I've been holding this smoke for months; time to blow it out. At a time when working Black food journalists are rare and media companies keep saying they can't find any, the @NABJ continues to miss the moment, which has HUGE implications for Black journalism's future. ISSA THREAD

Rumor has it, Peter Meehan, the food editor at the L.A. Times, makes $300k per year, living in New York. I don't have to say what's probably obvious here. I don't make $300k per year.

Actually, not a lot of food journalists do, regardless of their background/education/etc., but stay with me for a minute....

The National Association of Black Journalists had its first food journalism panel IN 10 YEARS in 2019. I know this, because I was the one that pitched it, got it approved, put the panel together and hosted it. The person who did the panel a decade ago was one of my panelists.

It was a completely volunteer effort. I didn't get paid; I didn't ask to be paid. People said they really appreciated it and hoped it would be back again in 2020.

The @NABJ rejected my pitch to continue the panel for a second year in 2020. There is no food journalism session or workshop specifically associated with food or with food journalism as a theme on the 2020 schedule. In a year when Black restaurants are closing for good, rapidly.

In a year where the editor-in-chief of @bonappetit had to step down b/c he was too busy taking photos dressed up like a Puerto Rican stereotype to hire food journalists that represent the kind of diversity you need if you intend to report on global culture through food stories.

In a year where there are probably less than 20 full-time Black food journalists employed in the entire country, if that many. Maybe 5 editors? Actually I don't even think so.

The closest thing to food journalism at this year's @NABJ Convention is something titled "Thirst for Yours: How Brands Can Approach Purpose | Powered by Coca-Cola."

Meanwhile, there are at least three sessions if you're into sports journalism, like many, many other journalists with whom you'd need to compete to get a job. There are multiple sessions on things related to TV.

Also, there's literally a 2020 NABJ Convention session titled "Lessons on Account Hijacking from Kim Kardashian."

I have no idea what that means, but I bet it's not gonna help a Black journalist interested in food reporting get a remote job paying $300k per year. Allegedly.

And hey, even if it's a rumor, there's a reason it sounds plausible, amirite?

It's not just outside forces that fail us sometimes. Sometimes those who pretend to lead are actually too far behind to be the ones charting a course for the future. And I'm sick of it. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/12/03/567810864/breaking-the-bubble-of-food-writing-cultivating-diverse-stories