Black-Owned Brooklyn (2025)

01/07/2025

Dropping some midday joy on your feed! Almost two weeks later, these smiles from the Juneteenth Food Festival have us still on a high.

Along with our partners at , we sought to create a family reunion-type vibe, and your energy brought the vision to life in the most beautiful way. Because even among strangers, we’re still family. 🖤

Photos by 📸

20/06/2025

We’re not gonna lie — that brief thunderstorm was wild.

But it didn’t stop the Juneteenth Food Festival from being an incredible day. The food was delicious, the vibes were perfect, and even after the rain, so many of you stayed, and more kept coming!

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for this day of jubilee, presented by and . There are many more thank-yous (and photos!) on the way, but for now, we hope you enjoy this peek at the beautiful day we shared.

Photos by for Black-Owned Brooklyn

19/06/2025

Happy Juneteenth! Come celebrate with us and today from 12- 8 pm for the Juneteenth Food Festival (158 Buffalo Ave).

When our team started planning, we wanted to showcase incredible Black food and culture, and we couldn’t be more proud of this lineup!

We also sought to create an opportunity for our entire community to come together — an intergenerational space where the cool kids, elders, young families and all the in-betweens can commemorate the holiday.

In addition to some of New York City’s best Black restaurants, pop-ups and food trucks, today we’ll have family-friendly performances, music by and , and the beautiful grounds of Historic Weeksville. Step into a world lovingly crafted for reflection, celebration and leisure.

We can’t wait to see you here. 🖤

17/06/2025

Despite heavy risks, Black Texans began celebrating Juneteenth as early as 1866 — a year after the news of freedom reached enslaved people in Galveston. Early observances included music and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, with food at the heart of the celebration.

We are honored to partner with for Thursday’s Juneteenth Food Festival. This cultural institution is located on sacred ground with its own significance to the African American freedom story.

After New York became the last Northern state to abolish slavery in 1827, dockworker James Weeks and other African Americans bought plots of remote Brooklyn farmland in 1838, founding Weeksville. It grew into one of the largest free Black communities before the Civil War.

By the 1850s, Weeksville was home to more than 500 families who lived and flourished self-sufficiently as teachers, doctors, carpenters, seamstresses, bakers and other entrepreneurs. Recognizing the contradiction of being “free” while slavery persisted, many abolitionist leaders also made Weeksville their home.

Today Weeksville Heritage Center is a living testament to Black self-determination and sovereignty. We gather in this spirit on Thursday to honor Juneteenth with remembrance, tradition and, always, joy. Hope you’ll join us!

05/06/2025

PART 4 OF 4: We’re closing out strong with our final group of Black-owned businesses showcasing in the Juneteenth Food Festival, presented by and . Join us Thu., June 19, to taste all this and more!

elevates the smash burger with bold, premium ingredients. Beyond their burgers, which include a vegan option, they serve crave-worthy wings, chicken sandwiches and loaded chopped cheese fries.

makes Southern classics with profound flavor. Their pickle juice fried chicken is a must-try, in addition to mustard fried catfish, vegan potato salad and local strawberry shortcake.

offers ice pops and ice cream inspired by the flavors of the owners’ native Trinidad & Tobago. Think mango chow, sorrel and roasted peanut.

fills cloud-soft coco bread pockets with slow-cooked oxtail, curry goat or jerk chicken. Each pocket is finished with flavorful sauces, relishes and chutneys for the perfect bite.

is firing up the grill with Waygu burgers, jerk chicken sliders and grilled corn. Take the flavor home with their signature seasonings and blends, like Abuela’s Adobo and jerk-spiced Flatbush Blend.

serves up flavorful Haitian plates like griot (marinated pork, braised tender and fried crispy) or vegan griot, both served with black mushroom rice and plantain. And don’t miss their fried oyster mushroom sandwich topped with epis sauce and pikliz.

blends classic French culinary techniques with homespun desserts. Treat yourself to their strawberry & cardamom snickerdoodles, plantain & brown butter cookies, bourbon peach cobbler bars, espresso brownies and more!

is a bookstore devoted to Black food literature. They’ll bring a mix of cookbooks, nonfiction and children’s books that explore the richness of Black culinary traditions.

