LAST SUMMER, Southeast Portlander Bertha Pearl saw an article about a day celebrating black-owned restaurants in the Bay Area and decided to see what she could do locally. She created a Facebook event page, expecting those in her social network to join in. Instead, thousands of residents confirmed attendance and then went forth to dine.
That late-August weekend increased business by more than 150 percent at Keacean Ransom’s then-food cart, Jamaican Homestyle Cuisine. The money and visibility boosted her plan to open a restaurant, which she did this May with her husband Kalvin in a sunny spot at 441 N Killingsworth. The Ransoms have surrounded the building with a heaven-scented cloud of grilling jerk chicken, while serving up other classic Jamaican fare including fall-off-the-bone braised oxtails and a goat curry with a spice blend that lingers on the roof of your mouth.
The Support Black-Owned Restaurants event is back again, set for this weekend, Saturday, August 27, and Sunday, August 28. The Mercury sat down over delectable vegetable patties and Jamaican ginger beer to talk with Pearl and Ransom about this weekend’s event, about being a person of color in Portland, and why black-owned restaurants matter. (Interview edited for length and clarity.)
MERCURY: How did last year’s event go over?
KEACEAN RANSOM: A lot of people turned out. When we started, most of our customers were white. It went viral, and now I see more black people coming in. But it wasn’t just black people—it was all races. It was like, “Wow, all these people are supporting us.” It was just amazing. And it keeps going. If you’re passionate about something, people will continue to support it.
