The idea of “soul food” means something totally different to Common than it used to. Like many Chicagoans, the award-winning music artist, actor, author and activist used to enjoy copious amounts of Harold’s Chicken and his mama’s cooking. But today he has a new appreciation for what really nourishes your soul, body, and mind — and he’s spreading the word in his latest book, “And Then We Rise: A Guide to Loving and Taking Care of Self.”
Set for release Tuesday by HarperCollins, it follows up Common’s two previous New York Times bestselling memoirs, “Let Love Have the Last Word” and “One Day It’ll All Make Sense.” In the latest, the talent is sharing his personal self-care journey to realizing food is medicine.
Over the course of 209 pages broken out into four sections (food, body, mind and soul), there are words of wisdom he’s gleaned from many sources, like his integrative physician, Dr. Tracey Rico. He also offers practical ways forward — including plant-based recipes, workouts for all levels and even playlists of the tracks he listens to in the gym to get motivated — for anyone who wants to join what he hopes will become a movement.
“Health really is a right of ours,” Common declared in a recent interview before coming home for a Jan. 29 event at the Harold Washington Library, sponsored by the Chicago Public Library. There, he’ll discuss “And Then We Rise” and sign copies.
“Unfortunately in the country we live in and world we live in, we are inundated with foods that don’t do our bodies right, and even information that doesn’t do our minds or spirits well,” he added. “What do we do to basically combat that or to overcome that and fight through that? It’s what this book is about and what this movement is about.”
The idea grew for Common when he was in London filming the Apple TV+ series “Silo,” when his vegan chef (Lauren Von Der Pool, “the queen of green”) traveled with the artist and made meals for him, sharing how foods overseas are processed less and have much less sugar than American goods.
“I remember just eating the same amount of foods, but just feeling lighter, feeling healthier, and then I realized that this is one of the biggest cities in the world that had free health care, and I was like, ‘Wow, we need this in America.’ ”
In a way, the book is an extension of the “Com + Well” YouTube series Common launched during the pandemic in which viewers could follow along with his workouts, cooking in the kitchen and chats with industry experts in the mental health and wellness fields.
“I realized it really inspired and affected people,” he said. “They’d see me on the screens and they’d be like, ‘Man I was doing the workouts with you,’ or ‘I got through half of it and had to sit down, but I did some of it.’ … As someone who has had access to it, now I want to share the information.”
The 51-year-old first became informed about the importance of taking care of himself in a similar way, through music icons he loved.
“The one thing I want to make very clear is like I’m a Chicago dude. I didn’t even know what a vegetarian was until KRS-One started rapping about it in his songs,” the Luther High School South grad said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Why are Eric B. and Rakim talking about eating fish all the time?’ They were just doing it naturally, but they were introducing me to new things and new philosophies.”
Friend Erykah Badu was also someone who gave Common wisdom about eating raw and vegan foods early on, telling him, “You gotta put life into your body.”
Although “And Then We Rise” is for anyone looking for resources and motivation to start their own self-care journey, Common said that his focus was largely on people in the Black community, who have alarmingly higher rates of illnesses like cancer and diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black men and women “have the highest death rate for cancer overall.”
“I really feel that Black communities, Brown communities, the foods we have in our neighborhoods … and the stress and anxieties and things we have to deal with as a society are inequitable,” said Common. “I’m looking at ways that we can overcome those obstacles and have the tools, the resources to deal with it.”
True to his word, Common shared he has been in talks with Mayor Brandon Johnson about ideas, adding to a passage in his book about getting behind the mayor’s campaign early on, believing his heart is in the right place to help the people of Chicago.
“I have some things that I would like to set up and implement with the mayor. … Health and wellness would be one of the things I would like to implement into our neighborhoods,” Common shared, adding that he’d like to have community centers offering health programs and options for mindful physical activities like yoga. (He also gave a nod to local spots like Hi Vibe juices, Beatrix restaurant in River North and Virtue restaurant in Hyde Park for being some of his favorite go-tos when he’s in town).
“I do have plans to bring more positive things to the city. … I want people to know we can heal through eating correctly, through emotional wellness and spiritual wellness, and we just got to have the resources.”
