'High on the Hog' is must-see food TV. It explores the ways in which African American cuisine transformed America.
, but I’ll include here an extended quote from a conversation I had with Satterfield. We were talking about why “High on the Hog” with its all-Black creative team was revelatory and — to use a word emphasized by Osayi Endolyn in her“It really makes me emotional. It’s so much to hold, you know? What I hope people take away, through the sense of awe and curiosity from what they see on the show, is to bring that curiosity into their own lives as a means for investigation.
“I can’t even begin to speculate what the show’s impact will be, but I can tell you that had it not been for food media, I would not be here. The Food Network, Jacques [Pepin], Julia [Child], Martha Stewart: Consuming this kind of media was so formative that I decided as a teenager to dedicate the rest of my life to food. Now we have a whole generation of Black youth who are going to see this program. I know how high the stakes are.. It’s not just about the content.
“Because it took this long. Because we haven’t held the power to control the stories. So when people ask, why does it matter that there are Black directors, a Black showrunner, Black producers, a Black host, a Black cast? We have the opportunity for the first time to tell our own story in our care — not through an interpretation of a white director or producer. I think the results of that creative autonomy are so clear.