   The story behind the Bay Area’s iconic Everett and Jones Barbeque restaurants Smokin’ since 1973 Brickhouse is a proposed new book about barbeque from the perspective of a Black woman. Cue the music “Brick House” by the Commodores. This book will be a collection of fifty short stories of a legendary family of not eight, nine, or ten but eleven Black pitmasters from Oakland, CA, and nine of these pitmasters are dynamic black women who have been cooking delicious smoked meat on brick pits for 50 years. “Ow, what a winning hand!” My name is Shirley Everett-Dicko, and I was there from the beginning. My new book will tell the story of my legendary family operating the iconic Everett and Jones Barbeque Restaurants for over 50 years in the Bay Area. My late mother and five deceased siblings' legacy will live on through these short stories.  Text © 2022 Shirley Everett-Dicko
Archive Images courtesy of Shirley Everett-Dicko [email protected] [email protected] Cover art and Interior illustrations © 2022 Ken McGhee https://kensfunkyart.com/ Design by Tracy Cox Photography by Lori Eanes All Rights Reserved
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Shirley Everett-Dicko  Sergeant Henry Johnson of the 369th Infantry ("Harlem Hellfighters"), was one of the most celebrated soldiers in World War I. He and the 369th Infantry Regiment are legends. The 369th Infantry's regimental band, under the direction of Lt. James Reese Europe, is credited with introducing jazz music to European audiences. The Harlem Hellfighters | History In 1918 Sergeant Henry Johnson was the first American, Black, or White, ever to be awarded a medal from France in World War I. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor from former President Barack Obama in a 2015, White House ceremony. In 1996, President Bill Clinton posthumously presented Sgt. Henry Johnson with the Purple Heart. And, in 2002, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Our uncle Clarkie Everett was the second vice president of the Albany District 369th Veterans Association. He was part of a group of veterans who battled many obstacles of racism for decades to get the state of New York and the U.S. government to recognize Henry Johnson’s heroism and honors due him. Uncle Clarkie was involved in these efforts as early as 1972, and instrumental in fundraising for the Henry Johnson Memorial. After years of challenging work finally on Veterans Day 1991, Northern Boulevard in Albany was renamed Henry Johnson Boulevard; a park was renamed Henry Johnson Park, and a statue was erected. Then in 1996, in a joint project by the City of Albany, New York and the Albany District 369th Veterans Association, the Henry Johnson memorial was erected in Washington Park; the district’s name is on the center panel of the monument, and Uncle Clarkie’s is the 7th name listed on the right side of the same panel.  Here Uncle Clarkie Everett is pictured with the plaster bust created by Capital Region sculptor Vince Forte, Sr. This was the model used to create the bronze bust dedicated in 1996, in Albany, New York’s Washington Park. It sits atop a monument that my ancestor worked hard to put there.  In 2018, an annual Henry Johnson Day and a community service award was established; a charter school and a ROTC scout were also named in honor of Henry Johnson. Uncle Clarkie was a deacon and a founding member of Mt Moriah Missionary Baptist church. His younger brother, my daddy Cleveland A Everett, was the Pastor of the church. How proper that the church sits at the corner of Henry Johnson Boulevard and Spruce Street. Now, about Sgt Henry Johnson and what he did to finally earn his just rewards. The remarks below are from President Obama in 2015, at the ceremony in the White House honoring Henry Johnson with the medal of Honor in a ceremony attended by Uncle Clarkie’s fellow members of the Albany District 369th Veterans Association. President Barack Obama granted Henry Johnson the Medal of Honor. The President Awards the Medal of Honor Posthumously to World War I Veterans  The citation reads, “The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Private Henry Johnson United States Army For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Private Johnson distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a member of Company C, 369th Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, American Expeditionary Forces, during combat operations against the enemy on the front lines of the Western Front in France on May 15, 1918. Private Johnson and another soldier were on sentry duty at a forward outpost when they received a surprise attack from a German raiding party consisting of at least 12 soldiers. While under intense enemy fire and despite receiving significant wounds, Private Johnson mounted a brave retaliation, resulting in several enemy casualties. When his fellow soldier was badly wounded, Private Johnson prevented him from being taken prisoner by German forces. Private Johnson exposed himself to grave danger by advancing from his position to engage an enemy soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Wielding only a knife and gravely wounded himself, Private Johnson continued fighting and took his Bolo knife and stabbed it through an enemy soldier’s head. Displaying great courage, Private Johnson held back the enemy force until they retreated. Private Johnson’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.”  