At the Table: Exploring Food, Family, and Our Shared Histories
This event is a project of the Community Wellbeing Program from the Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council. It is presented in tandem with the Quinn Gallery exhibit Food and Family: African American and Intercultural Traditions.
SPECIAL EVENT
At the Table:
Exploring food, family, and our shared histories
DATE:Â July 18, 2026
TIME: 11am – 3pm
Join us for a talk and tasting that brings together African American and Mexican American perspectives on food, family, and heritage.
This talk is presented by Kathleen Benjamin and Daniel Alonzo, friends and community leaders whose 57-year friendship began in Santa Monica’s elementary school classrooms.
Discover the cultural and historical roots of beloved dishes from African American and Mexican American food traditions and the ways food connects history, identity, and community.
Through storytelling, images, and a tasting, the presentation will explore how traditions are passed down, evolve over time, and serve as a powerful bridge between generations and communities. It will honor the histories that shape us, recognize the struggles and resilience within our communities, and celebrate the ways we continue to come together in unity for a more just and connected future.
Tastes of the combined cultures will be available to enjoy at the end of the program.
Please register to attend, and please arrive on time as late entries will not be permitted.
Rev. Kathleen Benjamin is a licensed minister, interfaith leader, and community organizer serving as President of the Santa Monica Area Interfaith Council. She brings extensive experience in spiritual leadership, event planning, and collaborative community‑building, including museum programming, cultural exhibits, and educational workshops in Santa Monica and Ventura County. An award‑winning fundraiser for the American Red Cross and past president of the Santa Monica College General Advisory Board, she also co‑programmed the seven‑year Love and Unity Festival, deepening her commitment to inclusive, community‑centered outreach and celebration. Drawing on over four decades in food service and culinary arts, including her work as owner‑operator of Your Private Chef, a full‑service catering and chef‑staffing company, and as a private chef, Kathleen brings a refined gift for creating hospitable, welcoming spaces of shared nourishment and connection, where all feel empowered.
Her spiritual formation has been enriched through study with Self‑Realization Fellowship, founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, as well as with renowned contemporary teachers Jean Houston, Deepak Chopra, and Michael Bernard Beckwith. Trained through the Holmes Institute and the Centers for Spiritual Living in leadership studies and ministerial formation, she is dedicated to fostering inclusive spiritual dialogue, social justice, and compassionate service across diverse traditions.
Daniel Alonzo is a second-generation Santa Monican and the great-grandson of Ruperto Casillas, who arrived in Santa Monica in 1902 from Valle de Guadalupe in Jalisco. Raised in Santa Monica’s Mexican American barrio near Nineteenth Street and Olympic Boulevard, Daniel later moved with his family to Sunset Park, where he grew up and attended St. Anne’s School, Will Rogers Elementary, John Adams Junior High, and Santa Monica High School. In 1975, during his senior year, he won a statewide competition for his design of a California Bicentennial Medallion. He credits his parents, Rosendo Alonzo and Ruth Casillas Alonzo, for instilling in him a strong work ethic, respect for others, and deep pride in his family, heritage, and hometown.
Daniel is also a respected fine artist, best known for Whale of a Mural, completed in 1983 on the Fourth Street and Ocean Park Boulevard underpass. Self-financed and created over twelve months, the mural was a gift to the community and the city he loves. His mother was active in the Santa Monica Mexican community and helped establish ESL programs in local schools, while also passing down the history and pride of the Casillas family. Daniel’s time living in the Sea Castle Apartments near the beach, and the loss of that building in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, later inspired a series of paintings celebrating Santa Monica’s cityscapes and historic places. Though he moved to Northridge in 2014, Santa Monica remains his spiritual home.
