Nia Gooden - Looking Back to Revise History and Looking Forward with Culturally Responsible Success - Nearest Green Distillery Reflection
Being in a place and being with a change maker allows you to fully experience the magnitude of the history that has been made. Seeing the scope of the Nearest Green distillery helped to put into perspective how transformative Fawn and Keith Weaver’s efforts to create Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey were. Seeing the tangible fruits of their labor helped to contextualize their success as Black entrepreneurs in a white, male dominated industry. Seeing the real crowds, dedicated staff, and beautiful and expansive property proved just how triumphant their business venture has been. Traveling from Atlanta to Tennessee gave us a critical opportunity to experience the environment of the predominantly white deep south, a contrast to the diversity of Atlanta. Seeing confederate flags, trump signs, and other white nationalist paraphernalia worn by visitors to the distillery, opened our eyes to the reality of white supremacy that is still thriving in the deep South and allowed us to experience the complexity of a Black-owned business existing in that environment.
The creation of Uncle Nearest is a great example of something that “excites as it wounds”. Throughout her research, Fawn Weaver discovered the beauty of the amenable relationships between Black and white residents of Lynchburg, namely that of Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniels, while she also grappled with the reality that Nearest had not gotten the recognition he deserved. Her research, and Nearest Green’s story is an excellent demonstration of how delving deep into Black history can be a great source of pride whilst bringing striking and painful disappointments. The complexity of the revelation that the relationship between Uncle Nearest and Jack Daniels was positive illuminates the idea that we need to continue to uncover Black history, because the range of stories that exist are far more diverse than what the mainstream portrays. Looking backwards in time and looking closely to revise narratives that have been perpetuated reminded me of the work Danielle Allen did with her book “Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality”. In her book, Allen examines the Declaration of Independence as a document that in its essence was in favor of abolition. Allen helps her readers to imagine our nation’s founding document in a more equitable light, proving that despite its gross misinterpretation, the foundation of our country is not inherently exclusionary or discriminatory. Highlighting stories like these reinforces Black American pride and extends our triumphant history. This complexity is part of what makes uncovering Black history so transformative and necessary. The success Weaver experienced as a result of her willingness to sit with the emotions of anticipation and disappointment as she worked through her research about Nearest Green and also fought to make Uncle Nearest a viable, profitable business, was astronomical.
Uncle Nearest was a brand that was ethically responsible from the start. The main goal of the brand was to bring awareness to a Black “hidden figure” of the Whiskey business, and highlighting someone who history chose to forget is inherently ethical. In addition to the origin of the business’s name, the brand continues its ethical mission by partnering with Nearest Green’s descendants to make sure they are involved with, and benefitting from their ancestor’s legacy. Love & Whiskey details the way that Fawn Weaver raised funds for a scholarship that she invested into Nearest’s descendants, ensuring that they have an opportunity to access higher education. Weaver takes it a step further by mentioning in Love & Whiskey that she’s not interested in selling her business for capital gain but rather keeping the business for future generations and also for Nearest’s descendants. Leaving Spelman’s campus to visit Nearest Green distillery allowed me to place myself into living Black history and to get an immersive learning experience about entrepreneurship, professionalism, and whiskey. This retreat allowed me to see how success can be both personal and beneficial to the greater community one belongs to. It was a reminder that my responsibility as an honors student is not just to myself but also to my community.
Written by: Nia Gooden
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