“Really, I was just tired of people texting me all the time.”
KJ Kearney, a City Paper columnist and founder of Charleston Sticks Together, says friends and colleagues are always asking him about recommendations for black-owned restaurants around Charleston. After a recent text from his boss about where to take out-of-town visitors, Kearney posted the exchange on his Instagram stories. He listed six or seven spots off the top of his head, but knew there were definitely more out there. Another friend suggested he collect all of the places he can think of into a Google Map.
“I went to bed and couldn’t go to sleep so I started compiling a list by myself,” says Kearney. By the next day, the Black Owned map was born.
Over the weekend, Kearney posted the list to Facebook. Between his own knowledge and suggestions from others, he came up with about 60 places.”One of my friends is from the country, so he knew about places in Dorchester, Hollywood, and that added a lot.” He asked people to comment on the post if they saw anything missing or had any edits. The list now has 74 spots, from Moncks Corner to Folly Beach. As of today, Mon. Feb. 3, the post has been shared 353 times.
If you see any places missing on the map, feel free to email Kearney at charlestonstickstogether@gmail.com.
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