Sydney, Soul Food & Secret Societies

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Last night was the long awaited first meeting of the Blacks in Oz secret society. We chose a hidden location where none of the locals would think to look - the only soul food restaurant in town. Even though I'd only met one of the other founding members I was fairly confident that I'd be able to pick the group out from the other patrons at the restaurant. In my 15 months in Oz this was only the 2nd occasion I'd seen more than 3 Blacks together in one place at the same time - so I took a picture. It was a strong minded group comprised predominantly of African Americans plus one member of that even rarer species known as Black Canadians. As we sat down to converse and eat, a sense of anticipation, usually reserved for Tyler Perry openings (google it Oz) and Jay-Z comeback concerts, was palpable.

We got to know each other quickly, exchanging stories about how we met our partners and how we ended up in Australia. Not surprising, a high percentage of the stories included alcohol, a club and some booty shaking. Who says you can't find love up in da club? We laughed about some of the challenges specific to being Black here like finding a good hairdresser (top of the list for the ladies) and navigating sometimes unintentionally awkward situations with the locals and loved ones ("I saw the cutest little darky this morning" is still tough on the ear even when said with heartfelt affection and sincerity).

As multiple groups of patrons cleared out of the restaurant unable to hear themselves think over the raucous laughter coming from our table, it was abundantly clear that a bit of a community was forming. It was a good thing b/c the restaurant staff was ready to go the hell home and didn't fool anybody by "accidentally" flipping the lights off and on again. We got the message. We know - we laugh hard, we talk loud and we're usually running late...it's who we are.

With solid commitments to (1) refrain from accosting random Blacks in the street to see if they'll join the society (2) to exclude the names of the guilty from all re-tellings (I think that one was for me) and (3) to meet up again soon, we decided to call it a night. While throngs of perplexed locals watched, we wound our way through the restaurant and out of the bar almost oblivious to the stares and confident in ourselves and the small place we've carved out for ourselves in Aussie society.

Black2Oz out.