Food has the power to bring people together, and perhaps no one knows this better than United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Thomas-Greenfield, who has had a 35-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service, has long used her home-cooked dishes to foster international dialogue.
“Particularly us women from the South….People say, ‘well the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.’ I say, the best way to the hearts of people, is through their stomach,” Greenfield-Thomas told MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend at the recent Black Women Lead summit in Washington D.C.
Thomas-Greenfield continued, “It is through sitting at a table having a good meal. And it’s even more impressive if you cook the meal yourself….When I want people to really enjoy a meal at my house, I cook it myself. Now I have Gumbo diplomacy, but I have something else that’s even better than the Gumbo, and it’s just red beans and rice.”
“Red beans and rice diplomacy,” replied Sanders-Townsend.
During her 2021 nomination acceptance speech for U.N. ambassador, Thomas-Greenfield, who was born and raised in Louisiana, noted how she frequently made gumbo (the state’s signature dish) with the goal of “breaking down barriers, connecting with people, and starting to see each other on a human level.”
Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, 70, also discussed her upbringing, which included being the oldest of eight children and growing up in the segregated South. Sanders asked the ambassador to share a piece of advice she wishes she could tell her younger self.
“You know, I wish someone had told me I could be anything, that I could do anything … . I did not know when I was a young girl and even when I was in college that I could do anything and be anything.”
“When did you find out that you could [do anything]?” Sanders-Townsend asked.
“When I did it,” Ambassador Greenfield swiftly replied.
Thomas-Greenfield was nominated by President Biden to be ambassador to the United Nations on January 20, 2021. She shared how she became the second Black woman to serve in the role.
The ambassador explained that she was not informed of which position she was being considered for within the Biden Administration, all while still going through an “intense vetting process.”
“I got a call saying the President Elect [Biden] would like to see you in Delaware to interview for the position. I said, ‘what position?’ and they said, ‘you don’t know?’ I’m like, ‘No, what am I being considered for?’ [I was told], ‘Oh, you’re being considered for the ambassador to the United Nations as a cabinet level position,’” Thomas-Greenfield recounted.
Sanders-Townsend made the point that many Black women can identify with the ambassador’s story when it comes to leadership in the workplace. She also said that the appointment of the ambassador is refreshing for Black women across the nation.









