Month: March 2025

Shaheryar Asghar ’28

Yesterday felt different; it was a day where coming to Baltimore no longer felt like an adjustment — it had settled in. The drive to Our Daily Bread wasn’t filled with curiosity or uncertainty anymore; instead, it was a quiet reflection on how this place, and the people who have made it meaningful, had started to feel like a system — familiar and personal. The idea of how change becomes comfort weighed on my mind throughout the journey. I kept wondering: how does a new setting, initially foreign, become home? How do the people we encounter transform an experience from obligation to belonging?

In these few days, a quiet bond had emerged — no longer the cautious dynamic of people thrown together by circumstance, but something deeper. It felt like we were no longer just participants in a shared project; we were part of a shared story. Yesterday, I found myself questioning why I was on this trip — not just the purpose of the work itself, but why I was here with these particular people. And somewhere in that question lay the answer.

As we approached Our Daily Bread, Jaiden’s smile stood out to me. His eagerness to be there wasn’t fueled by obligation but by a quiet, internal motivation. That genuine drive reminded me why we were all there — not because we had to be, but because we wanted to be. Inside, Dora’s excitement was equally infectious. The warmth in her voice as she recounted her previous experiences inspired all of us. It was as if she carried a quiet light, guiding the rest of us forward.

Our first task was simple — tying tea bags in bundles of ten. I found myself next to Rose, working in shared silence. But that silence wasn’t empty; it was heavy with meaning. Her quiet focus and care for such a small task reminded me that inspiration isn’t something external — it’s carried within us.

Before the doors opened, we were assigned our roles. Each task — serving, cleaning, assisting — carried its own quiet beauty. It wasn’t just about the job itself but the shared process of doing it together. For a moment, I stepped back and wondered why it was us — these specific thirteen people — standing together in that room. It felt intentional, as though we had been woven into the same story for a reason.

Continue reading “A Journey Toward Belonging”

Rose Nyounway ’27, 3.10.25

I chose the Food, Faith, and Justice course because I wanted to explore my faith and understand the impact of social justice through an interfaith lens. Coming to Baltimore, I had high and fixed “expectations”, especially on attending a Black Church. I longed for the sense of belonging, warmth and community that I had experienced growing up in a Christian family back in West Africa. My Sunday mornings were filled with joyful chaos of preparation that led to long 3 hours service which concluded or began with me getting warm hugs and embraces from church mothers and grandmothers.

This expectation was created and affirmed after Barbara, another student who has taken this course, consistently shared with me how a hug she got at the Liberty Grace Church of God felt just like a grandmother’s hug where she got the feeling of familiarity, home, assurance and a sense of belonging. I was eager and I longed for that same experience. I imagined walking into the church and feeling instantly at home after I had gotten the hug Barbara described. But after embracing several people, I realized that I had confined myself to nostalgia, searching for something familiar instead of embracing the richness of the new experience that I was in. After a short retrospection, I let go of my expectations and opened my heart to the depth of the Black Church, without trying to see it through the lens of what I expected it to be.

Read more: Beyond Belonging

The sermon delivered by a guest preacher, Rev. Dr. Alvin Hathaway, retired pastor of the Union Baptist Church and a renowned faith leader in Baltimore, was a call to reflection for me and my peers. His sermon themed: “Never Forget” with text taken from Exodus 1:8 was a warning of the danger of forgetting history. The new Pharaoh’s ignorance of Joseph or the history of the Israelites led to 400 years of enslavement, just as the new President’s failure to acknowledge the struggles and success of Black people has caused him to create a system that would erase protections, dismantle safety nets, and terrorize marginalized communities. Rev. Hathaway’s sermons reveal so much about the rich history of Baltimore city and the firm participation of Churches and religious organizations in the Civil Rights movement. 

I was astonished by how little I knew of the history of Baltimore and how much I was able to learn and understand from just 30 minutes in the Black Congregation that I confined to just what I expected. We learned that Baltimore is the birthplace of many civil rights battles, and has long been a witness to both oppression and resistance. Rev. Hathaway spoke of freedom fighters like Rev. Harvey Johnson, who in 1883 sued a steamship company in a test case that laid the foundation for many test cases that were carried out by the Civil Rights Movement. He also highlighted the work of Justice Thurgood Marshall whose lawsuit against University of Maryland led to the establishment of the Law school at the University that enrolled Juanita Jackson Mitchell whose participation in the Civil Rights Movement is highly recognizable.

Rev. Hathaway’s message was one of the most impactful, historical and meaningful sermons that I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life and as I sat in the pews, reflecting on his words, I realized my experience that morning had become something deeper than what I originally sought. I did not find the one hug that felt like home, but I found something even greater. I discovered the impact of the Black Church in liberation movements, a faith that would sharpen my understanding on social justice, and a community that stands firm in the face of adversity.

