Ms. Sylvia Passes Away!

Dubbed the "Queen of Soul Food", Sylvia Woods passed away after complications of Alzheimer's disease.

I could remember that four years ago, Bill O'Reilly once said on his old radio program, "Hey, M-fer! I want more ice tea!" He made that comment about how unruly Black patrons act in restaurants. Black conservative commentator Juan Williams defended his comments and claimed that "the media" was blacklisting O'Reilly for his comments. If O'Reilly was blacklisted, why is he still on television?

That infamous comment from the conservative agitator came after he and now MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton were attending the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's. At first, O'Reilly was expressing his concerns about attending a Black restaurant but realized that the historic eating establishment was more than some run of the mill shack.

The reason why I bring this up is the fact that the owner of the famed restaurant had died.

According to CNN and the liberal agitating website, Newser, Sylvia Woods, known internationally as the "Queen of Soul Food," died Thursday, according to a statement issued by her family. She was 86.

"Sylvia gallantly battled Alzheimer's for the past several years, but never once lost her loving smile," her family said. She died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones at her Westchester home.

Woods' world-renowned Harlem establishment, Sylvia's, has drawn celebrities, politicians, tourists and locals alike to enjoy its famed soul food for more than 50 years.

Woods and her husband, Herbert, opened the Lenox Avenue restaurant in 1962, featuring Southern cooking staples like cornbread, collard greens and fried chicken.

"We lost a legend today," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement. "For more than 50 years, New Yorkers have enjoyed Sylvia's and visitors have flocked to Harlem to get a table. In her words, the food was made with 'a whole lot of love' and generations of family and friends have come together at what became a New York institution."

Following the success of her restaurant, Woods and her family developed Sylvia's Catering Corp. and a nationwide line of Sylvia's Food Products.

Woods also penned two celebrated cookbooks, "Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook: From Hemingway, South Carolina, To Harlem" and "Sylvia's Soul Food."

Woods announced her retirement from her soul food empire on her 80th birthday, her family said, passing the torch to her children and grandchildren.


Courtesy of YouTube