Women's History Month 2023

By Shirley Everett-Dicko

Helen Bellamy, Shirley Everett-Dicko, Kristen Patrice Davis, and Crystal Joy Martin

​It was a day for the history books!  Flint’s, KC’s, Carmen and Family, and Everett and Jones Barbeque, four legendary Bay Area BBQ dynasties now led by 3rd generations of Black women, were recognized and inducted into the Bay Area Barbeque Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at an event held at the African American Museum & Library in Oakland.

Helen Bellamy, Kristen Patrice Davis, Ricki Stevenson, Crystal Joy Martin, and Shirley Everett-Dicko

​Everett and Jones Barbeque sisters Shirley Everett-Dicko and Helen Bellamy created the Bay Area BBQ Hall of Fame back in 1993 in celebration of its business's 20th anniversary.  In an afternoon event in celebration of Everett and Jones Barbeque’s 50th anniversary, the sisters saluted fellow Black women for their outstanding contributions to the rise in prominence of Bay Area barbeque on the national scene.

Everett sisters Shirley Everett-Dicko and Helen Bellamy.

Shirley Everett-Dicko told the crowd that we have to change the narrative that is excluding Black women from the American BBQ story and highlight and tell our own stories. Everyone in attendance received a jar of Everett and Jones Barbeque ‘Super Q” sauce after a lively BBQ history quiz.  It was a fun-filled afternoon of women empowerment packed with BBQ knowledge.  The future of BBQ is female.  When Black women lead, others follow!  Happy Women's History Month.

African American Museum & Library at Oakland (AAMLO)

Martha Knox, Veda Silva, and Shirley Everett-Dicko

Shirley Everett-Dicko, Helen Bellamy, and Ken McGhee