Jazmin Burdette ’28, 3.9.25

During the duration of this class, I’ve learned a lot about myself, the world around me, and the world where I grew up. 

I had never really questioned where my food came from before attending Bucknell, being from California I knew it was more local than imported and that the food was almost always fresh, no matter the season. Who knew moving across the country can cause your perspective to change? This question started to be asked in my first semester of college, wherein I was in the Residential College program and I took a class called Sustainable Harvest. This class inspired me to try to pursue a minor in food systems, and it introduced me to this course. 

Read more: In Abundance, and Frequently

Food, Faith, and Justice has been one of my favorite classes at Bucknell. Although I am still a first year so there’s more time for other classes to take that place, I think it’ll be a hard class to top. It’s really made me question where food comes from, where does it go, and who benefits the most from its creation. Food has always been integral to my culture and personal beliefs, I view it as sacred and a communal activity. Eating alone is something I only do for breakfast, as I fortify myself for the day ahead. Learning about systemic racism and redlining is always troubling, as it can lead to feeling trapped in a system that’s stacked against “us” (that is, BIPOC). But I believe that learning about issues is the only way to truly understand and fix them. 

During our conversation with Pastor Brown, he dropped diamonds like the planet Neptune, in abundance and frequently. Two of the phrases that stuck with me were “Focus is fruit” and “Critique what is, create what isn’t.” I’ve recently been restructuring my focus in life and priorities, doing my best to live in a way that aligns with my faith and that will help me achieve what I’ve been called to do- medicine. I hope to create a learning environment in my community focused on the importance of nutrition and the effects it has on health and get to the root of the cause of the many health issues in America today that relate to diet. 

Virginia Hostetter ’25, 3.9.25

Early this morning, our group met Dr. Reverend Brown to help the Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN). Wearing a bright green cap that read “Support Black Farmers,” Dr. Brown welcomed us to the garden of New Creation Church. As part of Dr. Brown’s work with the BCFSN, he invited us to un-winterize and prepare this garden for seeding in April – an essential step for many of the 250 congregations in his network. His goal was to motivate us and encourage us to be a voice in this garden. His goal was to motivate us, encourage us to be present in this space, and ensure that our voices and hard work were heard.

Read more: How to Build a (Better) Community 

His teachings were simple yet profound: Focus on the illness, not just the symptoms. In terms of food distribution, this means each church provides their congregations and neighbors with fresh veggies and fruits from their garden. Take it one step further, and each church can grow and harvest one type of food, so when their work is combined, you have even more. Take it another step forward and you can have children playing,  learning, and participating in the garden. Keep going, and you’ll implement a system that gives out composting bags one Sunday and collects them the next. Suddenly, we’ve turned feeding one church congregation into feeding neighborhoods, teaching the next generation how to keep it going, promoting earth sustainability, and truly creating a giving food economy. 

The point is that growth and change require creating a community-ecosystem – one where we can feed, uplift, and root for everyone at every level. To emphasize this, Dr. Rev. Brown taught us the meaning of “giving the hungry the ability to feed themselves.” It is easy to recognize that a struggling community member could benefit from more money, but it’s harder to see that money to go to a grocery store is a very short-term solution. The real solution comes from growing a community that shares food, resources, tools, knowledge, and support to ensure long-term food security and health for all. 

After farming, we met with Dr. Rev. Brown over lunch. He wanted to know more about each of us and what drives us. It’s like he was trying to envision the ultimate sports team, where we know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and how to work together. His mindset? Don’t focus on the systems you don’t like or that don’t work. Instead, focus on what you can do to make them better. What can I bring to the table? What should be changed about some xyz system? The next step is to go and do it. Dream first, plan later. Start the group, then find the funding. That’s exactly how he built BCFSN. 

I don’t know if this was the lesson he wanted me to take away most, but for me, it was this: Just do the damn thing. Don’t dwell on the past. Don’t fixate on what you lack. Instead, build the community you want to see. Work with the people around you. Cherish them for who they are and what they know. Share your resources, always think deeper and one step ahead, and focus on creating real change—even in systems that are much larger than you.

Follow along for regular reflections and updates from our Wonderful Food Faith Justice cohort as we jump into a week of intensive Community Partnership in Baltimore with our many wonderful partners including:
The Black Church Food Security Network
Temple X Academy, and Liberty Grace Church
Our Daily Bread
Strength to Love II Community Farm
The Islamic Society of Baltimore
Bread for the World
Baltimore City Food Policy & Planning
and Beth Am Synagogue

Group reflections coming soon!