Lessons from Etha Robinson
Etha Robinson shares her knowledge of tea cakes with generations of children.
Lessons from Etha Robinson
Early in the days of quarantine, I had a conversation with Etha Robinson, former teacher and creator of the Tea Cake project, from my bedroom in Minneapolis and her home in California. Her soft voice moved quietly but intentionally as I leaned in to listen to the history of her family and that of millions of African Americans, and how this history impacts our self-worth. Etha is reclaiming part of the worth that was stolen from African Americans in her revival of the tea cake—a cookie that enslaved Black southerners made out of the little ingredients in their kitchen. The tea cake lived on for generations in the hearts and stomachs of those whose grandmothers and mothers made them, but these recipes were seldom written down. Ms. Etha is on a mission to collect as many tea cake recipes and stories as she can, and bring this simple but delicious cookie into grocery stores near you.
On the start of this project
My sister and I were trying to revive things of the south, like the tea cake. It was our southern treat. My aunt had made them, my mother had made them, my grandmother had made them, everyone around had tea cakes. We were unable to run to the store to grab them. Tea cakes were always in the house in tin cans or a glass case. They’d make them in batches, 5 or 6 dozen at a time. It was a real treat, but we never really knew the heritage of them. It was just something your mother made, or grandmother made. Many of our younger generations haven’t had them because as we left the south, (Ms. Etha grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi) we left those traditions behind, like canning. When I talk about tea cake, and you think of the bagel, people automatically think of certain groups of people. I want people to think of African Americans when they think of the tea cake, the same as when they hear bagel and they think of Jewish people, or tortillas and they think of Mexican people. Necessity is the mother of invention.
Ms. Etha on her history, Black history
“We were just trying to get away from the south.”
When I was going to school I don’t ever remember seeing a Black person in a book. In the south, most Blacks were made to be ashamed. It was of course systemic racism and that everything related to Blacks was subordinate. All of those things precipitated into our concept of self. Of course we didn’t have the ability to put items in the market because Blacks weren’t even allowed to work in the stores. We were really ashamed of our culture, we wanted to divorce ourselves. We didn’t watch our parents make the tea cakes, or learn how to can food.
And of course cotton was the economic backbone of this nation, king cotton. All those things tie into self worth. People were ashamed to even tell people that they chopped cotton. I learned that it wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. I can see that there wouldn’t have been America had there not been cotton. Understanding that and letting the young people know that whatever your ancestors done, there was nothing to be ashamed of because had they not did the chores that they performed, you wouldn’t be here, as an African American. Some of the slaves jumped ship, rather than face slavery. The ones that survived knew that many of the things they wanted would be left for future generations.
Lessons on Self-worth
Many problems we have with young people are not a lack of intellect, it’s lack of self worth, self identity. Many of the controversies we had in the classroom was based on relationships with other people. “He called me Black, he called me stupid”.. human relationships, in order for me to teach science, nobody’s interested in learning about the cell if someone’s bothering you, if you’re mad or angry, or hungry, or you’re having difficulty. The only way to move through the world is to understand that you are worthwhile of it, and that you have something to give back to it.
So much is tied into self worth, and if we see very little that represents you in a positive light, then you’re constantly striving to be like someone else that you think has what it takes, but the only thing you can actually be is yourself. Everything else is nonexistent.
People are not always aware of their worthiness, and after your dead and gone people will proclaim it. So I always tell students, there are not extraordinary people, there are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. What do you do that’s extraordinary? Nobody really has to tell you when it’s worthwhile, there's just something intrinsic in your spirit that tells you that.
Takeaways from Etha Robinson
We didn’t have Oreos, we had tea cakes.. what is your tea cake? In other words, what can you take and make from what you have? Rather than see what someone else has. You become creative.
There’s gonna come a time when you’re gonna need something to reach back to. What’s in your reservoir?
Creative comes from creator, that’s the God within you. God ain’t walkin around waiting in church for you to come. He’s in you, he’s in the hearts of people. He wants us to extend our goodness and graciousness and kindness.
Remove all the hatred and prejudice and ignorance and disdain and pride out of the way, then the goodness in you can come forward. It can’t come forward if it has to swim through all that mess.
All these other things that we do, I call them testimonies that lead us to our true mission and purpose. We all have one. Life’s all about how you find your purpose, and your gift.
Share your tea cake story! Simply send it by email to info@strivepublishing.com. The goal is to collect enough tea cake stories and recipes to publish in a special anthology that will bring light to the many years of hard work and dedication that Ms. Etha has put into her tea cake mission.