By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
For his Second Annual Eat & Greet event this year, Birmingham’s LaDarrius Hutcherson, aka LHUT, wanted to focus on Black excellence.
The popular social media influencer has 61,000 followers on TikTok, and is known for his reviews of local Birmingham restaurants and activities. LHUT said he wanted an event that brought in more than just those in his circle.
With V 94.9’s Lady Woo as moderator, LHUT titled his event “Boldly Black” and assembled a panel that included judges; real estate broker; television personality; financial adviser and social worker … “people that are in our community that are trailblazers within their industry,” he said.
“Last year I had a panel of different influencers. It went really well, but this year I wanted to diversify the panel a little bit more because I feel like everyone doesn’t want to be an influencer. I wanted people to hear from others that are outside of what I do,“ he said.
Hutcherson said his inspiration for this event came from his social media.
“A lot of my followers were writing and saying, ‘I want to go eat with you,’” Hutcherson said. “When I initially came up with the idea, I was thinking of something where I would have a long table and I could invite 35-40 people, and we would chitchat and talk. But that wasn’t enough for me. I think highly of myself, but I think that something like that is too dramatic.”
Hutcherson said he wanted something that would allow him to walk boldly in his Blackness.
“That’s why the theme this year was ‘Boldly Black,’” he said. “People thought that meant the attire. I left it up to them and their interpretation, but what I meant [was] I’m walking perfectly in my Blackness, and I don’t deviate away from that. I don’t try to make people feel uncomfortable with it, but it is what it is. I’m Black and I wanted the event to represent that in the very best way. That’s why everyone that was there, whether they are a panelist, or a sponsor was either Black or minority.”
The influencer said he was pleased with the program.
“This event showed me that no matter what is going on in the world, we still have so much power. It was so much power in that room. Not just in my panelist but people that were in the audience that were there,” he said. “They are powerful as well. They came and they left full.”
To see more from LaDarrius Hutcherson, visit his sites on Facebook (LaDarrius Hutcherson), Instagram (@lhut_), TikTok (@lhut_), and YouTube (@LHUTTV).
