Sweet Potato Pie

Home-made sweet potato pie, November 10, 2025, by Zariah Chaney

A Slice of The Culture

By Zariah Chaney

Thanksgiving day, I sat at home waiting for the rest of my family to get ready. I watched as my sister ran around to find her “cute black boots" after trying on the other 10 pairs, my brother napping, and my mom making sure my dad packed all the food in the car properly. Despite the buzzing chaos around me, all I was thinking about was how I would get bullied into becoming a part of the cleanup crew, again this year. At least I would have first dibs on my favorite part of dinner: dessert. Made with a rich mix of love, joy, and history, sweet potato pie has become a staple dish within the heart of the African American community.

Originating in Europe, sweet potato pie goes deeper than just my African American roots. As Christopher Columbus voyaged across the globe, the market grew, making the sweet potato an established crop in Europe by 1500 (Standing). Yet, surprisingly, the sweet potato crop itself is native to South America (Standing). One of the many great dishes created from this crop was sweet potato pie. Each warm, delectable slice of sweetness and spice has many more positives than its delicious, earthy flavor. The sweet potato is reported to have lots of anthocyanins, which, according to many studies, contribute to improved health (Bovell-Benjamin). No wonder it was one of King Henry VIII’s favorite dishes (Hunt). Although popular, the pie enjoyed by that King is not the same sweet potato pie we know today. The ones responsible for that revision are the enslaved Africans who arrived in the U.S. years ago. Unfamiliar with the world around them, they used the closest substitute to yams, the sweet potato. Embraced by enslaved people for its durability and nutrition, it became an important crop (Lasseter). Despite the circumstances of the enslaved, they found a way to take back their lost perception of identity through the sweet potato. Empowering enough to create a sense of collective pride and strong enough to endure with African Americans through the challenges of today.

My mother, the sweet potato pie baker, holding the dish made from my grandma's recipe, November 10, 2025, by Zariah Chaney

As an African American, especially growing up with a southern family, sweet potato pie has been a holiday classic for generations. This tradition is not only unique to my family but to African American culture as a whole. Alexander Smalls, an African American restaurateur and cookbook author, describes it as “something uniquely African American” (Lasseter). I really resonate with that statement as I can’t imagine a real holiday celebration without the dish. Every Thanksgiving, my grandma bakes more pies than I can count, making sure anybody who wants a slice can get one. She brings a bunch of these perfect combinations of creamy and crisp pies to church, passing them out to family and friends. This sense of community isn’t something that sparked out of nowhere but is baked into African American history, including the Civil Rights era. Georgia Gilmore is a sweet-potato-pie baker, just like my grandma. The only difference is Georgia’s pies were used for activism during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, rather than just a nice holiday treat (Hunt). Fundraising money for drivers who helped others get to work, her pies played a part in the demonstration that dismantled systemic oppression (Hunt).

The rich history of African Americans’ resilience shows how, just like the sweet potato, it is durable even through the harshest times, so too is the African-American community. It was a symbol shaped by the eras of discrimination faced by the Black community as a whole. Yet it represents joy, love, and freedom, all important themes in African-American culture, and the creation of sweet potato pie. The conversation baked within the creamy sweet potato filling and its flaky crust embraces the layered identity of African-Americans like me. It's a comforting warmth I can enjoy even from my small dorm, as a big, loving embrace from my parents to their homesick daughter. It’s a tradition passed from generation to generation, keeping its same sweet flavor, as Alexander Smalls says,“ an edible smile.” (Lasseter)

Me proudly holding the home-made pie in my dorm, November 10, 2025, by Zariah Chaney

Works Cited

Bovell-Benjamin, Adelia C. “Sweet Potato: A Review of Its Past, Present, and Future Role in Human Nutrition.” Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, vol. 52, 2007, pp. 1–59. ScienceDirect, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/bookseries/pii/S1043452606520017. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Chaney, Zariah. Home-made sweet potato pie. November 10, 2025. Author’s personal collection.

Chaney, Zariah. My mother, the sweet potato pie baker, holding the dish made from my grandma's recipe. November 10, 2025, by Zariah Chaney

Chaney, Zariah. Me, proudly holding the home-made pie in my dorm. November 10, 2025. Author’s personal collection

Hunt, Maria C. “Not Just Dessert: How Sweet Potato Pie Became a Tool of Black American Resistance.” The Guardian, Guardian News & Media, 28 Nov. 2024, www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/nov/28/sweet-potato-pie. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Lasseter, Mary Beth. “The Joyful Black History of the Sweet Potato.” Gravy, Southern Foodways Alliance, 4 Dec. 2024, www.southernfoodways.org. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Standing, Edmund. “The English Origins of Sweet Potato Pie.” WordPress, 30 Oct. 2018, edmundstanding.wordpress.com/2018/10/30/the-english-origins-of-sweet-potato-pie/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

Grammarly Disclosure: Grammarly was used to improve grammar and spelling in this essay.

Page updated

Report abuse