New Year’s Day Black-Eyed Peas and Greens at Wa Na Wari

Start your new year off right with a favorite Southern New Year’s Day and Wa Na Wari tradition. Every New Year’s Day we invite the community to join us for black-eyed peas and greens. Take your plate home or stay and enjoy a meal among friends. Both the black-eyed peas and the greens are vegan.

New Year food folklores on black-eyed peas and greens include:

• Eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day brings good luck in the new year.

• For the best chance of luck every day in the new year, eat 365 black-eyed peas on New Year's Day.

• When served with greens (collards, mustard or turnip), black-eyed peas represent coins and greens represent paper money.

• Cornbread, often served with black-eyed peas and greens, represents gold.

• Black-eyed peas eaten with stewed tomatoes represent wealth and health.

• In Hoppin' John, each pea represents a coin, and a whole serving equals prosperity.

ABOUT WA NA WARI:Sited in a fifth-generation, Black-owned home, Wa Na Wari is an immersive community art project that reclaims Black cultural space and makes a statement about the importance of Black land ownership in gentrified communities. Our mission is to create space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection. Referred to as a "container for Black joy,” Wa Na Wari incubates and amplifies Black art and belonging while providing a safe space for organizing and movement building. By renting a house from a vulnerable Black homeowner and giving that space back to the Black community, Wa Na Wari is an active model for how Black art and culture can combat gentrification and displacement. 

Website: wanawari.org

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On Instagram: @wanawariseattle