Kenzie Smith, one of two men who had police called on him by the woman the internet dubbed #BBQBecky, is running for a city council seat in Oakland, California.
It’s official, Kenzie Smith is running for district 2 Oakland City Council. pic.twitter.com/4kpfE5pJqz
— Michelle Dione (@ShelleDione) June 25, 2018
Back in April, as you may recall, “Becky”—since identified as Jennifer Schulte—called the police to report that two African American men were barbecuing with a charcoal grill in a lakeside area designated for gas grilling only.
The #BBQBecky affair—which went viral thanks to a video posted by Smith’s wife—was part of a recent string of “doing X while black” incidents that lit up the internet. The Oakland encounter prompted memes and local protests, as well as #BBQingWhileBlack events—organized, in part, by Smith—in the very spot where Schulte sought to shoo the men away.
Not long after Smith’s run-in with Schulte, an Oakland council member nominated him to a position on Oakland’s Park and Recreation Advisory Committee. Smith, 37, now says he has also filed the paperwork to vie for council in District 2, where he’ll face an uphill battle against incumbent Abel Guillen and local housing activist Nikki Bas Fortunato.
But Smith, the brother of Bay Area rap legend
