Five historic restaurants that fed the civil rights movement

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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.

According to Smith, Black-owned restaurants, and even home cooks, were in many ways the bedrock of the movement, putting lives and livelihoods on the line for justice. They provided more than meals; they offered safe spaces to meet and strategise, gave moral support, and in some cases, covered travel and bail costs that were out of reach for many of the working-class activists. Whether through fundraisers, bake sales or out-of-pocket donations, Black business owners throughout the US South used their success and community status to do the quiet work of funding a revolution.

The anniversaries of these momentous events come as the US wrestles with the implications of sweeping funding cuts to institutions that support African American history. “Whether it’s in university spaces, in federal agencies [or] just in everyday lives, these kinds of stories are being erased or sidelined,” Smith said. “But food can be that space to recover [them].”

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