All good things come in black bags, or at least they do when one leaves with something smokey, tangy and well seasoned from Whuttle’s BBQ. Whuttle’s is a local Black-owned barbecue food truck run by Russel Dickerson and David Girley, who have been serving their flavorful home-cooked meals for years through small private catering jobs from here to California. They finally started their food truck a month-and-a-half ago to offer their food to Lane County. Their mission is to provide good soul food and a place for all people in the community to come together and feel good.
“It came about, we were up here and had the problem of finding good food, good quality food. We’re used to flavorful food. [We] came up here, and it was missing,” Girley said. “Everyone wanted to come over; I barbecued separately, and he barbecued separately. And, eventually, we came together.”
Girley is from Long Beach, California, and Dickerson from Seattle, Washington; but they settled here 20 years ago. Originally, Girley set up his barbershop Rumors on Garfield Street. After they started the food truck, one of Girley’s barber shop customers gave them the opportunity to park at Elev8 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the only Black-owned dispensary in Eugene. One of the barbers’ customers came in and said, “Come on down here and park at my spot,” and it has been successful for both businesses since then.
Nigerian businessman Seun Adedeji owns Elev8 and came to Eugene as a teenager. He made the dispensary’s mission statement to support and encourage Black businesses, since Elev8 is part of the small number of Black-owned businesses in the Eugene area. Elev8 also features products and strains specifically grown or sold by other Black cannabis producers and businesses. General manager Ryan Murray has seen the community support for Whuttle’s.
“There’s a lot of strong feedback that gets the message out there to help and seek out Black businesses because they are historically ignored. This is our way to help. And, for me as a White man from Texas, I saw this as an opportunity,” Murray said. “How many Black people are in prison for weed? Millions. And that’s so frustrating to see me as the general manager of a dispensary, but this is my way to give back.”
According to a 2020 American Civil Liberties Union analysis, Black people are almost four times more likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana possession. Across the country, Black people were more likely to be arrested. In some states, Black people were up to almost 10 times more likely to be arrested.
Oregon has its own predicament, with the state being predominantly White due to its racist history focusing on excluding Black, Indigenous and Brown people from the state in its creation, resulting in low populations of Black, Indigenous and Brown people within the state. As of 2020, only 2.2% of the Oregonian population is Black and in Eugene; 1.56%, according to census data.
“We’ve been up here 20 years, and imagine how hard it was 20 years ago and anyone who’s African American owning a shop up here,” Girley said. “When you come here and it’s a dominant one race and you don’t see the diversity, that’s what we saw with the food, no diversity.”
Whuttle’s appreciates the synergy between Elev8 and shares a similar mentality. They create an impression for other people to help other businesses because, to them, that is what is missing in the community — the fellowship and working together and how finding someone willing to collaborate could inspire someone to find another business or join them, Girley said.
“I know your pain as a Black business or Black man,” Dickerson said. “We can be successful together.”
One of the budtenders at Elev8, Quez, appreciates Whuttle’s presence. He said it feels nice to have a voice and to have the community understand him, to be a part of it and help encourage more of the Oregon Black community on behalf of himself and the community that raised him. Quez said a lot of people don’t know there’s a space for Black people here at all. In his experience, a lot of Black kids in Eugene only see a younger Black community and do not receive the opportunity to see an older Black community in Oregon teaching the Black community, like in other cities.
“This helps Eugene by knowing there are black businesses here. For the most part, all the Black businesses know one another in some way,” Quez said. “It’s a lot more connected; it’s family. I want people to know it’s bigger than a food truck and dispensary. It shows that there’s a sense of community in a predominantly White area.”
The duo did their research, looking into all the kinds of food in the area and establishments, noticing there were foods they wanted to bring here that people couldn’t get anywhere else. They don’t want to displace any current establishments, but they believe the community will appreciate their classic southern recipes from chicken spaghetti or barbecue salmon to recipes of cakes and pies that are “old woman seasoned.”
The duo spends a lot of time talking about and cultivating recipes. Girley called all the way to Alabama to trade their infamous chicken recipe for their upcoming menu item: deep fried turkey. “Better have some band-aids because you’ll almost bite your hand off,” he joked.
Girley said Dickerson is the best pitmaster he knows. Dickerson understands his food to the science, understanding the wood, charcoals, where to place the charcoal and how to bring the seasoning out without burning it up. To them, that’s their real advantage. Dickerson’s pitmaster skills are the way Whuttle’s named themselves: a mix of one’s first reaction of biting into their food and Russell’s name.
“Whuttle’s. This one woman at a church picnic said ‘WOW-RUSSEL!’ I knew that would be our name. That shock, that first bite, Whuttle’s,” Girley said. “It’s the bite you’re looking for where you shake your head, so flavorful you’ll be like ‘oooohhh.’ It makes ya sing a little bit.”
