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Black Restaurant Week returns for a tasty, third bite

ATLANTA VOICE — The two-week food festival, which has already traveled to Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Indianapolis this year, will highlight a variety of black-owned culinary businesses and professionals throughout metro Atlanta while calling attention to minority inequality in the food and beverage industry.

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Warren Luckett, a co-founder of Black Restaurant Week, said there’s a lot to expect during this year’s stop in Atlanta. (Photo by: Trarell Torrence | The Atlanta Voice)

By Marshall A. Latimore

As he emerges from his Jeep Cherokee just outside the valet stand at Boogalou Restaurant & Lounge in Midtown, adorned in a tailored suit and patterned dress shirt, Warren Luckett is also wearing a confident smile. After all, he’s been here before.

It’s a feeling he looks forward to every year around this time. He’s home — well, his home away from home. His old stomping grounds. And, plus, it’s almost showtime.

Black Restaurant Week, the nation’s largest celebration of the black culinary experience, will entice thousands of Atlanta foodies with a showcase of the region’s top black culinary talent and black-owned restaurants Sept. 1-15.

Luckett, a Houston native and Morehouse College alumnus, co-founded Black Restaurant Week with his partners Falayn Ferrell and Derek Robinson in 2016. In 2017, the trio expanded the festival with a stop in Atlanta as the first market to host Black Restaurant Week outside of the Houston market.

Since then, Black Restaurant Week has emerged as a fixture in eight U.S. markets. Luckett said he is hopeful that the week will go international to South Africa in 2020. “Cross your fingers!” he said.

The two-week food festival, which has already traveled to Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Indianapolis this year, will highlight a variety of black-owned culinary businesses and professionals throughout metro Atlanta while calling attention to minority inequality in the food and beverage industry.

To complete its 2019 tour, Black Restaurant Week will also make stops to the Bay Area and Dallas.

Tonight, though, Luckett has partnered with Jackie Robbins, the general manager of Boogalou Restaurant and Lounge, to host this year’s Black Restaurant Week Media Preview, an invitation-only reception for bloggers, influencers and members of the press.

Over cocktails of Woodford Reserve and a number of bites from Boogalou’s kitchen — including shrimp and grits, chicken sliders, and Caesar salads — guests mingled and networked while Luckett worked the room with his signature charm and excitement over the weeks to come.

“It’s the communal table effect,” said Luckett, co-founder of Black Restaurant Week in a recent ​Forbes Magazine feature. “We want to bring everyone together through the love of food.

“African-Americans make up only eight percent of restaurant owners and managers in the U.S.,” he continued. “Our mission is to provide a platform that calls for inclusion in the industry and exposes and elevates black-owned businesses.”

With its third takeover of Atlanta, Black Restaurant Week has already enlisted a number of local, black-owned restaurants across the city to offer exclusive prix fixe menus starting at just $10.

In addition to the restaurant offerings, Black Restaurant Week will host a stunning lineup of culinary events designed to expand awareness and increase support for the city’s community of black culinary talent.

The current 2019 lineup features some of the city’s most beloved black-owned spots, including Boogalou, Ms. Icey’s Kitchen & Bar in Decatur, Fin & Feathers in Edgewood, Cafe Songhai in Peachtree Corners, Nancy’s Pizzeria in Midtown and Escobar Restaurant in Castleberry Hill, with many more to come!

“Atlanta is really special to us,” Luckett said. “It’s our second-largest market in the campaign and the first city we expanded to after Houston. To say it feels like home is an understatement.

“The black culinary community here is like family and it’s been amazing to watch each business evolve over the years,” he added. “From new restaurant openings to small vendors who are opening their first brick and mortars, it fills us with pride knowing the community continues to grow.”

The vibrant celebration will end on a high note, with a hearty portion of Black Restaurant Week’s proceeds going back to the heartland of the black culinary community— the farmers that sustain the industry.

The organization will make a donation to its community partner, Family Agriculture Resource Management Services (F.A.R.M.S.), in support of its efforts to provide legal and technical services to farmers of color.

F.A.R.M.S. is a regional 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by agriculture attorney Jillian Hishaw and based in South Carolina with operations throughout Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama & the Carolinas.

The organization has dedicated itself to providing legal and technical services to farmers of color in an effort to prevent the loss of land ownership to build generational wealth and eradicate hunger in the farmers’ community.

Black Restaurant Week Atlanta is proudly supported by Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Ackerman & Co., ChefWear, Branwar Wine Distributing Co. and Fade Media.

For more information including participating restaurants, tickets and much more, visit ​ATLBRW.com​.

This year’s event schedule includes the following :

Sept 10 | Art of Flavor: A Pop-Up Dinner with Chef Scotley Innis | Parlor Cocktail Den
An event for the refined foodie, this exclusive, intimate dinner presented by Woodford Reserve will feature four gourmet courses from Hell’s Kitchen alum, Chef Scotley Innis. With a special curation of award-winning wine pairings, exotic cocktails and live entertainment, Art of Flavor is a supreme culinary experience not to miss.

Sept. 12 | NOSH: Culinary Showcase | 595 North Event Center
In this spirited mashup sponsored by Makers Mark, featuring top-talent chefs, bakers and mixologists, guests are invited to rank a menu of inspired cocktails and endless delectable bites from a variety of local vendors.

Sept. 14 | Soundbites: Food Truck Festival | Atlanta Food Truck Park
Soundbites will feature a diverse fleet of food trucks and vendors, live music and entertainment for the whole family.

Participating restaurants include:

  • Boogalou Restaurant & Lounge
  • Cafe Songhai
  • Coaxum Low Country Restaurant
  • Dat Fire Jerk Chicken
  • Escobar Restaurant
  • Fin & Feathers
  • Members Only
  • Ms. Icey’s
  • Nana’s Chicken and Waffles
  • Nancy’s Pizzeria (Dunwoody Location)
  • Negril Village
  • Rosie’s Cafe
  • Slim & Husky’s
  • Spice House
  • Sweet Potato Cafe

This article originally appeared in The Atlanta Voice.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

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The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.


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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

 

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