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The food that fuelled the civil rights movement
From a Memphis fried chicken joint to a tamale counter in Jackson, these restaurants didn't just feed civil rights leaders – they funded, sheltered and fuelled the fight for equality.
The unassuming brick-and-siding facade of Lannie's BBQ Spot in Selma, Alabama, belies the rich history within. Named one of the nation's best restaurants by USA Today, this family-run eatery has long been more than a place for charred ribs and tangy sauce. As BBC Travel show host Reece Parkinson discovered on a recent trip to mark the 60th anniversary of the protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Lannie's also played a vital role in the civil rights movement.
"My mother and my grandmother fed a lot of people in the march," said Floyd Hatcher, who runs Lannie's today. His grandmother, Lannie Moore Travis, opened the restaurant in 1942 and made it one of Selma's first racially integrated dining spaces. During the 1965 Selma march for equal voting rights – which was met with extreme violence – Lannie's became a safe haven for protestors to gather.
"Barbecue brings people together," Hatcher added. "Don't care what race you are."
Today, restaurants like Lannie's are still bringing people together, serving up delicious dishes alongside a deeper understanding of the role these spaces played in the fight for justice. This year marks both the 60th anniversary of the Selma March and the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where African Americans refused to ride the city's public transportation in protest of segregated seating laws. These historical milestones shine a light on the movement's famous activists as well as on the small, Black-owned businesses that helped make the fight for equality possible.
"Food was always a crucial component of the civil rights movement," explained Bobby J Smith, associate professor of African American studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and author of the book Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement. "Bringing food to the conversation really just expands the story that we already know. It also introduces new characters, new programmes [and] new actors. There [were many] unnamed women who were doing that kind of work."
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