Would you like a side of freedom with your fries? Community organizer KJ Kearney learns about the link between food and the freedoms this country promised for all.

Food has always been political—It provides a place to gather, share ideas, to express our identities, and take care of each other’s basic needs. When the Lowcountry Action Committee started distributing bags of groceries to neighbors in 2021, they wanted to model what it looks like for a community to take care of each other. LAC named this program Food for Thought, connecting to a long tradition of using food as a way to build community and sustain social progress—from the Black Panther free breakfast program that fed over 20,000 children across 19 cities, to the Club From Nowhere whose church bake sales funded the Montgomery Bus Boycotts.

But how can citizens continue the cycle, and sustain the people who feed us? KJ visits restaurants like A Peace of Soul and or Gillie’s to see how they’re preserving Black history and culture with every plate. At the height of the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, many chose to take action by supporting Black-owned businesses, but many business owners say that boom was fleeting. Viewers will learn about how to build long-term relationships with the businesses and orgs they support. KJ will build a playbook of actions that can help viewers become part of a cycle of reciprocity—where individuals, businesses, and community organizations all feed back into one another.

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Citizen Better
So, is it possible to be civically engaged outside of formal activities?

Citizen Better will follow KJ Kearney as he finds the ‘informal’ ways to be civically engaged in everyday life so that viewers can feel empowered to make a meaningful impact on the reg rather than just on election days. Like shoes, one size does not fit all, “trying on” various types of informal civic engagement KJ will find what pairs suit him to make a footprint in our democracy.

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