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San Antonio business owner rallies breweries against racial injustices

The initiative aims to bring awareness to the injustices that people of color face daily.

SAN ANTONIO — Following the death of George Floyd, a black business owner in San Antonio is brewing up a call to action.

Marcus Baskerville is the head brewer at Weathered Souls. Over the weekend, he decided to use his gift to gain worldwide attention. He's serving up a stout in solidarity and sharing his recipe with other brewers through his "Black is Beautiful" initiative. 

"Being a black business owner, being a father, being somebody who has experienced police abuse—I kind of felt like I had to do something," Baskerville said. 

Baskerville said the purpose of the Black is Beautiful initiative is to create collaboration in the brewing community and its customers, in an attempt to bring awareness to the injustices that people of color face daily.

He said it took only about 24 hours for more than 170 breweries to reach out to him, interested in helping. 

"It's very humbling, for sure," Baskerville said. "We've had breweries from Japan, Germany, Canada. It's been a wonderful thing to see."

Baskerville is asking breweries to donate a portion of the profits toward an organization that supports equality. For his brewery, he chose the Know Your Rights Camp started by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

"This isn't a political statement or anything like that," Baskerville said. "This is a humanity statement."

Baskerville said that, by sharing a beer, they share a common goal for the future. 

"You don't want your kids to grow up in the same type of situation you're currently in," Baskerville said. "Everybody deserves respect. Everybody deserves to be treated the same."

More information on the "Black is Beautiful" initiative can be found here.

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