In 2023, President Joe Biden renamed Louisiana's Fort Polk to Fort Johnson in honor of Sgt. Henry Johnson. Unfortunately, in 2025, President Trump changed the name back to Fort Polk. As the Trump administration rebrands several military bases, the legacy of Albany World War I hero Henry Johnson is a casualty | WAMC  Clarkie Everett (seated) and unknown Army friend. Uncle Clarkie was a World War II veteran. When he was twenty years old, he was drafted into the segregated U.S. Army in 1943, to serve in World War II. He was stationed in south-east Asia in Burma, transporting war supplies to the allied forces along the Ledo and Burma Road. After the Pearl Harbor attack Japan invaded Burma and closed the Allied supply line along the Burma Road into China. He was a survivor of the Burma Campaign, the China-Burma-India Theatre in the second World War called the “Forgotten War”.   A new Ledo Road - later renamed Stillwell Road, had to be rebuilt. The Allied forces would use the new road to deliver necessary wartime supplies to China and aid them in their fight against the Japanese. It was a two-year campaign to re-open the land route to China. There were 35,000 local Indian, Burmese and Chinese workers. Sixty percent of the 15,000 American soldiers also involved were African Americans. Six African American companies worked on the construction of the Ledo Road. The new road was carved through jungles, swamps, and over steep mountains. The troops had to deal with severe heat, humidity, dangerous tropical diseases, tiger and leopard attacks, poisonous snakes, including cobras and pythons. The completed road was 1,079 miles (about the distance from Florida to New York City) long. The first convoy of 113 vehicles was driven by a Black man. The trucks had to climb nearly 4,600 feet (about 1.4 km) up, around narrow curves and cliff edges. Uncle Clarkie was one of the truck drivers that carried 129,000 tons of supplies from India to China in the first six months of the road opening. The road was considered an impossible engineering marvel. Burma is now called Myanmar. Uncle Clarkie was honorably discharged from the army in 1945. The African American soldiers who had helped to build the Ledo Road received no recognition for their achievements in Asia. Finally in February 2004, representatives of the US Department of Defense marked Black History Month at Florida A & M University in Tallahassee by officially recognizing the veterans and their efforts in India and Myanmar. By then, most of the veterans were long dead. Uncle Clarkie had died three years earlier in 2001. According to the website Facts and Details the Pentagon could find only 12 to invite to the ceremony in Tallahassee, and only six were well enough to travel, the American Forces Press Service reported at the time. Most of the veterans had died. Albany County Executive Mike Breslin and the Honor-A-Veteran Committee commemorated World War II veteran Clarkie Everett. A ceremony was held on Tuesday, February 3, 2004, at the North Albany Post at 35 North 1st Street in Albany, recognizing an outstanding African American veteran as part of Albany County’s celebration of Black History Month. Sadly, Uncle Clarkie, who passed away on August 18, 2001, at the age of 78, did not live to see his military service honored or his efforts in honoring Sgt. Henry Johnson fully recognized, but thanks to his hard work future generations will forever read his name on Albany’s most famous monument and know what he did. More links to Sgt. Henry Johnson and the 369th Harlem Hellfighters: WMHT Specials | Henry Johnson: A Tale of Courage | PBS WWII: African American Soldiers and the Ledo Burma Road 1945 The Harlem Hellfighters' Great War (2017) | FULL MOVIE | History Documentary Hellfighters: Harlem’s Heroes of World War One | Historical Documentary | Lucasfilm 
A giant oak in Oakland has fallen.
A giant oak in Oakland has fallen. Coach John Beam touched so many young men and young women’s lives who are a part of his legacy. Coach Beam expected his players to compete on the field and in the classroom. My son Donald Dicko White was one of the Skyline 5 that all got full scholarships to play division 1 football. This was the first in Coach Beam’s coaching career.
Coach Beam made getting good grades and staying eligible to play football a team sport. After every report card period, he posted the players' grades on the wall so the whole team could see them. Peer pressure kept the players eligible to play, but Coach Beam prepared them for life after football. Coach Beam had his own network of teachers at Skyline working with him to make sure his players were attending class and turning in assignments; Ms. Mayfield stayed on their asses. If you wanted to play on Coach Beam’s team, you had better be in class. If you cut class, he knew it before you could form a lie.
My son Donald graduated in four years from Utah State with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Information Systems with no student debt thanks to Coach Beam. Donald later joined Coach Beam’s coaching staff at Laney College as the Safeties and Special Teams Coordinator. Donald along with former Skyline players Derrick Gardner, and Kevin Evans were a part of the 2018 CCCAA State Championship coaching staff, and the Laney College staff in the Netflix series Last Chance U.
