Freshly Squeezed: Clay Williams and "The Power of Food"

Clay Williams is a Brooklyn-based photographer and activist, and co-founder of Black Food Folks, a platform that aims to unite black professionals in food and drink around the US and - in his own words - get them paid for the work they do.

Black Food Folks is putting an end to the myth that there aren’t very many black people in the restaurant industry, in food media, or in spirits today. Williams insists that it is a fallacy that ignores the incredible contribution that black people make across the board in hospitality and denies them the same exposure and support that other groups take for granted.

What started as a backroom bar meet-up has since grown to become a nationwide movement that empowers black people to support each other, and highlights the work and achievements of people of colour in the food industry.

Systemic inequality, a lack of support and a chronic misunderstanding of what constitutes diversity in food and food media are just some of the issues facing Black Food Folks, a group comprising cooks, photographers, chefs, bartenders, front-of-house, sommeliers and so much more. Through cooperation and support, Black Food Folks is giving voice to an underrepresented group of food professionals that form the very backbone of America’s food industry.

"Traditionally, if you’re black in food, whether you’re a writer or a chef, you might get attention in February for Black History Month, or possibly around a certain holiday or two,” says Williams. “And it’s almost always about soul food, or possibly about Caribbean food, but rarely something about African food. So one of the base missions for us is to just always be promoting and supporting the work that’s being done because we’re not on that schedule”.