We begin in the backyard of a Black man lighting his grill. As the charcoal ignites, we're taken back to the first enslaved Africans who created the craft of barbecue using barbecue pits similar to his. Coming out of those memories, we are introduced to other Black pitmasters from all corners of the United States, keeping the spirit of this history alive. Through them, we see that barbecue is about so much more than the food. We see people laughing in corner stores and family and friends gathering in backyards. Their memories serve as the inspiration for the Kingsford Preserve the Pit Fellowship, to give young pitmasters the financial help and mentorship their ancestors didn’t receive.

Pitmaster is currently defined as a person who oversees the cooking done in a barbecue pit; or a professional or skilled barbecuer. Note, the term while praised in modern day barbecue for white and Black professionals alike; has ties to slavery when enslaved Africans were responsible for cooking / heading up the barbecue.

Pit or Barbecue Pit is the traditional method of digging a hole in the ground to barbecue over charcoal.

Sunday Dinner nods to the American tradition of gathering with family to connect and pass on family culture and traditions.

Joint, is short for juke joint, or a bar featuring music on a jukebox and typically having an area for dancing.

This is the pit.

This is the hole in the ground

where enslaved Africans gathered to keep themselves whole

grasping tightly to the roots of their heritage through food.

This is the warmth of souls laid bare.

This is where barbecue was made anew.

Where Black pitmasters brought the sauce to their Sunday dinners

And even the toughest meats could be made tender.

This, is the pit.

And its spirit and traditions were carried to every farm,

every yard, every block, every joint, and every city.

No storefronts needed to serve the appetite of the community.

Just feeding family and friends

and feasting on word of mouth.

At this pit, side hustles got serious.

Black businesses built.

Neighborhoods gathered.

And as the modern story of barbecue only grows

Remember all the Black pitmasters who helped write it.

So as we stoke the embers of barbecue culture

we invite the next generation of entrepreneurs to blaze their own trail.

Because its only by investing in the future that we preserve the past.

That we, preserve the pit.

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Kingsford is committed to celebrating Black barbecue culture and fueling its future.

Apply for a fellowship at Kingsford.com/PreserveThePit