'Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue'

This event is sold out for in-person attendees, but you can still attend via Facebook Live.

About the Program:

Across America, the pure love and popularity of barbecue cookery have gone through the roof. Prepared in one regional style or another, in the South and beyond, barbecue is one of the nation’s most distinctive culinary arts. And people aren’t just eating it; they’re also reading books and articles and watching TV shows about it. But why is it, asks Adrian Miller—admitted ‘cuehead and longtime certified barbecue judge—that in today’s barbecue culture African Americans don’t get much love? In honor of National BBQ Month, join Adrian Miller, “The Soul Food Scholar,” for a regional perspective of how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restauranteurs helped develop this cornerstone of American foodways and how they are coming into their own today.

The program will also feature a guest appearance by celebrity chef Brother Luck, owner of local restaurants Four by Brother Luck and Lucky Dumpling. After the program guests are invited to a book signing with Adrian Miller and for a tasting of Brother Luck’s “Beat Bobby Flay BBQ Sliders.”

About the Presenter:

Adrian Miller is a food writer, attorney, and certified barbecue judge who lives in Denver, CO. Adrian received an A.B. in International Relations from Stanford University in 1991, and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. He is currently the executive director of the Colorado Council of Churches and, as such, is the first African American and the first layperson to hold that position. Miller served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton with his Initiative for One America – the first free-standing office in the White House to address issues of racial, religious, and ethnic reconciliation. Miller went on to serve as a senior policy analyst for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr. He has also been a board member of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Miller has been featured in numerous television shows, including the Netflix smash hit High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America.

Miller’s first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time won the James Beard Foundation Award for Scholarship and Reference in 2014. His second book, The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families, From the Washingtons to the Obamas was published on President’s Day 2017. It was a finalist for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction,” and the 2018 Colorado Book Award for History. Adrian’s third book, Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue was published Spring 2021.