Black Is Beautiful
Southern Grist Brewing:
Weathered Soulsโ Black Is Beautiful Campaign Shows Racial Solidarity In Craft Beer
Read in Forbes, here.
Marcus Baskerville, Co-Founder of Weathered Souls Brewing Co. in San Antonio, Texas
Kenny Gould, Forbes Contributor
Like many around the United States,ย Weathered Souls Brewing Companyโsย Co-Founder Marcus Baskerville was having a tough week.
โI was dealing with some of the frustrations that were going on with murders,โ he says. โBreonna Taylor, George Floyd. All of these situations that keep arising.โ
As a Black business owner, Baskerville felt a responsibility to use his platform to promote justice. And yet, as a business frequented mostly by โwhite, middle-aged men,โ Baskerville worried about alienating his fan base.
โYou have to tread lightly, especially in the industry weโre in,โ he says.
This week, Baskerville launched the Black Is Beautiful initiative, a project firmly at the intersection of these thoughts and emotions. Itโs a strong move in the fight to raise awareness around injustice and a step toward bringing more diverse voices to an industry traditionally antagonistic toward minority populations.
What Is Black Is Beautiful?
Like Other Halfโsย โAll Togetherโ Projectย that mobilized craft brewers in support of a common goal, Black Is Beautiful highlights the need for equality and the injustice faced by people of color.
As part of the project, Baskerville worked with graphic designer Kevin Dyer to create a label for a beer can.
โItโs a general label that we created but a large portion of the label is left open for breweries to attach their own artwork to it,โ says Baskerville.
Baskerville then posted an open-source beer recipe on theย Black Is Beautiful website.
โWe created a recipe for people to use as a stout base,โ says Baskerville. โBut they can get creative and put their own spins on it.โ
Donations to a local justice organization are encouraged, but โthatโs not the main focus,โ Baskerville says. Weathered Souls has chosen to donate proceeds from their beer toย Know Your Rights Camp, an organization started by Colin Kaepernick to educate and empower โthe next generation of change leaders.โ
How Did The Black Is Beautiful Project Get Started?
Initially, Weathered Souls planned to make a single beer. But after speaking with Jester Kingโs Jeff Stuffings atย Jester King Breweryย โ one of craft beerโs most vocal supporters and a man Baskerville credits as โa mentorโ โ Baskerville turned his project into a collaborative effort.
โIโve been a fan boy of Jeffโs for years, and it developed into a friendship,โ says Baskerville. โHeโs actually the one that got us to open a brewpub over a brewery. In every situation where Iโm like, โI want to do thisโ, or โI want to be part of this,โ Jeff has been like, โNote to self โ help Marcus.โโ
With Stuffingsโ support, Baskerville was able to promote the initiative and reach a relatively large group of craft brewers in a short amount of time.
Whoโs Participating In Black Is Beautiful?
Less than twenty-four hours after announcing the Black Is Beautiful project, Baskerville had sign-on from over eighty breweries. Only twenty-four hours after that, the number sits at 226.
โThere have been some great names getting involved,โ Baskerville says. โTrillium, J. Wakefield, Perennial. Today we heard from Great Notion, WeldWerks, and Voodoo.โ
While these name might not mean much to someone outside of the craft beer scene, each of the named breweries plays a powerful role in shaping craft beer culture. Their support goes a long way in encouraging the most avid consumers to take the project seriously.
Justin Gyorfi, founder ofย Ingenious Brewingย and a frequent collaborator of Baskervilleโs, noted heโs not surprised at the projectโs success.
โMarcusโ passion about the project is contagious and I couldnโt imagine a brewery owner who read his message โ and who had the means to participate โ not wanting to be involved,โ he says.
Ingenious, along with fellow independent Texas brewery and close Weathered Souls / Ingenious collaboratorย Turning Point Beer, are both participating in the project.
Now, even those who donโt know Baskerville personally want to get involved. Ignacio Montenegro, owner and Director of Marketing atย Tripping Animals Brewing Co.ย in Doral, Florida, committed his brewery to participating after hearing about the initiative on social media.
โWe didnโt think twice about it,โ he said. โWe donโt have a relationship with Weathered Souls just yet, but if we can use our platform to raise awareness in our community, weโre more than happy to do it.โ
Diversity As The Future of Craft Beer
โAs brewers and business owners, we bring another perspective thatโs a little different,โ says William Teasley, founder ofย Khonso Brewingย in Atlanta, Georgia. โThe best thing anyone can do to help is ensure weโre part of the conversation.โ
While Weathered Soulsโ initiative is a huge step toward a more equitable craft beer industry, the true test of the projectโs success will be to see whether or not current industry leaders extend themselves to the BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) community.
As the editor of aย craft beer magazine, Iโll be the first to say that our industry hasnโt been very good at this. While programs likeย Fresh Festย andย Beers With(out) Beardsย provide spots of hope, major industry events (including ones that Iโve personally thrown) have left brewers who are African American out of the conversation.
Still, things are changing. Hopefully the Black Is Beautiful project will not only show solidarity, but convince industry leaders to extend themselves to more people of color in the industry.
โI remember when I started, there was maybe one or two other black-owned breweries,โ says Chris Harris, owner ofย Black Frog Brewingย in Holland, Ohio. โNow youโre looking at close to thirty or forty right now. The change is happening. Slowly but surely, itโs happening.โ