Derrick Gardner and Donald Dicko White
My son Hassan, who played for Coach Beam at Skyline, is quick to tell his older brother Donald that he was on the only 12-0 undefeated team at Skyline; the sibling rivalry continues.
My daughter Aiesha and Coach Beam’s two daughters, Sonya and Monica, are close like sisters. Coach Beam gave Aiesha the task of decorating his retirement party this past February. I went with Aiesha to help and to document the behind-the-scenes preparations for the celebration. Coach Beam was there; he was hyped, and these are his exact words “I want to start shit”! He wanted a lively heated debate going all night between his former players about which were the best teams and best players at their positions; it worked.
Former players came from across the country to honor their coach. My son Hassan flew in from Orlando, Florida, Jevon came from Atlanta, Georgia. The turnout was huge. Coach Beam got his flowers that day.
I am so thankful and blessed for having John Beam, his wife Cindy, and daughters a part of our family. We love you and keep you in our prayers. To the Skyline and Laney football family hold on to what Coach Beam taught you #TitanPride, #LaneyBuilt, #2ClapsReadyReady.
- Mama Dicko 
 Keenan Hawkins and his grandfather James Earl Jones  It's a family affair Keenan Hawkins making our homemade beef links for the restaurants I cannot tell you how much I adore this picture. My oldest son, Keenan, is making the homemade links that are served in our family restaurant, Everett & Jones BBQ. You see, my very first job ever was at 5 years old standing at the side of the link machine helping my daddy James Jones make links for the restaurant. I was responsible for pushing the meat toward the mouth of the machine while he stood at the bottom catching them in the casing just as Keenan is doing in this picture. That was 52 years ago!!! Now, my son is carrying on the legacy by doing his part to ensure what his grandfather started continues... Thank you, son I'm a mess  Read Keenan's grandfather James Earl Jones story clink on the link below www.everettandjones.com/saucy-sisters-blog/the-king-of-links3789850  Jones making links at home for his family
 May is National BBQ Month and a perfect time to finish writing my BBQ restaurant reviews from my birthday trip to Texas. If you remember Gatlin’s BBQ in Houston was our first stop. Our second stop on the trip was to City Market in Luling, Texas. This was a unique dining experience. It was not just the thick cut of meat that my mom would chop our hands off for because she believed that brisket should be tender and sliced thinly; But it was the service also. The people, and the cooks, let us just say, ’They Not Like Us!” First, we were welcomed by a nice young man with a dazzling smile. He was the only Black person in the restaurant until we came in. He asked if it was our first time there and proceeded to show us how to order. He directed us to a closed door at the end of the room to choose our meat. We then would come back to him for the side dishes and drinks.  As we walked toward the closed door, I noticed a sign over the ATM machine that caught my eye. It read “Autism acceptance. We believe in a spectrum of possibilities.” I thought that was cute. It reminded me of the many signs we have plastered on the walls at our restaurant in Berkeley, California. At the back of the restaurant were two doors and not one. There was one for in and another for out according to the sign that was taped on each. There was another sign on the door marked “in” that instructed us to close the door behind us. It had a neon Bud Light BBQ sign hanging above it and a dark menu board below it. There was another neon Budweiser sign over the door for exit. Beef Brisket was the first item on the menu board priced for $23 per pound. Pork ribs were next for $23 per pound. You could also buy a box of 25 ribs for $55. Hot sausages were $3 each and a box of 35 was $77 dollars. Cold sausages were $2.50 each and a box of 50 for $110 dollars. Also on the menu board was hours of operation. They were open Mon-Sat 10-6pm and anything ordered after 5:45pm was for takeout only.  Aiesha and Hassan Dicko at City Market I followed son, Hassan and daughter, Aiesha into a smoke-filled room. It was a tiny room with a large brick pit on the back wall. Behind the counter stood three men ready to take our order. I noticed the big wooden, stand-alone chopping block in the middle of the floor. It was like the one we used in the 70’s, before new health department rules made us change to the white poly cutting boards, so wood chips would not get in your food- makes sense. The tiny room felt claustrophobic. I could hardly breathe because the smoke was so thick. I at once felt sorry for the three men having to work in this environment and wondered how often the shift changed. I must confess I had never bought BBQ from a non-Black person before. The three men working behind the counter were not Black. The older man and shorter of the three took our order. He seemed a little agitated and impatient with us, maybe because we were first-timers and took a little longer than they were used to.  