Knoxville Restaurants Participate in Anti-Racist Coalition Southern Restaurants For Racial Justice

Current events, most recently the tragic death of George Floyd, have once again reminded Americans about the racial injustice that still exists today. Racism pervades countless aspects of life in the United States, and the food industry is no exception.

Individuals and restaurants in the food industry have started coming together to create anti-racist initiatives. A prominent example of such an initiative is Southern Restaurants For Racial Justice @srrj_coalition. 

SRRJ emerged in Nashville, Tennessee, and was founded by three female chefs: Lisa Marie Donovan, who has won multiple awards for her pastries, Cheryl Day of Savannah’s Back in the Day, and Sarah O’Brien of Atlanta’s Little Tart Bakery. On June 10th, Donovan described their project on her Instagram account @lisamariedonovan:

We are a coalition of bakers, chefs, and restaurant owners joined together to get behind Black-led organizations who are actively working to dismantle systemic racism and oppression in our society. And that by establishing a network that raises money monthly, we hope to support this work for many years to come. We are here to support, learn from, work for and amplify the Black voices and Black leaders in our communities. We are committed to this work and aim to keep the momentum of this moment alive in our efforts well into the future.

The coalition garnered a vast amount of support in a short period of time. Many quickly joined the coalition and showed their support by posting on Instagram the Southern Restaurants For Racial Justice logo and using Donovan’s caption from above. 

Father’s Day, June 21st marked the coalition’s first event. In the days leading up to June 21st, participating restaurants and individuals advertised the event by posting the SRRJ logo, SRRJ’s official statement, and how much of their proceeds each participant was planning to donate. Over 200 restaurants from 16 different cities, including Knoxville, donated between 10-100% of their sales to Color Of Change, @colorofchange, “to honor George Floyd…and ALL Black mothers and fathers facing racial injustices with their children every day.”

LOCAL PARTICIPATION

Some of the Knoxville participants include Ramen Bones of @ramen_bones, Old City Java of @oldcityjava, Wild Love Bakehouse of @wildlovebakehouse, VG’s Bakery of @vgsbakery, Olibea of @olibea_oldcity, Chandler’s Deli of @chandlers.deli, J.C. Holdway Restaurant of @jcholdway, Emilia of @emilia_knoxville, Kaizen of @knoxkaizen, Jackie’s Dream of @jackiesdream, Pearl on Union of @pearlonunion, Knoxville Farmacy of @knoxfarmacy, Idk Foods Crab Shack & More of @idkfoodsknox, Mer Mer’s Bakery of @mermers_bakery, Steamboat On Central of @steamboatoncentral, Tako Taco of @takotacoknox, Tern Club of @ternclub, Oakwood BBQ of @oakwoodbbqknox,  Magpies Bakery of @magpiescakes, A Dopo of @adopopizza, and Hard Knox Pizzeria of @hkpizza.

When asked why they decided to join SRRJ, Elizabeth of Magpies Bakery stated that “it is important to do whatever we can to support [the movement].” She also acknowledged that “as a person not of color, and not understanding on a personal level the struggles [that people of color face], it is important to educate myself.” She spoke positively about SRRJ and finds that it is effective in its mission because it “brings awareness...and opens the door to more conversation” about racial inequity. On Father’s Day, Magpies donated 10% of its sales, which totaled over $300, to Color Of Change.

Local Knoxville Pizzeria, A Dopo, also pledged to donate 10% of sales made on Father’s Day and 100% of all online merchandise sales for the rest of June. Similar to the other restaurants participating in SRRJ, A Dopo advertised the event on its Instagram account with the SRRJ logo. But, unlike the other participants, A Dopo posted its own description of the event to explain the event’s personal significance to the A Dopo owners and why the owners chose to participate:

“As we roll into Father’s Day without either of our dads, we are reminded that many of the people in this world are hurting. Some from loss, but many from a life of injustice. We are proud to support this campaign to amplify Black voices in our community and beyond…This ain’t political. It’s human, and we hear you.”

Just like A Dopo, another local pizzeria, Hard Knox Pizzeria, personalized its Instagram post advertising SRRJ. Hard Knox Pizzeria specifically emphasized that “we are here for the movement, not just the moment.” Although this statement was not specifically stated in the official SRRJ movement description, it is certainly a message that the founders of SRRJ would like to promote. In her personal Instagram account @cherylday, Cheryl Day, co-founder of SRRJ, asserted that “this is not a trend” and that it “isn’t going away in a couple of weeks from now. It is time for change. THIS is a call to action.”