choose to have solidarity space at central park?
Kate: I placed the space very purposefully. Central Park is a place where people are usually affluent, can spend money, and can hang out there with their families. And it has been a point of contention within the community where the Davis Farmers Market just doesn’t feel like its for everybody (people of color, unhoused folks, food insecure students— essentially people that don’t fit the rich family that goes to the Farmers Market). I grew up in that rich, white family, so my experience with the Farmers Market has been wonderful. However, after talking to people of color in the community, I’ve learned how they feel watched or even ignored there. I really wanted to be intentional in choosing the space. That’s why I didn’t ask for permission, and just took over.
Also lot of the public art in Davis is white centered and literal. You can only have so many bikes, frogs, and tomatoes. Ultimately, we’re trying to speak out and not have a filter in calling out our community for engaging in racist behavior and microaggressions. I’ve seen some people care more about their pets than they care about black people in the community, despite how liberal Davis claims to be. It’s all great to talk about supporting diversity, but when it really comes down to it, we have to have those sticky, hard, and sometimes triggering conversations. However, it should be noted that the arts and cultural department is doing a better job now of including projects from people of color or messages that talk about the spaces we are occupying right now.
What do you think needs to be done particularly in Davis as individuals to fight against racial injustice?
Sule: It’s more awareness and more education. And it sounds very basic, but we’re lacking that. I went to school here in the early 2000s, and there was a huge lack of diversity here in our school systems. I also spoke to a high school student who is an immigrant from a South African country, and he’s complaining that the lack of diversity is still prevalent. So I think we need to shake things up a bit in diversity within schools. I think the school system has a long way to go as far as educating and being uncomfortable with the truth.
Be uncomfortable with the truth. People are used to doing what it takes to stay comfortable. So until we can shake things up and make things uncomfortable, we will not progress. For me, it was very powerful to have people come out after the George Floyd killing because I have never seen that amount of support. It was great to not only get that support, but have people be mindful and active in wanting to change our system for the better permanently. We don’t have anything in the system that’s meant to last very long, we just have this occasional event that makes them look good.
How has the city council been responding to the Solidarity Space?
Kate: Honestly, they have been fantastic. I took over the space without asking for their permission, and a lot of the city council members have been going out to support the space. The Phoenix Coalition headed by our new mayor, Gloria Partida, has been super supportive. We also organized an event for pride in the space. Davis Phoenix Coalition and Bike Party Davis decided to do an event in solidarity with black lives for pride. Mak did an amazing speech in which they talked about the intersectionalities of anti-police, how pride started with a riot and how the folks in the LGTBQIA+ community who started these changes were black. It was really cool to see all the different kinds of support and solidarity with the different groups in this town within the space. We also have a summer camp, and it’s called Sol Summer Camp. It explores what defunding the police looks like, what abolition looks like, and teaching the children the truth in our history while also incorporating fun activities such as chalking and learning how to strike. It’s focus is on how to keep our kids engaged in these conversations and inspire them to be better than our generation.
How can we make sure that this movement isn’t just a trend?
Kate: I can only speak from my perspective as white woman, and I think as a white person, it’s our job to be in our own spaces and create change. We need to understand that the movement will be by black people for black people. We, as the white people, have created racism, and if we want change, it starts with educating ourselves. We have google and all these social media platforms where you can follow black people speaking out. It’s important to take this information, go back to your circles, and educate others. We should also talk about the microaggressions and really calling out the folks that we love in a way to expose them to how it’s not okay anymore. It’s also about donating and make lasting donations if you have the means.
Don’t let it just be a square on Instagram. Critically think about what you can do in your circles that is anti-racist learning and teaching. Be about it, and don’t think of it as a fad. Black liberation is not a fad. Don’t let it be something that’s going away, even if it does feel like its going away. Find your lane and find something you can actively change especially in your own community for black folks and do it. There’s got to be a commitment to changing up that white supremacist routine that we do. There’s always intersections and always ways to support the movement for freedom.
What can we do to help the fatigue for those that are super active in the movement to allow them to take that break?
Kate: If you see something that you think you have skills to support— if you are a graphic designer, have a huge social media following, money, or make succulent arrangements, use these skills. You don’t have to be an organizer, but you can find the skills that you have, the status that you may have, and contribute to a movement in that way. Figure out ways to support, but don’t be too reliant on people of color to educate you. Educate yourself and be ready to navigate and change if someone from that community calls you out on it.
