Nolan Williams, Jr. Presents First-Ever Grace Awards During Kennedy Center Colloquium Celebrating African American Foodways

Award-winning Producer, Artistic Director, Composer, Cultural Curator, and Social Practice Resident at the Kennedy Center, Nolan Williams, Jr. presented the first GRACE awards during a colloquium celebrating African American foodways with celebrity chef Carla Hall and friends on Saturday, July 9th at the Kennedy Center REACH, Skylight Pavilion. The afternoon featured a conversation of family, food, culture, music and the indelible gifts we receive in our communities.

This event, a first of its kind for the Kennedy Center, was presented under the auspices of the Center's Social Impact department. Under the leadership of VP and Artistic Director of Social Impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the Center has launched several initiatives in recent years to foster greater diversity at all levels of its programming. According to Joseph, "Our Social Practice Residency is a sibling to our Culture Caucus and Millennium Stage programming. It's another important way by which the Center is bridging cultural divides in our community and broadening its investment in our local creative economy."

The GRACE award honors extraordinary leadership and exceptional works that celebrate and elevate African American culinary traditions in the spirit of GRACE, the musical. Williams selected four recipients for this year's inaugural award to include: Virginia Ali, Founder/Owner of Ben's Chili Bowl, Dr. Lance London, Founder/Owner of Carolina Kitchen, Furard Tate, Owner of Inspire Hospitality Group and Co-Founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week, and Erin Tucker-Oluwole, Ph.D., Faculty Director of and Associate Professor of Practice at Georgetown University and Co-Founder of DMV Black Restaurant Week.

The day was a discussion about the historic role African Americans have played in the development of our nation's culinary industry; meeting pioneering founders of local Black-owned restaurants; hearing great music inspired by Williams's research (including selected songs from the musical GRACE); and tasting mouth-watering African American cuisine.

As the inaugural Social Practice Resident, Williams's first project was an October 2019 workshop of his Civil-Rights-themed theatrical production, STIRRING THE WATERS ACROSS AMERICA. That production was launched for a national tour in February 2020 that was upended by the pandemic.

Now, according to Williams, "I am presenting GRACE: Beyond the Stage to highlight the historic contributions African Americans have made to our nation's culinary industry. This is the history that inspired me to create my musical GRACE. And, whether or not you are one of the 20,000+ people who flocked to see GRACE at Ford's earlier this year, you will undoubtedly connect with this cultural experience. It promises to be a memorable afternoon of great conversation, tasty food, inspiring music, and community building."

GRACE: Beyond the Stage: A Colloquium Celebrating African American Foodways will take place on Saturday, July 9th from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm at The Kennedy Center REACH in the Skylight Pavilion, 2700 F St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20566. Admission is free. Registration is required. Early register at https://nolanwilliamjr.com

About Nolan Williams, Jr.

An award-winning producer, artistic director, composer/lyricist, and cultural curator, Nolan Williams, Jr. has dedicated his professional career to the curation of works that illuminate issues of civil rights, social justice, and cultural curiosities. Since 2003, Williams has helmed NEWorks Productions, one of the nation's leading producers of inspirational-arts projects. His extensive body of creative work includes directing and producing the 2021 NEWorks documentary, Mayor Muriel Bowser presents... Becoming Douglass Commonwealth, which chronicles Washington, D.C.'s long and complicated journey towards statehood and is the recent winner of seven Telly Awards for global excellence in television and video, including the coveted Gold Prize for Best TV Documentary.