Black Restaurant Week (BRW) begins Monday—Juneteenth. In the New York City/New Jersey area, more than 100 African American, African, and Caribbean-owned restaurants have already signed up and are ready to take part in this period of recognition.
Under this year’s “More Than Just Enough” campaign, BRW is looking to strengthen Black-owned restaurants, many of which have had to deal with a drop in finances because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
“COVID-19 changed the landscape since 2020,” said Warren Luckett, who created Black Restaurant Week in Houston, Texas, with his friends Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson in 2016. The initial mission was to combine forces to provide marketing and education about the variety of African diasporan cuisines that are available.
“Now, the price of food is soaring,” Luckett said. “From being overlooked for revitalization funds to inflation, most Black-owned culinary businesses cannot afford advertisements/PR/marketing to build awareness and attract consumers. That’s why we proudly do this for free––it’s peer-to-peer support for 10 or 14 days in each market and for the past seven years.”
In a press release, BRW said that “according to the Independent Restaurant Coalition, 500,000 restaurants and bars are faced with an uncertain future due to lost revenue and increased debt over the past two years. Additionally, 1.1 million minority-owned businesses often face heightened challenges and disparities when securing business funding. The shocking statistics championed Black Restaurant Week to revisit their ‘More Than Just a Week’ campaign.
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“The odds are continuously stacked against Black-owned culinary businesses and their survival is still in jeopardy as they face constant economic downturns due to recovering from the pandemic while currently coping with inflation. Less than 20% of U.S. employer businesses are minority-owned, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Last year, independent restaurant owners faced dire situations when Congress failed to re-up the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the U.S. Small Business Administration allegedly ran out of money.
“The mission: Feed and fuel the cultural famine––especially with an emphasis on reviving and saving the Black restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic––and educate consumers on the abundance of cultural cuisines and dispel ethnic untruths.”
Raichelle Carter, chef and owner of CATEREDxCARTER NYC, said that even though she spent 14 years working in the culinary industry, as everything from an online cook to an executive chef to a managerial cook, it was difficult to get the word out about her company when she started it five years ago.
CATEREDxCARTER offers meal offerings for all cuisine types and can create custom dinner menus for private dinner parties and catered events. The company does not have a physical location—its main point of contact is its website: www.123grub.com.
Carter told the Amsterdam News that, “through [the BRW] platform, I get a lot of traction––awareness of my business. It’s on me to land any job, but I do get a lot of traction and attention through their platform.”
There’s no cost for Black-owned restaurants to sign up and be part of the BRW platform. BRW does, though, offer extra marketing incentives if restaurants pay to be featured on the sites’ pages.
The BRW platform is helpful for pushing recognition of restaurants owned by marginalized and underrepresented groups, said Carter: “Things don’t necessarily fall in our laps or go in our favor just by default. We need that awareness; we need to be highlighted. The beautiful things that we’re doing, the talents that we possess, need just as much highlighting and traction.
“I think we’re doing some dope things within the Black community…we deserve the same representation.”
Could Mayor Adam’s put the same energy he expresses in regards to the migrant problem in NYC in the unemployment or underemployment of Black men and youth. You only have to take a look at many construction sites, especially the ones in the Bronx and see the contractors are not hiring Black folks. I see an entire work crew devoid of Black New Yorkers. Even the person holding the “Stop” sign who is often female is someone known to a member of the crew. If New York is so diverse, how is it that many crews on construction sites originate from the same country and not the USA are employed. How can the Black community get on the good foot if we can’t get a leg up? Look around, Mayor.