Why Do People Treat Me The Way They Do?: The Autobiography Of Jefferson Evans

By Jefferson Evans and Glenn Ellis

"Why Do People Treat Me The Way They Do?," is the autobiography of Jefferson Evans, the very first black graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. It is also so much more. It is a look at the life of a legendary chef and man. It is the perspective of a man who has almost seen a century of the world changing in front of him

• Language: English
• Publisher: Glenn Ellis
• Release date: Dec 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9780998404028

Jefferson Evans

Jefferson Evans was born in 1923. Jefferson is the very first black graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and one of the institution's first black teachers. He is the first black teacher at Johnson and Wales. He has served as an inspiration to countless students of all nationalities as an example of fortitude, perseverance, and determination.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

My name is Baron George Poitier. I am the youngest grandson of Jefferson Evans. Today is December 27, 2014. I am 34 years old. I am joined here with my wife Christian who is also 34 years old. I have an 11-year-old daughter. She is the number one wedding gift I received, Jasmine Simone Rainbow. We have also our first miracle child, Isabella Joy Rainbow, born Sept 2012. We also are joined by Samuel Baron Poitier, my first boy born in Sept 2013. We had the wonderful pleasure of sitting with my grandfather as we always do. We currently live In Grand Prairie, Texas. We have been married for five years. Every time we come to Connecticut, we take the time to come out and sit with my grandfather who is a great man of wisdom and knowledge and insight. People have not always understood him and have probably wanted to change who he is, but his authentic self is his best self. He has much to give this world and much to give a person like me who is raising my own family and trying one day to be a great person and to set a precedent for my own children as he has set for me. He has always been a person of great integrity. He has always done exactly what he said he was going to do. As a man coming up one day wanting to be a man and a father and a husband, he was a great role model. He served as a great example of what true manhood really looked like. I appreciate him for that. Today being the anniversary of my grandmother passing, he is still pressing forward never letting anything stop him from doing what God has called him to do and what is in his heart to do. And that is to help people to make sure his life is better and better every single day by also making those lives around him like mine even better. So I just want poppy to know I love him and I’m telling to his face right now. I love him. He does my heart joy every time I see him and that’s all we have.

My name is Stanley Dixon. I am the nephew of Uncle Jeff. I remember him from the sixties. I remember him from about the age of eleven or twelve. He used to take us out and show us a good time. I am here with my oldest son Timothy and my wife, Sheena. What we remember most is when my four children and I came from Arizona, I was in the navy. I went to officer training school in Rhode Island and Uncle Jeff and Aunt T. came to my graduation. I was always blessed by his presence there. It was a great experience and I loved them for coming. His life has been a testimony to many. Someone wrote me the other day and said your uncle is a great inspiration. He reminds me of Frederick Douglass, not in just the way he looked but in what he did, breaking down barriers and being the first black chef to graduate from the Culinary Institute of America. He then went back to be an instructor of that same institution. The establishment of the Jefferson Evans scholarship has been a blessing to many. We are proud to be a part of this family.

Chapter 1

The Early Years in Georgia

My name is Jefferson Evans. I was born June 2,1923. I would like to tell you stories about my life. In my story, I will ask this question many times. Why do people treat me the way they do? When I was about six months old my sister who is named Ann set my cradle on fire. Ann was born January 16,1922. She is a little more than a year older than me. So even though I can’t remember it, I still have the scar on my right hand after 92 years to remind me. I do remember something that happened when I was about four or five years old. My brother Virtus who was born July 4, 1920, set the house on fire. We were living on a farm and we grew cotton. When we picked cotton we would store it in the house and on the porch. Now cotton is very soft. That day I was sleep on the cotton and my brother set the cotton on fire. The fire reached me and I jumped up and ran off the porch. My father was not home. A neighbor came running over and helped put out the fire. They took all the rest of the cotton out the house and put it in the yard in small piles. They poured water all over the fire. When my father came home, he saw all that cotton in the yard. Once he found out what happened, he beat my brother’s butt. So even here early as a child, I have to ask the question. Why do people treat me the way they