DO you have Any advice for those starting their own organizations in the community?
Kate: It’s scary and may be something that you’re not completely comfortable with. Educate yourself and critically think before you jump into things. The best you can do is just try. And when I say try, I mean if you make a mistake and if something happens, brush yourself off and say that this is part of the journey. Surround yourself with people that have the knowledge. Have a vision, have a goal, and have something you can contribute to their lives if you’re gonna bring those folks in.
What are your future plans for Solidarity Space?
Kate: We’re figuring out the funding and permanence of the space. A lot of this is online, and we’re working to engage the community in supporting black artists and thinkers. Solidarity Space has turned into more than just a place to go. With COVID-19, we use our Facebook page and Instagram to share anti-racist information. We have amazing people that are sharing content online that you don’t usually see. Our curators are people of color, which is important to keep those messages authentic.
We’re also hoping International House will be a fiscal sponsor to support the work were doing now. And it’s for creating art that will be representative of Solidarity Space and fund the moving parts and content online for future events and Facebook, Instagram, social media for the folks that can’t physically get out to the space. It’s in the works, but we’re trying to make it a permanent art installation. Something that is not just signs and portraits on wood, because those are not permanent. We need to think outside the box. Right now, we have an interest to do a mosaic on that bottom part that includes a lot of the signs, messaging that has been documented from the space, portraits, as well as have some historical black excellence involved. It’s for black lives, and that’s been a big thing that I think the city is finally ready for.
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Community Spotlight: Dzokerayi Mu
Dzokerayi Mu is a local Davis resident who wears a multitude of hats in our community. In conjunction with raising three beautiful kids, she has run a nonprofit organization called Tese Foundation for the last 7 years. Dzokerayi is also a part of Yolo Committee for Diverse and Inclusive Elections. Just recently, she has created a group called WiLD Events that supports women in leadership positions.She and her husband are food entrepreneurs as well and started Zim Cuisine to showcase Zimbabwean culture and cuisine in our town. Zim Cuisine does catering, food pop-ups, and has recently started at the Davis Farmers’ Market. Catch them at the farmers’ market and try a taste of Zimbabwe every second Wednesday of the month! (Next events will be August 12th and August 26th)
****** For the Davis Farmers Market event on August 12th, Zim Cuisine is donating 100% of the profits raised from the event to rebuilding the home of one of Tese Foundation’s students and her grandmother who lost their home due to heavy rains and have been homeless since February. They are $5000 away to reaching the goal of rebuilding their home. ******
We recently shared a truly eye-opening conversation in which we discussed the intersections between food, diversity, culture, racial justice, and entrepreneurship.
Read more below to see Dzokerayi’s illuminating insights and get a taste of the passion she has for creating and sharing delicious food!
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC BEEN AFFECTING ZIM CUISINE’S OPERATIONS?
If we’re gonna be specific in Davis, a lot of the food businesses in Davis have been suffering before the pandemic. Rents downtown are high, and there’s just not a lot of diverse food there. Recently the city of Davis had the initiative to bail out downtown businesses, but you had to be registered as a downtown business. While that helped many businesses, it didn’t include us. We were not able to get any of the benefits because we’re a micro-business and we didn’t get the PPP loan either. We’ve struggled with trying to set up, getting out there, and getting ready for the farmers’ market. We need a ton of equipment and so it has been a challenge. And even now when we’re in the farmers market, we are relying on our followers to come out and buy our food. The truth of the matter is that the farmers market is very slow right now. So basically the only way that we can survive and continue to do this is if people support Zim Cuisine with our GoFundMe so that we can subsidize our costs with all the donations people are giving us.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING THEIR OWN FOOD BUSINESS OR ORGANIZATION?
My advice is to just go for it, whatever season of life you may be in. For us, we are branching out during the most risky time in history. Sometimes it’s kind of overwhelming to think if it’s going to be okay, but if you don’t take any risks, you would never know. So it’s better to try and fail than to never try at all. If you have an idea and look for a mentor or support group, just go for it, start small and increase it as you go.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST REWARDING PART IN STARTING ZIM CUISINE?