03/06/2025

PART 3 of 4: The countdown continues! Meet more of the incredible Black food businesses joining the lineup for the Juneteenth Food Festival, presented by and . Save the date — Thu., June 19!

serves “seafood with soul,” celebrating crab as a cherished tradition in Black American cuisine. Don’t miss their famous rolls: crab, lobster and the indulgent “clobster.”

is known for Soul Pockets, their take on empanadas. Culturally inspired fillings include mac & yams, peach cobbler, oxtail, and saltfish, alongside classics like chicken & cheese.

reimagines Jamaican and American dishes as tacos, nachos and burritos, with flavors like jerk chicken (and vegan chick’n), escovitch fish, chop cheese, and hot honey fried chicken.

is a new Southern concept from the chef behind . It features four vegan biscuit flavors and plant-based toppings, from mushroom sausage gravy to berry compote.

offers customizable bowls with Nigerian flavors. Start with rice or kale; add fiery-spiced steak, shrimp, chicken or tofu; and top with plantain, avocado and more.

makes ice cream inspired by the Caribbean, with specialty scoops for Juneteenth. Try their tres leches red velvet ice cream, sorrel sorbet and peach cobbler sundaes.

serves up Bajan street food with their flavorful fishcakes (including a vegan version). Made with cod and fried golden, enjoy with signature sauces and escovitch-style peppers and onions.

makes fresh bevs on site, like the Mango Marcy smoothie, peanut butter Brownsville Nut shake, and Bed-Stuy Beet juice. Also try their savory patties!

30/05/2025

PART 2 of 4: We’re back with more of the incredible Black food brands bringing their A-game to the Juneteenth Food Festival, presented by and . You don’t want to miss this — pull up on Thu., June 19!

serves up Southern desserts based on recipes from the owner’s grandmother. Enjoy rich cakes like their red velvet and pineapple coconut, plus truly excellent banana pudding and peach cobbler.

brings a taste of Texas with tender, slow-smoked brisket sandwiches. You’ll also find pulled pork, smoked mac and cheese, and their signature cornbread salad.

celebrates African American and Boricua heritage with plant-based soul food and Puerto Rican fare. Reimagined jackfruit pernil, vegan oxtail mofongo, fried oyster mushroom sandwiches and vegan barbecue ribs pack bold, authentic flavor.

gives traditional Juneteenth red drinks a twist with Jamaican sorrel. They’ll also have refreshing sorrel smoothies and hibiscus lemonade.

serves smashburgers inspired by the owner’s upbringing in small-town Virginia. With custom patties and bold, creative toppings, these burgers evoke an elevated backyard cookout.

makes small-batch mini rum cakes in flavors including classic, pineapple, coconut and banana (vegan). Each deliciously moist bite delivers a true taste of the islands.

always brings the party with a curated selection of Black-owned wines. Their expert team will help you discover your next fave.

29/05/2025

PART 1 of 4: Get ready to eat good at the Juneteenth Food Festival, featuring 29 of NYC’s best restaurants, pop-ups and food trucks. Leading up to the event, and are spotlighting each participating Black-owned business for a delicious preview of what’s to come. Join us on Thu., June 19!

serves scratch-made soul food with a focus on coastal Southern seafood dishes. Standouts include hot honey-glazed salmon, fried catfish, blueberry cornbread and coconut candied yams.

offers 20+ varieties of macaroni and cheese, such as seafood, jerk and several vegan options. But don’t miss their mac pockets: handheld golden pastries filled with mac & cheese and ingredients like oxtail, lobster or vegan burger.

will bring refreshing iced versions of their custom teas. Honoring the Juneteenth tradition of red drinks, they’ll feature Very Berry iced tea — a blend of rose hips, hibiscus and mixed berries.

makes bold, award-winning barbecue with influences from the Caribbean and the American South: jerk spare ribs, smoked brisket, BBQ pigtails and coconut milk-simmered corn on the cob.

serves slow-cooked, veggie-forward Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. Rice bowls and injera platters are topped with spiced lentils, collard greens, cabbage, chicken, mushrooms and more.

creates mini cheesecakes in indulgent flavors, from apple crumb and peach cobbler to cognac caramel and loaded cookies & cream.

crafts tender empanadas with globally-inspired fillings, such as steak & maduro, curry chickpea, Cajun shrimp & crab, and jerk chicken.

