“You’ve got to live the life you sing about in your song,” goes the old gospel tune, and Talibah Safiya is doing just that. When the Mama’s Sundry crew she helped assemble appears at the Frayser Connect Center as a part of the Frayser Summer Concert Series this Friday, August 19th, there will be more than a performance by one of the city’s most inventive neo-soul singer/songwriters.
Well before the band counts off, Safiya and her cohort will be launching their new podcast, Mama’s Sundry Presents: Kitchen Talk. The podcast aims to be a conversational series discussing the cultural nuances of wellness, and its basis in “relationships with self, people, food, and the environment.” Tonight’s conversation on “Food Apartheid” will be recorded live at the Frayser Connect Center, beginning at 6 p.m. And to take things beyond mere kitchen talk, they’ll walk the walk with a vegetarian meal served to all attendees.
For the singer, it’s part of her new efforts to embrace all of her creative impulses at once, from her musical, to her political, spiritual, and gastronomic creativity. The Memphis Flyer got in touch with her to hear more about Mama’s Sundry and tonight’s performance.
Memphis Flyer: What’s Mama’s Sundry, exactly?
Talibah Safiya: It’s a company that includes my husband Bertram [Williams Jr.], myself, my mother, who goes by Mama Sadio, and our good friend Niki Boyd, who is a sustainable wardrobe stylist and blogger. We all came together in 2020. I make oils and skin care products, and we have other friends who make things we love. We wanted to offer their stuff to folks too. But we wanted to reimagine how we could offer people great, non-toxic products, but not necessarily always trying to sell them. From there, we started to not only offer products locally, but organize local events.
What kinds of events?
One event was called Pot Liquor, that we organized with our friends at Everbloom Farm in Millington. We made soups with their crops and fed the people. That was last year, and this year we’re going to be doing it for a second time. We’re also did a swap meet, where people swap their used clothes with other people in the community. We’re really just trying to get creative about not over-consuming, with things that can be reused again and again and again. Another campaign we did was a tote bag made with the Neighborhood Print Company, and we called it the “BYODB tote,” the Bring Your Own Damn Bag tote. That campaign was about getting people to take their own bags to the grocery store. So, those are the types of things we’re focused on.
And Friday’s event focuses more on cooking and food?
We are going to be collaborating with the folks at the Frayser Connect Center. Our company Mama’s Sundry is releasing a podcast where we’ll be talking about food, wellness, sustainability, and just how to stay mentally and physically well here. We’re going to be having a community conversation about that starting at 6 p.m. Friday. And we’ll be trying to get everyone in on this conversation. Everyone is welcome. We can all be empowered and learn how to grow food for ourselves, make products for ourselves, and things like that. And then afterwards we’ll be doing some music, of course. They have a little sanctuary in the space and it is really cute. So I’m really looking forward to playing some music.
So urban farming is big part of Mama Sundry’s mission, too?
This Frayser Connect Center is a former church that’s associated with the Frayser CDC, and they have a community garden started by our good friend, Camille James of Halls of Ivy. She works with folks in the neighborhood, gives crops away to folks. She started pickling and making tomato sauces and stuff, and she always provides really delicious juices at our events.
We do similar work in South Memphis with our home garden. We share food with folks in our neighborhood and we’ve been working on pickling and canning as well. We’re new to it so we’re just seeking to learn, share what we’re learning, and learn with folks. I think it’s a great thing to be having this conversation while we’re learning, so people don’t feel like it’s inaccessible. We’ve only been doing it for a couple years. It’s the type of work that’s easy to tap into, and you continue to grow every season, so we wanted to share that journey with people.
Is your South Memphis garden a community garden as well?
We’re just growing stuff in our front and back yard, which is not huge, but we had a really big cucumber crop, a big tomato crop, a bunch of peppers, and we’ll be able to use the peppers from our garden in the meal we’re sharing with folks Friday. We’re going to feed the people a vegetarian meal during our community conversation.
It sounds like you got more into gardening and canning when the pandemic started, like a lot of people.
Yeah, that highly influenced us being a part of that work. You know, people started fear mongering at that time, but sometimes that inspires you to get empowered, get knowledgeable and get active. And that’s what we did. My husband, Bertram, got his hands in the soil and started learning things. And I do my thing from the kitchen, learning how to use what he’s growing. I’ve always loved cooking, so it’s really cool to be able to share that part of my creativity, and for him and me to share that part of his creativity. Since we both spend so much time in the stage space, performing space, it’s a different aspect of our creative expression, and we love it.
Is Bertram in the arts as well?
He’s an actor. He’s on the show, P-Valley, on Starz.
You started out in theater as well, didn’t you?
I started out in theater, yes. We actually first connected in high school theater classes.
You all seem to have a very collaborative approach to your Mama’s Sundry work.
We’ve been able to collaborate with a lot of friends who are also gardening in the city. Black Seeds Farm in North Memphis, and Everbloom in Millington, and our friend Camille in Frayser. All of them are going to be there on Friday. We’re just building a really intentional community.
There’s a way your music reflects all of these things, isn’t there?
Definitely. For me, one of the focuses in my own heart and mind has been realizing that I had been compartmentalizing the different aspects of my creativity. The music is talking about healing, whether it’s “Healing Creek” or “Ten Toes Down,” I’m often talking about healing from an emotional and spiritual standpoint. The consumption of food that is alive also positively influences your emotional and spiritual health. So if I’m going to be having that conversation, I can’t have it holistically without talking about food. To me it has made sense to put those things together. Because in my own personal wellness journey, food has been in the forefront of how I stay well. I just want to share what I’ve been learning with people. And I have people around me who understand that, luckily. We’re all using our talents to push forward what we believe in as it relates to food. And health and autonomy. And holistic wellness.
Mama’s Sundry Presents: Kitchen Talk, with a performance by Talibah Safiya and band, will be presented at the Frayser Connection Center, 1635 Georgian Drive, on Friday, Aug. 19th, 5:30-9 p.m. $10 Advance, $20 Door. Tickets
