Beet Greens, Poached Eggs and Toast for Dinner

reject what they want you to accept as “normal”

Chapter 51

There seems to be these weird rules about “breakfast”. Maybe not rules, maybe just norms that we have grown up with. Maybe millions of advertising dollars are committed to keeping these norms in place (cereal companies, fast-food breakfast sandwiches, egg producers).

Somewhere, at some point, someone declared what makes a food “breakfast”. It is likely that this was folded into predominant American culture (read: white, middle-class, capitalist, and consumerist). Like most things that become “normal”, these ideas are established early and then reinforced generationally until they become accepted as facts.

You’ve been reading a lot about history, specifically through the lens of racism in America. You are constantly uncovering moments in which “predominant culture” (read: white, hetero, male, middle/upper-class, Christian) has defined normal/truth while skipping over the parts it doesn’t like or even sees a need to talk about (see: Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, the electoral college, the New Deal, American Banking systems and the mortgaging of people, etc).

Most of these things lead back to slavery. Most of these things lead back to racial inequality. Most of these things lead back to impeding the development of any non-white population. Most of these things involve violence towards or the genocide of any peoples who are not “predominant culture”.

The more you dig, the more the truth reveals itself. The more you read, the more you realize that there are things you have spent your whole life accepting just because you’ve been told that they are normal, maybe not directly but in every other way.

You realize that what we’ve been taught to think of as “breakfast” isn’t necessarily rooted in the same violence and oppression as red-lining, the racial wealth gap, or predatory lending, but it is proof that our beliefs are a product of the culture in which we live. If that culture relies on the oppression of another race, then there are things you believe that are, inherently, racist.

Having “breakfast” for dinner isn’t revolution and it isn’t likely to bring about the radical change we need, but it will give you the energy to keep going, to keep learning, to keep questioning what you accept as “normal”.

So, sauté some leafy greens with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic. Then, add a splash of vinegar (beet greens are highly under-utilized and deliciously nutritious).

Boil some water, add salt and a bit of vinegar, give it a stir, turn off the heat, and then carefully drop in two eggs. Cover with a lid and leave them alone for 4-5 minutes.

Make toast. Apply butter.

Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, place on greens, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Serve with toast.

Keep reading. Keep unpacking. Keep learning.