My favorite part is the kids. A lot of families have very picky kids and consistently, our biggest fan base is the young kids that their parents swore don’t eat curry, spices, beans, or mushrooms. And we make them believers! We have quite a following with the young kids, and that is just a testimony to how wholesome our food is. Slow-cooked foods are the best kinds of food, and it’s the food that you prepare yourself with fresh vegetables and is cooked in a loving environment. So for me, the most rewarding part is just really seeing the children enjoy our food.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT WORKING IN DAVIS?
We have been really well-supported in Davis since we’ve started, and we’ve seen that people want us to be here and are creating space for us and opportunities for us. It’s really humbling because the first day we were at Davis Farmers Market, we were overwhelmed with business and that is a good problem to have. We just really want that to be consistent and to continue to be overwhelmed with business so that we can stay open. We’ve been in Davis for 11 years now, and we’ve definitely seen Davis become a little more diverse. We still do have issues with diversity since it’s getting harder to live here as systemic oppression financially and economically causes people not to be able to live here. It was really difficult being the only black family we could see for miles while taking a walk and doing everyday things. Over the years I did see the number of those increase, but more so now than ever, we see somewhat of a slight decrease because families of color cannot afford to live here.
HOW HAVE YOU SEEN THE DAVIS COMMUNITY STAND IN SOLIDARITY FOR BLM?
The Davis community has been overwhelming in terms of supporting. In fact, I’ve lived in Missouri, Portland, Washington, and even in New York; and in all these cities that I’ve lived I have not met as many allies as I have in Davis. There’s definitely people that understand when I say ‘white privilege’ and aren’t super mad, in fact they use it themselves. This is the place to start a revolution and make a change for good. We had a march and protest that I planned a couple months ago, called “For our Fathers, For our Brothers, For our Sons”, and we saw almost a 1,000 people show up in our small town. We definitely see white allies have more of a role than ever before and in Davis, they’re really activating it and playing a role.
WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE DONE IN DAVIS RIGHT NOW TO HELP WITH BLM?
This is not the time to be silent. You can’t just say, "I’m not racist”, you have to hate racism. What needs to be done in Davis is that white parents need to have that talk with their kids. I have three kids, all different ages and all different personalities, and they have all experienced racism in their classrooms. Parents need to have the talk with their kids about race from ages 3, and every couple of months reminding their kids about skin color, about what white privilege is, what we can do in this situation, and engaging their kids. If we’re going to change things, more conversations have to happen in the home.I also think more than ever, people need to be in community with those that don’t look like them. In our city, we see people of different colors and races, but we don’t see much interaction. You need to normalize people by having relationships. As long as someone has never had me inside their home, it’s easy for them to separate issues of me or my children. So now, more than ever, invite families of color to your birthday, to barbecue, to go on vacation. Many times we have seen things on the outside, been friendly enough that we say hi and chat, but not enough to have deeper relationships that make us accountable to each other. And I would say the same for many races. If you look at your friend groups, look at how many people of different races you interact with and actively pursue relationships with the many different races. It’s not enough to have a token black friend, you have to have multiple black friends to understand the struggle. We as a society need to integrate socially and then have those conversations with our kids.
WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR ZIM CUISINE?
Our inspiration is African food. I was born in Zimbabwe and I’ve been in the US all of my adult life. And I’ve noticed that when people think of African food, they think of Ethiopian. There’s a lot of Ethiopian immigrants in the US, and so the only food, if you ever were exposed to African food, would be Ethiopian. I have tried to explain to everyone in my life that Africa is not a country, it is a continent with different countries, different cultures, and different foods. I just wanted to bring that into the mix and have people taste a different region of African food.
WHAT ARE THE DISHES YOU CREATE FOR ZIM CUISINE?
We have a lot of things and we can’t serve them all on one day, so our goal at the farmers market is just to introduce people to our food and rotate it weekly. It will also help people come back, so if they know that the next time we have a different dish they might be inspired to try it and come back. We always serve our meats with vegetables and starch. For vegetarians, we serve it as vegetables and a starch.
So generally, African food has something to do with braai. Braai is barbecue, but when someone says that, they’re usually thinking about hot dogs and burgers. With African braai, they’re basically putting a whole cow on the grill, steaks, pork chops, and Boerewors (traditional African sausage). While it’s heavy barbecue, it’s also heavy vegetables.