Shirley Everett-Dicko at City Market We ordered a pound of brisket, ribs and a hot sausage. The Cutter sliced off thick slices of beef brisket and chopped off a few meaty ribs from a slab, placed it on pink butcher paper and handed it to the older man who weighed it. A hot sausage was added along with three extra sheets of butcher paper that would serve as our plates. The cashier charged my son’s credit card. We took our order and quickly exited the dark room. We found an empty six-foot-long table with folding metal chairs in the front of the restaurant to sit. Aiesha went to order some side dishes and drinks as we sat down. She came back with three slices of white bread, some potato salad and baked beans in white 12-ounce Styrofoam food containers, pickles, three cans of cokes, and plastic spoons, forks, knives, and napkins. We each took a piece of the pink butcher paper and placed it in front of us. Then we each took a piece of meat from the pile in the center of the table and used the plastic forks to dip potato salad onto our paper plates. This truly was a no-frills dining experience. And our Everett and Jones Barbeque customers used to complain about the Dixie paper plates we served our BBQ on in the 1970s and 1980s before we made enough money to upgrade to Styrofoam, three compartment containers. Here we were literally eating off paper in 2025. The meat was good and tender. I noticed the sign on the table that said please leave the BBQ sauce on the table but there was no sauce on the table. So, I asked for sauce and the nice young man brought a bottle over to our table. I am team BBQ sauce! I tried some of the sauce on a piece of my beef. It was tangy. I believe a good BBQ sauce can set you apart from other BBQ restaurants. This sauce was just ok. I did as the sign said and left the sauce on the table.  Not only do I BBQ for a living, but I BBQ every chance I get in my backyard when the weather is good. In California we have exceptionally pleasant weather, so meat cooked over fire with wood is kind of my thing. I know that different does not make a thing better. It is simply different, and we are free to, like whatever we like, and variety is the spice of life. BBQ cultures and traditions have co-existed for centuries and I am sure they will continue. It is one of the oldest forms of cooking and it's not going anywhere. From this Black woman’s perspective and based on my lived experiences working in my family’s 52 years old barbeque restaurants I have learned that you do not have to minimize another culture's differences and traditions to elevate your own. The romanticized version of Texas BBQ as the gold standard that has flamed across the country, and pit itself against other cultures is quite different from the Black BBQ culture I grew up in on 7th Street in West Oakland, California in the 60’s. The Texas BBQ and culture I experienced on my birthday trip was good but to each its own and that is the point!  Hassan Dicko and Shirley Everett-Dicko On Saturday, March 15th the founder and first president of the East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club of Oakland, California had a street named after him, Tobie Gene Levingston Way. The East Bay Dragons are Oakland legends and Tobie Gene is legendary!  The man, the myth, the legend Tobie Gene and the East Bay Dragons were our first customers. It was Memorial Day weekend in 1973; the East Bay Dragons were hosting their annual Memorial Day family picnic at Robert’s Park in Oakland. Tobie Gene paid us to cook all the BBQ for the picnic that first year and for many years afterwards. I was there to honor the man, the myth, the legend and celebrate with our first customers, the East Bay Dragons M/C. You can read all about Tobie Gene, the Dragons, and Everett and Jones here www.everettandjones.com/saucy-sisters-blog/tobie-gene-the-dragons-everett-and-jones  By Shirley Everett-Dicko We flew into Houston, Texas, picked up the rental car and went straight to Gatlin’s BBQ. A Black family-owned BBQ restaurant that had been open since 2010. Greg Gatlin is the founder and owner, but his mother Mary was the true star. My daughter Aiesha had mapped out a plan of which BBQ places to try and support for my birthday and Black History Month. Gatlin’s BBQ was first on her list. We pulled up to the restaurant, parked the car and smelled wood burning, which is always a good sign. We were greeted by the cashier, a young Black woman. When we told her we were from Oakland, California, imagine our surprise when the cashier suddenly reached down under the counter and pulled out a jacket with the words Oakland, 1966, and a picture of a Black Panther written on the back that she had recently bought. Hell yeah! Power to the people! Oakland was already in the house. We had come to the right place.  I ordered about everything on the menu: pork ribs, beef brisket, links, chicken, pulled pork, potato salad, collard greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, beans, and sweet tea. The food was delicious, and the portions were a decent size. We had eaten all we could and had to ask for some to go containers. We had so many leftovers that my children forbade me from ordering when we visited other BBQ restaurants. I was told just to stand and keep quiet, ha ha.  Mrs. Mary and the staff sang happy birthday to me and gave me a bottle of their BBQ sauce. Mrs. Mary told us that we were family so it must be true. This was a great start to my birthday week. We became family after eating at Gatlin’s BBQ. I simply love this lady, her warm welcoming spirit, and that southern hospitality. My daughter Aiesha and Regina, the cashier’s name, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet up when she came to Oakland. When you visit Houston make sure you stop by and support this amazing family and their business. Say hi to Mrs. Mary for me.  