Leah Chase and Pat Mitchell : An interview with the Queen of Creole Cuisine

TEDWomen 2017

Leah Chase and Pat Mitchell : An interview with the Queen of Creole Cuisine (transcript)

Summary 

In New Orleans, there has still been a famous restaurant Dooky Chase where white and black people come together, activists plan protests but the police doesn't disturb them during the civil rights movement. The speaker is its owner Leah Chase who is a chef and is known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. 

When she was young, women couldn't have the education that we have today. At that time, whites and blacks couldn't eat and work together, and men and women weren't equal also. However, she worked hard, so her mother-in-law first started a little sandwich shop. Her mother was just a kind person, she liked to do things for you, and she liked to give. 

The speaker tells us that maybe that helped her out and nobody bothered her. It led to creating a safe haven where people who were working on civil rights could come together and work to change the laws. Then the restaurant became a bridge between the past and present, and she worked and did what she could do hard, even if she couldn't have a good education. 

Everyone can do something for their city. Living in the city means participating with everyone. We continue to give (feed) someone well. We, especially women today, are in great positions that she never thought she could see. We have to build more. 

Words in this story

cantankerous /adj/ bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative.

plaque /noun/  picture (award)

bribery /noun/ the giving or offering of a bribe.

righteous /adj/ correct, proper, accurate