Alise Givens Uncle Nearest Blog: A Legacy Shaping the Future

 The Uncle Nearest Distillery retreat was memorable and connected me to the past in ways I had not been before. Reading about our history is very different from experiencing it in person and seeing the changes since then. This retreat taught me about the lack of representation black people have received throughout history for creating things that every other race uses and claims as their own. Reading the book gave me a literary understanding of everything that happened, but visiting the site allowed me to view the artistic aspect, vastly different from just reading the words on a page. The various art pieces and collections within the distillery show a unique perspective into understanding the legacy that people have left and the impacts black people have made on and throughout history.

    Traveling across states affected my mindset about the past and its ties to the present because of my ancestors' journey to have their stories heard and travel to freedom. Specifically, moving from the city and entering Tennessee and the vast landscape of the state brought back the memory of always visiting my dad’s land in Denwoody, Virginia. There is so much culture embedded in places we visit that connects us to our family and its history, which this distillery is linked to. Despite going unnoticed, the building itself showed how much black people have to offer to society and how grand their contributions were. Even though we were there to learn about history in a positive light, there are damaging aspects of his business, and I think this is interesting because this is something we’ve been discussing in English class. 

How can we be proud of building something that inherently hurts our people? If we look at it in two ways, we can be happy that someone like us has created something great for himself and proved to the community that we are just as capable of accomplishing achievements like the “superior race.” In the same breath, we can feel some discomfort with it because it harms our community, creates wounds/divides within our community, and only helps the people who are harming us. For centuries, there has been a target on the backs of black people, and some might feel like businesses like these are only aiding in making that target larger. People like Mama in “A Raisin in the Sun” would agree. To her point, the conflicts that come with owning a business that is so controversial to the empowerment of black people are not worth the risks of gaining profit from it. However, I believe Uncle Nearest's Distillery and Liquor Stores are vastly different businesses with different purposes. Alcohol is an excellent example of the crossroads between entrepreneurship and responsibility. It is a wholly legal substance for those over the age of 21; however, sellers may or may not be knowingly selling it to addicts, abusers, or those underage. I think it is the seller's responsibility to know their audience and do everything within the law to avoid harming the community. It is then personal responsibility for those to understand what is in their control to buy and what would harm them personally. That is the difference between a Liquor Store and Uncle Nearest’s Distillery.

Alise Givens CO'29