Hassan (BJ), Shirley, Regina, Aiesha, and Mrs. Mary By Shirley Everett-Dicko  I had such a fun experience at this iconic black owned barbeque restaurant in Austin’s historically Black neighborhood in Texas. It should be a law against having this much fun ordering BBQ. It was one of my favorite ordering experiences in Texas. With many faded pictures on the wall you could tell that this was going to be an authentic, old school, slap your mama good eating’ place; and it did not disappoint. It was Hella good! I love a good BBQ origin story. Sam’s BBQ has been around since 1957 and is currently owned and operated by Brian Mays. According to an interview on March 22, 2019, on Decibel KLRU-TV, Austin PBS Brian’s father Dan Mays Sr., won the restaurant from his cousin the original owner, Sam Campbell in a gambling game when Sam bet the restaurant and lost. Sam’s meat is smoked in an indoor brick pit, like Everett and Jones, over oak wood, again like ours, and has a tomato base BBQ sauce, what a coincidence, just like ours. Damn! You ain’t heard it from me, and I ain't one to gossip, but the Great Migration of Blacks leaving the south and settling in the west like Oakland, California keeps getting in the way of the narrative that Texas style BBQ is unique to Texas. I’m just saying. I did not know it at the time, but it was Brian’s younger brother David who fixed our order of pork ribs and links combo, with potato salad, mac and cheese. I just loved bullshitting with David. It was just so spontaneous, and I did not tell him who I was. He was such a hilarious character.  David and Shirley Brain's daughter and granddaughter opened the "Daiquiri Factory" next door where my son and daughter hung out. The daiquiris were delicious and went great with our BBQ. Sam's BBQ is on social media. Check out the videos and when in Austin go by and support this family owned and operated black business. What a legacy! By Shirley Everett-Dicko  Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking Ernestine Edmond Owner/Pitmaster Fort Worth, Texas My smile started before we parked the car. When my son BJ opened the door to Mama E’s Bar-B-Que restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas and held it open for me and his sister Aiesha to enter, my smile burst into a full-blown wide-ass grin. I was grinning from ear to ear. The restaurant reminded me of our Oakland Fruitvale Avenue location which opened in 1975. We walked up to the plexiglass covered counter and told the young Black girl, who turned out to be the great granddaughter of the owner and pitmaster, to give us a minute as we checked out the menu. We told her that it was our first time here, that we were from Oakland, California, and that we used Google to find her, and wanted to try her barbeque and support her during Black History Month.  Ernestine Edmond, Hassan (BJ) Dicko, La'niyah, and Shirley Everett-Dicko, Photos by Aiesha Dicko The older woman in the kitchen area heard us. She opened the door from the kitchen and came out to the lobby. Automatic, with no hesitation, she embraced me, and held tightly on to my hand, my heart was full. Ernestine Edmond introduced herself and her great granddaughter, La’niyah. She told us that she was 74 years old and was teaching her great granddaughter the BBQ traditions her mother had taught her, so she can pass the traditions on to the next generations. Legacy and a Black female pitmaster, I had hit the jackpot with my choice of adding Mama E’s Bar-B-Que to our tour of Texas BBQ restaurants in honor of Black History Month and my Birthday. Here in the male dominated world of Texas BBQ pitmasters I had found a Black Pearl, a real live, Bonafide, Black female pitmaster in Texas. See, we are out there and serving some great BBQ. Ernestine said that she was born in Texas. Ernestine’s smoking method using a brick pit, some oak wood, and adding BBQ sauce on your smoked meat confirmed for me that our Black BBQ culture followed us from the south to the west coast during the Great Migration and on to Oakland, California. We ordered a combo of pork ribs and links, potato salad and beans, with mild sauce. The ribs were tender and very good, the links were tasty, and the hospitality and neighborhood Black history lesson Ernestine shared about her corner location and the surrounding neighborhood were priceless. Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking restaurant is a Historic Southside site. We had to get our food to go because we had to meet a friend in Irving, Texas for brunch to celebrate my birthday. When I told Ernestine it was my birthday, she gave me one of her homemade mini cakes, which was delicious, and a t-shirt. I encourage everyone visiting Fort Worth to add Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking to your list.  |
(c) 2026 Shirley Everett-Dicko
All Rights Reserved 
The Everett sisters organized a bus trip to the 1st President Obama inauguration
Everett sisters Dorothy, Helen, Mary and Shirley @Jack London Square restaurant planning the "We Believe Get on the Bus" trip to witness history - 1st Obama inauguration.
Sharing photos of the 1st President Obama inauguration.
(C) 2016 Everett and Jones
All Rights Reserved |
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