NIKKIA RHODES PROMOTES LEARNING IN THE MCATEE COMMUNITY KITCHEN

In the wake of demonstrations across the Commonwealth, Kentuckians have found innovative ways to support marginalized people and break down long-standing barriers of racial inequality. While many have taken to the streets to protest police violence toward BIPOC, others have used their talents to effect positive social change.

One Kentuckian acted immediately. After David “Yaya” McAtee, the owner of western Louisville’s staple Yaya’s BBQ, was killed outside of his restaurant by National Guard members, chef Nikkia Rhodes and The LEE Initiative jumped into action. Already a food desert, and with the only grocery store remotely nearby closed because of general unrest and the occupation of the National Guard, Rhodes and The LEE Initiative brainstormed ways to help alleviate the pain of the community and provide substantive support. When you consider Rhodes’ background as a culinary artist, chef, and educator, it’s not surprising that she and others quickly found a solution: the McAtee Community Kitchen.

An Activist from Birth

Her passion for political activism began at a young age. “I have always considered myself what the kids call ‘Woke.’” Because her father was incarcerated on and off during her childhood, she found herself “naturally drawn and connected to prison and justice reform.” This experience, having shaped her worldview, laid the foundation for her motivation to give back to -- and eventually lead in -- her community.

Nikkia Rhodes at the McAtee Community Kitchen

“I have always read about things, felt strongly when I saw things on the news, or videos that didn't make the news,” she told us. “When I see videos like George Floyd, I see my father. When I hear about Ahmaud Arbery, I think of my brother.” In 2016, while she was still in college, Rhodes had the opportunity to see storied activist and intellectual Angela Davis give a speech in Louisville. That same night, she discovered the poetry of Hannah Drake, who recited her poem “Formation.”

“I was empowered,” she said. “I went home and was just amazed at the words I had heard and the knowledge that was dropped in a room of so many people.” From this formative experience, she began to work with progressive local and national organizations like Louisville Family Justice Advocates and the Innocence Project.

Food, for Rhodes, can be used as a tool for progressive social, economic and cultural change. As she has grown in her identity as both a chef and an activist, she has recognized areas in different communities across Louisville that can be improved. “It is no accident that there are plenty of fast food joints and corner market liquor stores in the west end of Louisville, but only one main grocery store,” she said. “Food is a basic human right, and access to it should not be determined by your zip code. Food is the key to health, and health is wealth.”

Protesting as a Teacher and Chef

In a partnership between The LEE Initiative and Children Shouldn’t Hunger, Chef Nikkia Rhodes now heads the McAtee Community Kitchen. The effort centers on offering “meals, groceries, supplies, and ongoing opportunities to families in need across Louisville’s West End, Shelby Park, and Smoketown neighborhoods.” Prepared out of the Edward Lee-owned restaurant Milkwood in downtown Louisville, the meals and supplies are distributed three times a week.

Centrally, the McAtee Community Kitchen is committed to “not only provide meals but also empower the work of young Black leaders in the culinary space and, with his family’s blessing, will honor the memory of Chef David McAtee,” according to The LEE Initiative.

Rhodes is by no means alone in her food activism at the McAtee Kitchen. Along with her students from Iroquois High School’s Academies Program, she’s found herself in the uncanny position of teaching future culinary artists while also working where she started.

“We wanted to give them a chance to learn with real hands-on experience. It feels very full circle to have them training in the same kitchen I began in. I know the possibilities are endless, if they are hungry and want the opportunities. They are seeing first hand how to physically prepare food, plan, clean, sanitize and now social distance and wear extra PPE amid a global pandemic. They are learning all of the soft skills, with the chance to mess up and learn.”

Rhodes appreciates the value that these tangible lessons have on her students outside of the commercial kitchen environment at Iroquois. “I'm starting to see what they are really capable of and when they ask questions I realize things I have skipped in class,” she said. “It’s helping me to almost troubleshoot my teaching practices.”

At the same time that she’s connecting with her students through a real-world, hands-on educational experience, her teaching has begun to extend beyond a culinary focus. As her students are receiving financial compensation for their work in the McAtee Kitchen, she has discovered the need to teach some elements of financial literacy. As a result, she now works “to ensure any student who comes through my culinary program will know how to fill out a W4, open a bank account, and understand credit.” She continued, stating that “It’s great to land the cool culinary job, until you need to get paid. I just won’t let my students down like that ever again.”

Nourishing Communities through Food

At 23, Rhodes is just getting started. Under different circumstances before COVID-19 and nationwide demonstrations, she was asked in March what her future holds. While she saw her future in the intersection of culinary arts and education, her response to where she’ll be in five years has become a little more fluid:

“Incredible things like the McAtee Kitchen are the reason I hate when people ask me where I will be or want to be in 5 years… I just want to be wherever the universe wants me to be I guess. It’s been such a great new challenge for me to learn and grow professionally, while also getting to give back and use my platform in so many ways. I’m just so thankful.”

One thing has remained consistent since she presented at Kentucky to the World’s March Program. Perpetually an advocate, she plans to continue supporting her students and elevating the reputation and image of Kentucky in whatever capacity possible.

Join us on July 26 at 2pm to understand how different culinary tastes, cultures, and histories comprise the forward-thinking, progressive nature of Kentucky’s food scene when The Future of Food Is Female airs on KET.