This Worldwide Anti-Racism Bake Sale Already Has 1000 Bakers Signed Up. Here’s How to Join.
Less than a week ago, the James Beard Award-nominated pastry chef Paola Velez put an Instagram request out to bakers, chefs, and cooks: join her in a social media bake sale called Bakers Against Racism. “We are armed to fight racism with the tools we know how to utilize, our FOOD,” she explained, asking them to come together “to stand up against the unjust treatment of BLACK people in the United States.”
Loud and clear, the Instagram call was heard: with a week until the sale begins, more than 1,000 bakers around the world have already signed up to join. While there’s not yet a complete list of what’s to come, the event’s Instagram stories and hashtag gives a taste of what’s to come: pies for justice, “fudge the police” brownies, and hundreds more breads, pastries, and cakes.
Velez’s own Dominican doughnut pop-up Doña Dona had already been selling pastries to raise money for good causes, but for Bakers Against Racism, she and fellow DC pastry chef Willa Pelini and chef Rub Rubba teamed up to find a way to not only sell their own desserts for in support of organizations fighting for justice and Black lives, but to help others to do the same.
Want to Participate? Here’s How.
In order to participate, bakers just have to commit to making and selling 150 dessert items and donating the majority of the proceeds to a charity that supports Black lives. It’s open to anyone and designed to make sure that amateurs and professionals alike succeed — the event helps out with graphics and information to help guide participants through the restaurant-style pop-up process.
But for people who are more about eating than baking, supporting the event is even easier: each of the individual bakers launch their pre-sales via social media platforms starting on June 15, with pick up on June 20, so just get be ready to buy up all the sweet treats nearby while funding a baker’s favorite charity that supports Black lives.