Hidden Figures: Sarah Rawls #BlackHERstoryMonth 6/28 (Patreon)

Hidden Figures: Sarah Rawls #BlackHERstoryMonth 6/28

If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting! CashApp: $SerenSensei Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/seren_sensei Sarah Rawls was an accomplished chef and businesswoman in the Bay Area, who ran several successful restaurants in Oakland, San Jose, East Palo Alto, and Berkeley in the 70’s through 1990s. Rawls first place was a restaurant in West Oakland known for hot plates and egg sandwiches, and throughout the 70’s and 80’s she opened more locations throughout the Bay Area. She was the author of several cookbooks, and in the 1970s had a cooking show called ‘Down Home Cooking with Sarah Rawls,’ where guests like Sammie Davis, Jr. and Andrae Crouch made appearances. In Jet Magazine, she was described as having “jovial mannerisms and wit” on the show. Rawls owned her own production company and all the rights to her cooking show, and in 1981 signed a lucrative contract to have it syndicated in 26 cities. Due to her success, she also starred in commercials and made celebrity endorsements of cooking products like the ‘Ac’cent Flavor Enhancer.' Rawls’ great-grandson, Rashad Armstead, was a 2018 winner of the cooking competition show “Chopped,” and owns several restaurants in the Bay Area, including ‘Grammies’ named after his great-grandmother Sarah Rawls- whom he called ‘Grammy.' At ‘Grammies’ they serve Rawls-inspired ‘down-home’ style dishes such as cornmeal-battered catfish and chicken, collard greens, and Creole fried rice. Armstead has called his grandmother’s successful cooking and media accomplishments “Oprah before Oprah,” and is attempting to make her story more well-known through his successes. His cooking is a combination of his own contemporary creations paired with old family recipes: "I would sit in my grandmother's kitchen and I would just watch everyone cook," said Armstead. "She was opening up restaurants running them all by herself…I hope to bring her back to life with Grammie’s," said Armstead. “I’m taking what she left us — that’s her legacy — and taking it where she would have wanted it to go.” #HiddenFigures #SarahRawls ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren https://www.shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/theblackamericans https://www.shophouseof950.com/embroidery-tees/dacs?rq=d.a.c.s Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr: http://sensei-aishitemasu.tumblr.com Tumblr for my work: https://sssseren.tumblr.com Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Contemporary-Essays-Culture-ebook/dp/B013V0CHK6 Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: Ac'cent Flavor Enhancer with Sarah Rawls (1980) (Video): https://www.retrojunk.com/commercial/show/17486/accent-flavor-enhancer-with-sarah-rawls Accent Flavour Sarah Rawls & Sammy Davis Junior (1982) (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew_EeKjpLQY Andrae Crouch guest celebrity on "Down Home Cooking" hosted by Sarah Rawls (Video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kcNzeA-uHY&t=1s 'The East Bay (Still) Has Soul:' https://www.diablomag.com/food-drink/food-news/the-east-bay-still-has-soul/article_efba1ed1-cc33-51de-a789-720a0ea2c71d.html 'Oakland’s Historic California Hotel Will Soon Become a Barbecue Destination:' https://sf.eater.com/2018/10/31/18048262/crave-bbq-opening-west-oakland-california-hotel-revitalization 'Crave BBQ chef opens Grammie’s Down-Home Chicken & Seafood in Oakland:' https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/06/03/crave-bbq-chef-opens-grammies-down-home-chicken-seafood-in-oakland 'Oakland chef wins on Food Network's ‘Chopped:' https://www.ktvu.com/news/oakland-chef-wins-on-food-networks-chopped 'Love for Community Inspires Oakland Chef’s Chopped Victory:' https://www.cuisinenoirmag.com/oakland-chef-rashad-armstead/ Jet Magazine - Sarah Rawls (June 1981): https://books.google.com/books?id=H7cDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3&source=gbs_toc&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false 'Down to Earth Cook Book. By Sarah Rawls. [ca. 1970's]:' https://www.cooksbookcase.com/products/inscribed-down-to-earth-cook-book-by-sarah-rawls-ca-1970s '“Crave BBQ chef opens Grammie's Down-Home Chicken & Seafood in Oakland - Berkeleyside” plus 2 more:' https://real-home-chef.blogspot.com/2019/06/crave-bbq-chef-opens-grammie-down-home_4.html