Charleston foodie and former City Paper columnist K.J. Kearney, the founder of the Instagram account Black Food Fridays, won a James Beard Award over the weekend for his social media account.
According to the James Beard Foundation, the award “recognizes excellence in a food-related social media account or platform.”
In an acceptance speech Saturday, Kearney said he wanted to thank “every single hater that I have, because y’all have kept me on the straight and narrow to remind me it’s not about who likes me, it’s about the uplifting of my people and I keep that in the forefront of my mind.” You can watch the full acceptance speech here.
This year is the third year for the foundation’s social media account category and Kearney is the first Black man to take home the award. The foundation’s media award winners were announced on June 8. Restaurant and chef awards will be announced on June 10.
Kearney founded Black Food Fridays in 2020 as a way to highlight food and beverage news and history from across the African Diaspora. Black Food Fridays now has nearly 2 million followers across multiple platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Kearney once worked in education, which he discussed in a PechaKucha talk last year, describing himself as a community organizer. Kearney also has covered trends for over a decade now. In 2012, the City Paper sat down with Kearney to discuss a blog, H1gher Learning, which looked at and dissected streetwear trends. Kearney even had a City Paper column for several years, also called H1gher Learning, in which he discussed everything from the #TakeAKnee protest to South Carolina democrats.
Check out more of Kearney’s work, including his PBS Digital series, “Citizen Better,” and his digital series “Black Food Fact” online.
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.