At its nucleus, Southern cooking embodies God, family, and hard work. Many Southern sharecroppers ascribed to these convictions, in order to, provide sustenance their families. Sharecropping was slavery in a different hat, relentless in its pursuits of acquiring wealth by exploiting subjugated yet “free” Black folks. Predatory business contracts often left many in debt versus making a profit. Yet, in spite of, the Black family blossomed. Many worked hard enough to buy acres of land to pass to future generations, while others began to educate their children past basic skill levels towards a college degree, or both!