And to get to the future, you have to talk about the past. And that past is fraught when you are a minority brewery in this country.
Which is why it was great to hear Shyla from Bow & Arrow and Teo from our SoCal Crowns & Hops talk about their respective journeys in a beer world that is quite white.
Here are some of the words of interest that struck me from the discussion…
- Why do we assume that beer drinkers and brewery owners look a certain way?
- access to capital is still a major hurdle
- call out people, don’t let the haters use language without using language to change the narrative
- No Jerks!
- How do we frame gentrification when it is a minority business person in a minority neighborhood
- We need to get to a time where the story is the beer and the beer only, and not who is behind it because telling the story of who you are, if that story always revolves around your skin tone is tiring
- Don’t be an Ally in name only. Do sonething