The music was bumping, the BBQ was sizzling and the crowd was celebrating Black History Month in Vallejo in a weekend event produced by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1123.
“This is about unity, culture, legacy and service,” said Dwight Richardson, VFW member and organizer of the event, which took place Friday and continued Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Building. The event was a fundraiser and membership drive for the VFW post.
A lineup of vendors including Five Star BBQ, Yolanda’s Artwork and Soul Makeover Candles were on hand, and jazz band Season Soul blasted out a tight set of classics including “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire – music Richardson described as “grown-folk vibes.”
The organizer noted, “Jazz is an important part of Black history, and Black history is American history.” He added, “To be honest, I always say jazz is not only African American. The beats and the rhythm do come out of Africa, while a lot of the horns come out of Latin culture.”
Just outside the event hall, the air was fragrant with the aroma of ribs, barbequed chicken, hot links and Southern catfish, attended to by grillmaster Keenan Wishom and supervised by Ruben Parker, owner of Five Star BBQ.
“Barbecue is our culture, invented in the South during slavery days,” said Parker, a longtime Vallejo resident and businessman whose family ran the House of Soul restaurant in the city.
Sitting nearby, Carla La Rue of Vallejo added, “Chitterlings were a poor man’s meal and we turned it into cuisine. My specialty is chitlins and gumbo. Everyone’s family eats chitlins and gumbo around the holidays.” Chitterlings are a nutrient-dense protein dish usually made from pig intestines. White people looked down on this part of the animal, relegating it to enslaved people, who transformed it into a delicacy.
Ruben’s daughter Precious Parker was scheduled to take her father’s place Saturday, the second day of the Black History Month event, selling fried chicken, Richardson said.
“Along with barbecue, fried chicken is a big part of Black history,” Richardson said.
“I’m a vet myself. When I was stationed in Korea from 1992 until 1994, I was shocked to see so many places that offered fried chicken,” he said.
Richardson asked how it came to be that fried chicken was popular there, and was told that African American soldiers had acquainted Koreans with the delicacy when stationed there in World War II.
Coming full circle, Korean fried chicken is one of the most popular dishes in the United States. The number of chain restaurants serving the dish jumped 22 percent in 2025, and Chef Judy Joo, co-founder of Seoul Bird, shared the same story with CBS News last November.
She told “Sunday Morning” that the recipe’s origin stems from African American soldiers serving in the Korean War who brought the dish with them.
Folks looking to take a break from eating or dancing at Friday’s event could shop the vendor tables. In addition to Yolanda’s Artwork, a collection of striking abstract paintings, Soul Makeover Candles was offering a collection of products for self-care – candles, soap, lip balm.
“Today’s world is chaotic,” said entrepreneur Amber Love of her creations. “We don’t stop and take in the good things around us – and there are a lot of good things. But you have to pause to notice them.”
