The influencer (@blackfoodfridays) celebrates the best in Black food, history, and culture in snackable vids (like why we should be drinking okra water and celebrating a Black man as the founder of the CSA). This year, Kearney, a vocal advocate for Black-owned restaurants (and not just on Fridays), launched “Bite the Power,” a traveling Black-food storytelling event.
Photos by Sirena White-Singleton
October 24, 2024
TBS: Where are you from? Where are you right now?
KJK: I’m from right here, North Charleston — born and raised — and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon, especially [draws out the word speshhh-a-leeeee] with the Charleston food scene on the rise like it is. [Right now?] I’m in the Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood, where I’m a community organizer, and I’m at King BBQ for a lunch meeting. [Yes, our interview is happening while he’s in another meeting, at lunch, and there is definitely a little bit of chomping into the phone. Yes, this is more than five questions; we ask for K.J.’s regular order.] I always, always get the BBQ Fried Rice, always. But today I ordered the special — a BLT made with pork belly instead of bacon and romaine instead of bibb lettuce that’s been dipped in Caesar salad dressing with some fancy heirloom tomatoes. It’s real good.
TBS: How did Black Food Fridays get started?
KJK: Long story short, I was a community organizer, still am, and during the pandemic, I was writing a book about Beyoncé being “the greatest community organizer of all time.” Like a lot of folks during that lonely period, I needed a break from my primary pandemic project, so I decided to make a Google Maps list of Black-owned restaurants in Charleston. Now, if I heard it once, I heard it 9,000 times back then, you should do more of this! Make more lists! So on April 5, 2020, I made a list of Black-owned restaurants that were staying open during the shutdown. Anyway, what began as a directory has evolved into a social media account that aggregates Black food, news, history, and culture.
TBS: Your latest venture, “Bite the Power,” tell us about that.
KJK: It’s a multicity tour — Charleston, Brooklyn, and Toronto in 2024, and then 18 cities in 2025 — which is basically a new TED event for the Black food space. Actually, it’s like TED and PechaKucha had a baby, but Black. “Bite the Power” is the real-world work of Black Food Fridays … take it off the Internet and plunk it down IRL. Everyone who participates has 16 slides — spends 30 seconds on each, eight minutes total — to tell their story.
TBS: What do you want people to know?
KJK: Y’all. The Internet is not a real place. Throwing up a black square or simply Instagramming about change isn’t real. And while it does help to get the word out, real change comes from being in proximity to the real issues. Also, this is important: Voting is only step one in a 10-step process.
TBS: How can we help?
KJK: Please speak about me in rooms I don’t know exist. If you know of me and what I’m doing and you align with my cause, please bring me up. The work of the DMO (Destination Marketing Org) is so important. They are making the narrative real. They’re creating the narrative for these cities large and small across the country. If I’m involved, Black chefs, restaurateurs, and more will be part of that city’s story. ◊
