To save Kansas City’s oldest Black-owned bookstore, Black Feast Week needs support | Opinion

Kansas City’s first Black Feast Week kicked off this week. In the coming days, I’m going to have some tough decisions to make about lunch or dinner plans.

Through Oct. 14, more than a dozen Black-owned restaurants will band together to help support Willa’s Books and Vinyl, the city’s longest standing Black-owned bookstore. Not only is it vital to support locally-owned small businesses — we must ensure this venerable store remains a part of our community. Independent bookstores, especially Black-owned ones, are extremely important to the culture here.

Over the next couple of weeks, I plan to visit as many of these diverse eateries as possible. You should make plans to support the establishments as well.

There are many reasons to spend your meal money at these places during Black Feast Week. Just the sheer number of places offering daily deals over the next two weeks is enticing to my taste buds.

Sixteen restaurants will take part. The fare ranges from delicious vegan options to some of the tastiest fried foods in the city. Also on tap: Ethiopian and soul food dishes, as well as several unique loaded baked potato options from TC’s Fully Loaded food truck.

Kansas City’s first Black-owned brewery, Vine Street Brewing Co., is offering deals on beer flights.

Hungry or thirsty yet?

With the help of area social media influencers, these Black-owned restaurants are betting on this push to help attract new and returning customers. If a participating business makes a profit, it has the option of donating portions of the proceeds to the campaign to save Willow’s Books from shutting down, organizers said.

Black Feast Week was organized by the Kansas City Defender, a Black nonprofit media and community organization tapping into the pulse of young Kansas Citians. This is not the Defender’s first community-focused initiative. It most likely won’t be its last. There have been food giveaways and back-to-school supply events before.

‘Urgent crisis’ with closed restaurants

Founder and executive editor Ryan Sorrell said this initiative was launched in response to what he described as a crisis in the Black restaurant community. In the last three months alone, three popular Black food and entertaining spots have ceased operations, Sorrell said.

Just this summer, Southern-inspired restaurant The Soiree in the 18th & Vine Jazz District, Raytown’s The Krave KC and Privee Restaurant and Lounge on Southwest Boulevard have closed.

“To us that represented an urgent crisis,” Sorrell said.

He credited Defender reporter Lynnie Holl for coming up with the idea to highlight the 16 diverse restaurants taking part in this two-week celebration.

At Black Feast Week’s kickoff event known as the People’s Food Buyout at the District Fish & Pasta House, the wonderful smell of fried basa catfish — or was that whiting? — filled the restaurant. I craved the fried shrimp. Dozens of families waited on their orders inside. Others lined up outside waited patiently to enter and place theirs.

For one night, the first 100 Black mothers and their families didn’t have to worry about dinner plans. Thanks to the Defender and District Fish & Pasta, the food was free.

“I think it’s great,” said Kiesha Martin, a mother of two from Kansas City. “It gives moms a break and takes some of that stress off. We don’t have to worry about dinner tonight. That’s taken care of.”

The Defender’s Holl added, “That is what this is about.”

If the food buyout was intended to set the tone for Black Feast Week as organizers have said, then job well done. After visiting the fish restaurant for this column without eating, I must return for the fish or shrimp combo with sides. I’m thinking of creamy mac and cheese and those collard greens on the menu. I will probably order a strawberry soda pop to top off things.

I have plans to dine at other Black-owned restaurants in Kansas City on this list, too.

Care to join me?

Participating Black Feast Week restaurants:

• Chef Smokey
• Deez Nachos
• District Biskuits
• District Fish & Pasta House
• Fannie’s African Cuisine
• Kinship Cafe
• LCs Bar-B-Q
• Mattie’s Foods
• Mesob Restaurant & Rhum Bar
• My Village Grill
• Niecie’s Restaurant
• TC’s Fully Loaded
• Teetasty Foods
• Urban Cafe
• Vine Street Brewing Co.
• Wah Gwan Jamaican & Nigerian Cuisine

This story was originally published October 2, 2024 at 11:13 AM.