Forward Times

There is a beautiful parallel between the patience required to smoke the perfect brisket and the patience required to raise a child.

For Forward Times Sports Writer John Hickman, learning to tend the fire from his uncles wasn’t just about barbecue—it was about learning how to show up for his village.

Now, two years into his own fatherhood journey, he’s realizing that the best parenting happens when you learn to slow down, embrace the learning curve, and appreciate the process.

From burning a rack of ribs to navigating late-night toddler fevers, growth doesn’t happen overnight.

It takes time, practice, and the willingness to get back on the grill (and back to parenting) after a tough day.

Celebrate the beauty of taking your time this Father’s Day season.

Read John’s full, heartwarming editorial on fatherhood and the art of the slow smoke here:

https://www.forwardtimes.com/editorial/slow-smoke-fatherhood-and-the-beauty-of-taking-your-time/article_fe4b87c1-cbe7-4683-af1f-4a7c8437eed8.html

🗣️ Forward Fam — what is the greatest lesson fatherhood (or a father figure) has taught you about patience?

Let us know in the comments below! ⬇️

Happy Father’s Day to every father carrying the quiet weight of caregiving.

Whether it’s a spouse, a child, or an aging parent, many men have answered the call to care for the people they love most, often without recognition and often while masking the emotional and physical toll it takes.

Dr. Cynthia J Hickman is using this Father’s Day to break a stereotype that still lingers in too many of our communities: caregiving is not exclusively a maternal role.

Fathers are just as capable of providing compassionate, hands-on care, and they deserve spaces where they can ask questions, express emotion, and seek help without fear of judgment.

Her message is simple and direct: give them grace. Ask how they’re really doing. Let them know they are seen.

Read the full column via the link in our bio. 🔗

🗣️ Forward Fam — is there a father in your life who has shown up as a caregiver? Give him his flowers below. ⬇️

For many of our elders, Juneteenth is more than a holiday.

It is a living archive of stories, experiences, and traditions, and music may be one of the most powerful ways to keep that archive alive.

Dr. Cynthia J. Hickman writes this week about the role music can play for elders who may face health challenges, mobility limitations, or cognitive changes that make traditional celebrations harder to attend.

Gospel. Spirituals. Jazz. R&B. Soul.

These genres carried our stories long before many of them were written down, and songs like We Shall Overcome and Lift Every Voice and Sing can transport an elder instantly back to the people and moments that shaped their lives.

Her advice this Juneteenth: build a playlist from your loved one’s generation.

Ask about their favorite artists and the memories tied to certain songs. If they cannot make it to a celebration, bring the celebration home.

Read the full column by Dr. Cynthia J. Hickman, Forward Times Health Writer, via the link here: https://www.forwardtimes.com/health/keeping-juneteenth-alive-through-music-and-memory/article_1272ebab-6d98-4be8-8738-2b8eaa7accad.html

🗣️ Forward Fam — what song instantly brings back a memory of an elder in your family? Share it below. ⬇️

This week, Forward Times is serving up Freedom On The Table — a special Juneteenth edition celebrating the recipes that built our families, our churches and our cookouts.

More than ingredients and instructions — these dishes carry memories, traditions and the people who made them.

This spread is only in the print edition — grab your copy at Mo’ Brunch & Brews (Houston’s Vegan Brunch & Vinyl Joint ) or on newsstands across Houston.

Juneteenth is tomorrow, and the grills are already getting prepped across Houston.

Barbecue. Watermelon. Greens. Black-eyed peas. Cornbread. These dishes carry generations of meaning, from the red foods symbolizing Black bloodshed and sacrifice to the prosperity foods meant to usher in good fortune.

But for anyone managing diabetes, hypertension, or simply trying to eat a little healthier this year, two Houston experts say you don’t have to choose between tradition and your health.

Read the full feature by Terrance Turner , Forward Times Staff Writer, here: https://www.forwardtimes.com/news/local-experts-provide-tips-for-a-healthy-happy-juneteenth/article_e20b4e36-b61c-4708-8a50-d0402d12204a.html

🗣️ Forward Fam — what’s a healthier twist you’ve added to a traditional Juneteenth dish? Share your swap below.

Chef Mariah Scott started out standing on a stool in her grandmother’s kitchen, watching biscuits get rolled by hand and collard greens simmer on the stove.

She had no way of knowing that kitchen would eventually lead her to over 30 countries, a seat at the table on FOX’s Next Level Chef, mentorship under Cat Cora, and a classroom at Houston City College, where she now teaches the next generation of culinary professionals through the acclaimed A La Carte dining program.

For this year’s Freedom On The Table Juneteenth special edition, her story became the answer to a question Forward Times kept returning to: what did those who came before us leave behind, and what do we carry forward from it?

For Scott, the answer lives in black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, hibiscus, and watermelon, ingredients honoring the African diaspora reimagined through a contemporary lens.

“Freedom is a celebration of where you’ve come from,” she said, “the stories that were told throughout the generations and where you’re going.”

Read the full feature by LENORA, Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, here: https://www.forwardtimes.com/news/the-stories-we-carry-to-the-table-chef-mariah-scott-and-the-ingredients-of-possibility/article_9b0994b7-c0c2-43f6-96ca-02291a01ec7f.html

Chef Reginald Scott looked up synonyms for the word rough, and coarse came up.

That was the whole concept.

He grew up in Memphis, a city the media has always hyped as rough, and built a career through years of setbacks, reinvention, and pure persistence.

He sold pickled vegetables at farmers markets during the pandemic because he couldn’t afford barbecue equipment.

He built a name through The Smoke and Flipp’n Chickens before opening his first full-service restaurant, Coarse, in the corridor between Independence Heights and Acres Homes.

Not in one of Houston’s established dining districts, but in the neighborhood that actually reflects who he is and the journey that brought him here.

His mom and his big mama cooked because they wanted to feed people. Now he feeds neighborhoods.

Read the full feature by DeVaughn Douglas. Forward Times Cultural Writer on our website here:

https://www.forwardtimes.com/a_and_c/chef-reginald-scott-finds-beauty-in-the-coarse/article_e4daf1a3-18e4-4bc8-a48b-2b72725350a9.html