Opening for the Baltimore screening of Solange Knowles’ film “When I Get Home,” “Communion,” was a food intervention at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Lexington Market Outpost in the style of a Protestant communion ceremony. In this work, I honored my relationship as a 2nd generation Baltimorean to Baltimore’s food traditions and culture at the intersection of my family’s faith and working-class food history. At the ceremony, participants collectively recited prose dedicated to the city of Baltimore. They partook in a communion consisting of Coddies (salt codfish cakes) and handmade saltine wafers representing the body of Baltimore City and Half & Half (a beverage made with a 1:1 ratio of sweet tea & lemonade), symbolizing the lifeforce of Baltimore. Lemon Sticks (a Baltimore treat sold at Baltimore’s Flowermart festival) were also provided for vegan participants.