At Zim Cuisine, almost every vegetable dish of ours is vegan and gluten-free. We have coconut green beans, which is sauteed green beans with black pepper and fresh coconut shavings. Then we also have sauteed veggies, which is sauteed kale and cabbage. It’s very simple but it’s always a crowd favorite. I have always thought of it as a simple base of our meal but I’ve had an international chef tell me that it’s their favorite dish. People look at peanut butter here and see it as a dessert, but it’s a savory dish for us and we put mustard greens in our peanut butter sauce and we simmer it for hours.
As for starches, we have jasmine rice and sadza. Jasmine rice is pretty fluffy and yummy on its own. Sadza is simple and made of just two ingredients: water and cornmeal, but the way you cook it is very hard. In our African traditional culture, when somebody is about to get married, they test them with a big pot and ask them how well they can make their sadza as a rite of passage. It’s gluten-free and almost bland on its own, but you use it to dip into all these foods that we make.
We do appetizers as well! We have sausage rolls, beef and veggie samosas, and meat and vegetarian pies. Zimbabwe was a British colony, so we have a lot of British food crossover. Our sausage rolls are basically ground sausage, spices, and stuffed pastry-- you can’t go wrong with that. Our samosas are different from Indian samosas as the pastry and flavors are a bit different. Our pies are similar to pot pies but more dense and handheld that you can grab and eat on the go.
WHAT’S THE PLAN FOR ZIM CUISINE IN THE FUTURE?
Our goal is not to be in the farmers’ market for the long term. Our goal is to have a restaurant where we can interact with our customers and have a cultural experience. We can only do that if people want us here and raise their concerns to say how do we make this happen, how do we bring this business in, and how do we help them survive. I encourage people to eat in Davis, and while a lot of us try to go to Sacramento to eat diverse foods, the more people mention the need for diverse food in Davis, the more opportunities that businesses like ours have for spaces.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP ZIM CUISINE?
If people can constantly come out and support us and make Zim Cuisine a part of their dinner plans every other week and commit to buying a plate from us, that would really help us survive. We also would really appreciate help with our GoFundMe. Our initial funds were all just spent on equipment and we didn’t even get all the equipment we needed. We need to subsidize the costs of just being able to offer our food at the farmers’ market. In the future, we’re looking for a space to grow as well as looking for investors who believe in what we’re doing to help us open a business in Davis. Some things people can do is just share about our food and our calendar, follow and like our Facebook and Instagram. We also have a website where you can look at options into catering for small gatherings and parties.
HOW IS IT JUGGLING ALL THESE PROJECTS AND RAISING 3 KIDS OF YOUR OWN AS WELL?
Very busy, but they help in every which way they can. The eldest one has more of a responsibility. If you come up to the farmer’s market you can see him taking orders and really participating and helping with bookkeeping. We don’t think there’s really an age to start learning about bookkeeping. Since we’re first generation business owners, we were never really taught these things at a young age. But at 11, if he already knows how to keep his books, you can imagine how much better of a bookkeeper and business owner he would be. Those are the skills we’re trying to impart on our kids, whichever fields they choose to be, but we think experience is experience and there’s never too much experience in life.
MORE INFORMATION ON THE PROGRAMS IN DAVIS THAT DZOKERAYI ADVOCATES FOR:
Tese Foundation is a non-profit organization that Dzokerayi founded. Tese sponsors children, mostly girls, in Zimbabwe to go to school and help with education packages. At the moment, they are trying to rebuild one of the girl’s home because they had their home washed away in February rains. Their whole family has been homeless throughout COVID-19, so it is urgent to help rebuild their home. If anybody is interested, please follow the Tese Foundation page!
Just recently Dzokerayi is part of creating a support group called WiLD Events in Davis. As they realized that there is not an institution to support women in our community that would involve anything in leadership. This is a support base for anyone that identifies as female and is needing support in any area. They planned the march, “For our Fathers, For our Brothers, For our Sons” in June. On August 9th, they will be having a march, “For our Mothers, For our Sisters, For our Daughters”. Visit their Facebook page for further information!
She is also a part of the Yolo Committee for Diverse and Inclusive Elections. Recently, the school board made a decision that they felt was made without really listening to the public or taking in consideration our experience. So this committee is in conjunction with WiLD to make sure that people that are elected into power are concerned about issues of diversity and inclusion. They want to support any candidate that represents and has a track record of caring for minorities in any issues of inclusion and diversity. Visit their Facebook page if you are interested in learning more!
