Who We Are
In the wake of Black Lives Matter in the USA, a couple of pastry chefs got together to organize a grass-roots fundraising effort called Bakers Against Racism. I was inspired by their activism and decided to bring their initiative here to Paris. We believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and recognize that although the contexts are unique, there are concerning and urgent commonalities between the USA and France on the issue of racial inequality.
What We Did
HOW we wanted to make a difference – To adapt to the local context we partnered with local cafés and hosted an online sale of desserts à emporter with all the proceeds going to various charities supporting black lives matter issues in France and the USA. Following the success of that event, we wanted to incorporate more participants and so we hosted an American-style, in-person bake sale with one of our partners here in Paris. These events were great successes, more than we had anticipated. We met so many wonderful café owners and bakers who showed a real commitment to equality and were overwhelmed with the support and enthusiasm shown by everyone who came to the events and/or ordered online.
Hoping not to lose momentum, we decided to host our own actual bake sale here in Paris, a concept not well-known to Parisians. We asked our friends at a local restaurant to lend us their space and had a tremendous amount of support, not just from bakers, but also people who just offered their time. We even had a partnership with a well-known cookbook author, David Lebovitz, to come and sign his generously donated books. Another well known author and founder of ‘Little Africa Paris’, Jaqueline Ngo Mpii, joined us to help spread the word about the African community here in Paris.
What Next?
WHAT we learnt – Doing this, we discovered that there is a real desire — if not need — for a space here in Paris to confront issues of social justice. We discovered that there is a hunger for a community, of locals and foreign-born, to come together to break taboos and work together for a better future for all.
Our biggest disappointment was that we were unable to include everyone who wanted to participate due to the limitations of the events.
Accordingly, we want to broaden our original concept and include everyone working in the hospitality and restaurant business at large to create a community and space for ongoing discussion, learning, and activism.
WHAT NEXT – We have been asked to become the ambassadors for Little Africa Paris, a cultural and tourist agency that helps individuals, institutions and businesses to connect with the best of African culture from Paris and elsewhere in the world. Our most recent fundraiser was to raise money for their campaign to build a foundation in the heart of the Little Africa. We created a kit, including cooking classes and bike rides, to bring awareness and to build a community, all working to fight together.
Coup de Kimbap
Our latest initiative was to support AAPI community. We sold these locally in Paris, not only to raise awareness against the Asian hate crimes, but also to expand the knowledge of Asian Culture in France.
“Kimbap” is something I grew up eating – my mother made it as a snack or would pack it for lunches. She would wake up at 6 AM to prep and make these bite-sized meals that were meant to be healthy, filling & on-the-go. Little did I know how much work went into making these little rolls that I so often took for granted. Each ingredient is prepared separately and in Korean, these “side dishes”. My mother would always prepare them fresh and with so much love. Eventually, I started to make these whenever I missed by family and home-cooked meals.
We sold over 70 rolls!
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