Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate

On this episode of Culture & Flavor, Zella talks with Dr. Naa Oyo A. Kwate, a writer and interdisciplinary scholar with wide ranging interests in Black urban life. Raised in Chicago by Ghanaian immigrant parents. She is the author of the short work and edited volume Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now (2019) and The Street: A Photographic Field Guide to American Inequality (2021).Her first major sole-authored book was White Burgers, Black Cash: Fast Food from Black Exclusion to Exploitation, first published in 2023 at the University of Minnesota Press. Among the book’s many award recognitions were the 2024 James Beard Award in Reference, History, & Scholarship. She is currently at work on two new projects, the first an investigation of the impact of corner liquor stores in Black neighborhoods and the second a history of the alcoholic beverage cognac among African Americans.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.