In March 2025, bryant participated in the second Melvin Van Peebles Symposium at Melvin’s alma mater, Ohio Wesleyan University. bryant’s contributions included delivering a performative lecture on his art practice to students and community members; teaching a class for the Cooking Matters program—a six-week course focused on cooking, nutrition, and meal planning on a budget; designing an hors d’oeuvres menu for the symposium’s opening reception; co-creating a zine with his collaborator, Los Angeles-based New Genres artist xiouping; and screen-printing t-shirts featuring an iconic photograph of Melvin Van Peebles illustrated by Oakland-based artist Robert Liu-Trujillo. bryant and xiouping also made a playlist inspired by Melvin, which they included in the zine.

Below are archival images of Melvin; photographs from bryant and xiouping’s time with him in 2009 in Los Angeles; documentation from bryant’s archival research on Melvin at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive during his time as an MFA student in Art Practice at UC Berkeley; process shots of his screen printing work; photos from his time at Ohio Wesleyan University during the symposium; and a QR code for their playlist.

What follows is an essay from the zine that Bryant co-created with artist xiouping , along with the menu he composed for the symposium’s opening reception and its conceptual underpinnings.

Food as Fire: Disruption, Reckoning, and Jubilee on a Plate

I first discovered the work of Melvin Van Peebles in a college film course. We watched Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and discussed how it redefined Black representation in cinema, rejected white establishment narratives, and embodied the ethos of rebellion, resistance, and self-determination. Watching and learning about the history of that film profoundly shaped my understanding of the power of art as a force for change, and I became an instant fan of Van Peebles.

In 2005, I watched the documentary How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), which deepened my appreciation. The film doesn’t just tell the story of Melvin’s life—it illuminates how he strategically navigated and disrupted industries that historically excluded or misrepresented Black people. More than just an artist, he was a cultural agitator and a master of self-determination, constantly pushing boundaries across multiple creative disciplines.

In 2009, I had the unexpected honor of meeting and spending time with Melvin. His son, Mario Van Peebles, invited me to appear as a guest on his environmentally conscious reality show, Mario’s Greenhouse, where he transformed his Los Angeles home and his family’s lifestyle to be fully eco-sustainable. I was thrilled to discover that Melvin was not only a part of the show but a central figure—both an elder statesman and a source of comic relief. We spent a full day filming at the Hollywood Farmers Market and Mario’s home, and Melvin was with us every step of the way. Before we began filming that Saturday, I had the rare privilege of sitting in the car with him for half an hour, talking about art, music, and business. It was surreal—meeting one of my heroes, let alone getting to chop it up with him in such an intimate setting.

When I saw the RFP for this symposium, I immediately immersed myself in The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, reading every article, press release, and publication about Melvin. I rewatched all of his films, tracing his career back to his first short, Three Pickup Men for Herrick, shot in San Francisco in the late 1950s. As I absorbed his body of work, I sought a way to honor his legacy through my own craft—which led me to create the hors d’oeuvres menu for this symposium’s opening reception.

The menu is inspired by cinematic themes in Melvin’s work and the overarching themes of the symposium—Disruption!!, Signal Fires, Reckoning, and Jubilee Through Black Art. Each dish reflects a blend of rich cultural heritage and bold flavors—much like Melvin’s storytelling, which seamlessly merged history, provocation, and artistry.

Disruption!! → Challenging Norms, Reimagining Classics

Barbecue Tempeh Bites

Tempeh, a fermented soybean product from Indonesia, is a staple in plant-based cuisine, known for its firm texture and nutty flavor. Frying and marinating it in barbecue sauce subverts traditional notions of barbecue, challenging meat-heavy expectations with a bold, plant-based alternative. The crispy fried onions, minced parsley, and smoked paprika add layers of crunch, freshness, and smoky richness, reinforcing the idea that disruption is not just about change—it’s about reinvention.

Signal Fires → Evoking Warmth, Transformation, and Survival

Black-Eyed Pea Fritter

A tribute to Southern food traditions and diasporic resilience, these fritters pair a spicy mustard greens paste with pikliz, the fiery, vinegary Haitian condiment. This dish tells a story of Black survival and revolution—from Haiti’s historic role as the first successful slave uprising, to the Great Migration, where over six million African Americans moved from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West. Like signal fires, this dish carries messages of survival across time and space.

Reckoning → Grappling with Legacy, Struggle, and Redemption

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Crostini

Roasted beets bring deep earthiness, while pickled beets introduce acidity, and fennel and benne seeds contribute brightness and texture. This dish represents reckoning, as beets—often overlooked yet deeply nourishing—symbolize what is buried, what resurfaces, and what must be confronted.

Jubilee → Celebration, Indulgence, and Communal Joy

Sweet Potato Tartlets

The pecan crust and meringue provide layers of sweetness, depth, and texture, while the toasted pecan half serves as a final, celebratory touch. Sweet potato pie is more than dessert in Black culture—it is a symbol of tradition, resilience, and togetherness. It is a dish that has traveled through generations of Black families, showing up at holidays, celebrations, and communal gatherings, embodying both ancestral memory and Black joy.

Melvin Van Peebles was an artist who refused to be confined—he was a filmmaker, playwright, musician, novelist, and cultural disruptor. He took ownership of his work, ensuring that Black people saw themselves fully and truthfully on screen and beyond.

With this menu, I hope to honor his legacy by doing the same—blurring boundaries, remixing traditions, and creating something that is not just nourishing, but meaningful. Whether through film, music, literature, or food, art is a vessel for transformation, and Melvin showed us that we have the power to shape how our stories are told.

I hope this menu—and my body of work—does the same.