A Tribute to Ben Ali

2009-10-09
Eric Easter

It is probably unusual for a national magazine to do an obit for someone whose legacy is essentially local, though his work received widespread national and international attention earlier in the year when President Barack Obama visited the venerable Ben’s Chili Bowl. But this tribute has nothing to do with that attention. Pioneering Washington DC entrepreneur Ben Ali deserves recognition because he stands as the symbol of the best of small Black family businesses in cities and towns across America. Ali died, at age 82, on Wednesday Oct. 7.

You may have heard part of the Ben’s Chili Bowl story, Bill Cosby’s fanatical love of the half-smokes, the celebrity visitors, the politicians and local leaders who gather to talk shop and make it a mandatory destination in campaigns. That’s the fun part. It’s only half the tale. Ben Ali, his wife Virginia and their family are staples in Washington, DC not just because of the food but because of the work ethic, pride and determination it took to stay around so long. Through the torment and devastation of a major riot, they chose to stick it out and feed a neighborhood with few options. Even more devastating was the building of a subway stop directly across from the store, for which construction impeded foot traffic for years, driving down revenue to a trickle.

Following Ben’s lead, the family’s dedication to the community extended  - and still extends - far beyond its storefront. When I launched a local newspaper in the early 90’s as just a young guy with an idea, Ben’s Chili Bowl became our first paid advertiser – just to lend a hand and get us started. Hundreds of entrepreneurs and politicians have some version of that story. And so do hundreds of nameless, faceless folk who came – and still come- very late at night -  intoxicated, weary, troubled, hungry, and who just need a kind word.

At noon on a recent Saturday I took my family to Ben’s for lunch and found every table packed with a crowd that was nearly one hundred percent white, and not even reflective of the urban hipsters who have gentrified the neighborhood. Rather they were families of tourists and groups of Moms returning from soccer practice.  You’d have to have been in DC for a bit to understand the impact of that visual, but let’s say it’s a dramatic leap from only a few years ago when only the brave and the drunk would dare.

From the Black Broadway to the hub of the Black Arts Movement to the center of the 1968 riots to a zone in the crack wars to this new dynamic. Through all that, one constant - Ben’s. Thing have definitely changed. Change is beautiful, cleansing, necessary. Great success is the reward you reap when you sow good deeds, and Ben’s life was filled with those.

The beauty of his life is that his passing does not represent the end of an era, but the dawn of another, the continuation of a family tradition that is more successful now than ever. You probably won’t see Ben’s Chili Bowl on the BE 100 anytime soon (then again maybe you might). But that’s not the point. Small is good, community is important. The Ali family knows this, and to them and the thousands of small Black family businesses around the nation who still follow that wisdom, we wish you the best in honor of Ben.