Preserving Legacy: Visiting the Nearest Green Distillery
Love Story:
Complications or Tensions:
Branding vs History:
Visiting the Uncle Nearest Distillery in Tennessee was an eye opening experience for me especially within the consideration of the relationship between history and legacy. While reading Love & Whiskey gave me insight into the history aspect, the story of Nearest Green, being at the distillery provided perspective on the ways in which history is preserved and legacy can endure.
My first thought was to wonder about the significance of its location. In a technical sense the distillery could have been anywhere. Why place a black owned distillery in a town that flaunts confederate flags? Having grown up in Brooklyn, New York or even just experiencing the bus ride from Atlanta to Tennessee, the duality of the South is what stood out to me the most. Going from a city to the country, you can quite literally watch as the buildings and architecture almost went back in time. It was a reminder that the past can actively live within the present.Actually getting to make that journey and tour the distillery made me realize that while a distillery in honor of Uncle Nearest outside of Tennessee could speak to his skill it wouldn’t be able to speak to or represent his story. It wasn’t just about adding to a legacy, but recentering Black heritage as a foundation for success in the South.
The commitment of the distillery to history even down to the speakeasy that was revealed to us on the tour, highlights the importance of sharing stories, especially those in which have been silenced and forgotten. Just as Fawn Weaver found herself captivated by the story of Uncle Nearest, the distillery provided space for my imagination to thrive, for my questions to be answered, and for history to be remembered. We can only learn so much from reading. By stepping outside of the classroom we got the opportunity to see, feel, and relate. We could place ourselves inside of the story. While we were there, a lot of the staff mentioned how in visiting we became a part of their family. In stepping outside the classroom we were able to place ourselves within the legacy of Uncle Nearest. This acts as a reminder that the book Love & Whiskey, the legacy of Nearest Green is bigger than words on a page; it’s a foundation for community.
Fawn Weaver’s work is a representation of how entrepreneurial gain can align with community responsibility. To succeed in something that delights even as it wounds means that there is balance within impact. While at the distillery I took it upon myself to ask Mr. Keith Weaver about the broader responsibility that may come with owning a spirits company, especially understanding the harms and negative stigmas that surround liquor within the black community. From his response I came to understand that when dealing with something as complicated as the liquor industry, what matters above all is impact. I couldn’t help but acknowledge that the distillery’s impact went beyond the crafting and selling of liquor. The balance between responsibility and personal gain lies in the education and the legacy that thrives within the distillery. The experience provides the opportunity for people to learn from the black experience, bringing people together through the story of Uncle Nearest. In my opinion, the current and lasting impact of the distillery has the potential to outweigh any wounds it may cause, in fact I think it has the potential to heal. Connecting back to Bell Hook’s essay “Loving Blackness as Political Resistance”, loving blackness is a process of liberation through re-centering and learning from black experiences. At the distillery, by nurturing the story and legacy of Nearest Green, they displace whiteness as a standard for success. Rather than simply tolerating and accepting blackness, the distillery celebrates and centers its existence within blackness. Creating these spaces that affirm blackness are vital in breaking down white supremacist culture.
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