PHOENIX — The social media movement #BuyBlack, has been a way for consumers to support black-owned businesses.
Honey Bear’s BBQ is one of those businesses, but they didn’t need to rely on a hashtag to draw folks in for their Tennessee-style barbeque food; they’ve built a reputation in the Valley over the years.
Since 1986, Honey Bear's BBQ has been serving up pulled pork sandwiches and cowboy beans, before those two items were on the menu of most other barbecue joints.
“We knew when we came to Arizona and tried barbecue, nothing was like Honey Bear’s,” said Mark Smith, the owner and operator of Honey Bear’s BBQ. “It’s wasn’t that Tennessee-style, it was more Texas-style.”
Like something that is found in a neighborhood backyard barbecue, Smith built his business on delicious food and personal relationships.
“My kids say, ‘Dad, why you always talking to people?’ I say you never know,” Smith explained. “Because you can make somebody’s day. It’s the little things that you do [that] may be little to you, but to somebody else, might be big.”
The protests that have been going on for nearly two weeks in the Valley is something that Chef Smith sees as a good thing that could lead to positive change, but also has a word of caution for protesters:
“Be respectful. Respect other people’s property. Respect people. Respect the police. I mean, respect people. Respect yourself.” Smith advised.
It’s no secret that attitudes and worldviews are shaped in the home at an early age. Smith feels that’s where respect can be shaped and molded as well.
“It starts with the parents being parents,” Smith said. “The change starts at home. I don’t care who you are, what you are, what you do in life, it starts at home. If you train up your children in the way they should go, you are not going to depart from that. You’ve got a lot of young kids out there that don’t have any direction, and that’s what they need: direction. Every child needs direction.”
Smith says he’s been overwhelmed by the amount of support shown to his business since the hashtag “buy black” has kicked off and hopes the foot traffic he’s seen this past week keeps on coming in.
“There’s a lot of reasons you should come. because the food is really good for one,” Smith laughed. “One of our logos says, ‘You don’t need no fork to eat our pork!’ or ‘Put a little south in your mouth!’ we’ve got a couple of logos that we use: We make it fun."