28/05/2025

Bringing some Black Joy to your feed with more moments from last weekend’s DanceAfrica Bazaar at !

This Pan-African marketplace celebrates the rich heritage of Africa and its diaspora through craft vendors, drumlines and drill teams, delicious cultural foods and our diverse, intergenerational community. We love how this annual tradition always brings us together.

Shoutout to and for these shots that truly capture the energy, and to BAM for hosting this special event year after year.

27/05/2025

DanceAfrica returned this Memorial Day weekend at ! Celebrating the heritage of Mozambique, this year’s programming featured joyful performances, dance classes and films.

Founded in 1977 by the late Dr. Chuck Davis — dancer, choreographer, and one of the foremost teachers of traditional African dance in America — DanceAfrica is BAM’s longest-running cultural program.

Its iconic outdoor bazaar was back as well, with more than 200 vendors offering fashion, crafts and food from across the Diaspora. And the street style gave us Afrocentric art in every outfit. Check out these striking looks from Day 1, and let us know which is your favorite in the comments!

All photos by

23/05/2025

It’s that time again! 📣📣📣

We’re excited to announce the 4th annual Juneteenth Food Festival on Thursday, June 19, from 12–8 PM, at Weeksville Heritage Center.

Presented by Weeksville Heritage Center and Black-Owned Brooklyn, this celebration features a stacked lineup of 29 Black-owned food brands. Expect top-tier Southern cuisine honoring the food traditions of Juneteenth — barbecue, seafood, red drinks, cakes, ice cream and much more — plus dishes reflecting the richness of the diaspora, with plenty of vegan options.

Brooklyn’s own DJ Spinna will be on the 1s and 2s (with an opening set by DJ Tara), supplying immaculate vibes all day!

Rounding out the festivities, we’ll have BEM books & more offering Black food books, Brownsville’s champion double-dutch team The Jazzy Jumpers, and youth drumline performers from Brooklyn United Music and Arts Program.

From its earliest celebrations in Texas, food has remained central to Juneteenth. We’re proud to once again bring this tradition to the sacred grounds of Historic Weeksville. As the site of one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America and a living testament to Black self-determination, it’s a powerful place to honor the holiday.

Bring your family, friends and appetite this Juneteenth, and share this post to spread the word!

Featuring:

24/01/2025

Photo submitted by

“That’s two images of me. My buddy Oswaldo Cabrera is a photographer, and when he developed his pictures, he layered one over the other. It’s an old memory from Jessy’s House of Styles, where I worked from 2001 to 2016. This photo is from 2008.

Jessy Hall was the GOAT. His specialty was scissor cuts, cutting hair freehand without actually looking at the head but into the mirror. It’s almost like painting a picture. You can’t be too much into it — you gotta look away, look back at it, then enhance.

If those walls could talk, man. We had so much fun in that barbershop. You ever see somebody who talks about *everything*? Sports, politics, people. If he saw a lady with a wooden leg and a kickstand on it, Jessy was gonna talk about it, period.

The vibe was nice, too, if you wanted to have a really deep discussion. He owned the shop for almost 50 years, and he knew a lot of neighborhood history. When Fort Greene started gentrifying, he’d tell us, ‘You got to start owning property.’ So when everybody found out he didn’t own the building, it was a big disappointment. The landlord wanted something different and didn’t renew the lease. It’s a wine store now.

But it was a really nice time. That was back when Cake Man Raven was down there, and 4W Circle. We used to walk over to Two Steps Down for dinner and an Italian restaurant, Cino’s, that was there for decades. Everybody in the neighborhood knew each other.”
—Shamek ()

We’d love to see your memories! Submit photos and stories to [email protected].

Black-Owned Brooklyn

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