DC activists call for &pizza boycott and removal of 'Marion Berry knots' from menu
WASHINGTON - D.C. activists are calling for the removal of a new menu item and a boycott of the pizza chain &pizza.
&pizza recently added a new menu item to their menu, the "Marion Berry Knots." &pizza says it "may not be the perfect dessert, but they’re the perfect dessert for D.C."
Although the restaurant did not state the dessert item was named after the former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, people are connecting the dots and outraged by the addition.
&pizza under fire for naming dessert after former Mayor Marion Barry
A D.C. pizza chain is facing backlash over its decision to name a menu item after the late Marion Barry.
Barry served as mayor of the nation’s capital for four terms. In 1990, he found himself at the center of a scandal. Barry was arrested in a high-profile FBI sting operation for smoking crack cocaine.
On the &pizza website, it reads: "These knots will blow you away" next to a small pile of white powdered sugar. Many call this reference inappropriate and tone-deaf.
The NAACP DC Branch calling the menu item "inflammatory, culturally insensitive, and drug-use insinuating." The organization is demanding the removal of the item and for the restaurant to issue remuneration to support substance-abuse prevention in all cities within their marketing area.
Several activists and D.C. residents echoed the same sentiments.
"The life, legacy, lineage and name of Marion Barry deserves to be remembered as a pioneer for economic development, real-estate development, black business empowerment, youth employment and as the Mayor of the people," Akosua Ali, NAACP DC President, stated. "Mayor Barry taught us the power of economics and today, we call on the community to demand &pizza right this egregious wrong."