KJ Kearney, the South Carolina-based content creator and community organizer behind the James Beard Award-winning social media account Black Food Fridays, is bringing $1 coffees to The Sepia Coffee Project in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood Saturday, Oct. 3.
Since his James Beard Award win, Kearney has phased out Black Food Fridays, reemerging as Bite the Power, a platform intended to showcase cultural cuisines representing the African diaspora, and how they can be used as tools for social and civic engagement, he explains in the companion newsletter “Who Made the Potato Salad.”
Kearney is taking Bite the Power on the road with a national event series titled “Dollar Days,” and its first stop is in Detroit.
"I feel as if it was a mutual
decision — I chose Detroit and Detroit chose me," Kearney said in an interview with the Free Press. "I've talked to a lot of friends in the food space all over the country to try to bring this to life and it hasn’t worked out for one reason or another, but Detroit kept coming to the top. For what I’m trying to launch with this brand, a city like Detroit is exactly where I want to be."
Participating establishments in the “Dollar Days” tour will offer one item or more for a total of just $1 flat — but tips are certainly welcome. At Sepia, the first 200 guests to arrive at the café between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. are welcome to purchase a drip coffee and a pastry provided by Walter Pat’s Bakery Cafe. Choose among a molasses cookie, pumpkin muffins or handmade apple pop-tarts.
The Detroit event is a collaboration with the city’s tourism bureau, Visit Detroit, and, Kearney says, aims to cultivate an environment that inspires social and civic engagement.
“As a community organizer, I know that there are a number of people who want to be engaged but have no idea on how to start,” Kearney writes on “Who Made the Potato Salad.” “Using a ‘Ladder of Engagement’ framework, we create events with the hope that folks move from a casual observer into a community advocate. ‘Dollar Days’ makes space for people to jump on the ladder, wherever they see fit, in their desire to be of service to their communities.” Visit Detroit representatives will be available to answer questions about their work throughout metro Detroit.
The goal of the collaboration, for Sepia, is to generate $10,000 in sales to purchase a compact cargo van that will allow the team to deliver their products to their wholesale partners across the region more efficiently. To help reach this goal, guests are encouraged (not pressured) to purchase bags of coffee, tea, equipment or merchandise beyond their $1 spend.
"This is just me committing to the mantra that my life will change at the speed that I’m willing to commit to the work," Kearney said. "I want to help Black people. I want to help Black businesses. I want to help people get civically engaged and I think that food is the tool to get people more involved in their community. This is the start of Bite the Power."
Attend the Dollar Day at Sepia for $1 coffee. Stay to support the Detroit community. And while you’re there, soak up some of Kearney’s energy — it’s electric.
Dollar Day at The Sepia Coffee Project, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, 2831 E. Grand Blvd., Detroit. sepiacoffeeproject.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: James Beard Award-winner brings $1 coffee to Detroit café
