3 minute read
The Next Draft
MATTHEW TOTA
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Elizabeth Wambui has never been prouder to order a beer than last Friday at Greater Good Brewing Co., where she and nearly a dozen current and former staff members of The Nativity School of Worcester arrived thirsty for a fresh pint of equality.
That is, “EQUALITY,” an Oktoberfest lager brewed to support the school’s mission of helping boys from low-income households get the education they need to transform their lives, while fighting racism and dismantling systems of oppression at all levels in the community.
“We’re lucky to be in a city that is very open to not only having these kinds of conversations but taking the actions we need to take in order for our community to be better and for our children to inherit a world that is more just,” Wambui, the school’s director of advancement, said.
Greater Good and its offshoot brand Soul Purpose Brewing Co. will donate $2 from every four-pack and draft pour of EQUALITY sold to The Nativity School, which opened on Lincoln Street in 2003. The accredited, independent Jesuit middle school relies on fundraising to provide free education for its students and maintain its staff of 24.
“The Nativity School of Worcester has an amazing mission that we felt deserved the attention right now,” said J.T. Ethier, beer and brand evangelist for the two breweries.
The clarion call for that mission, said Patrick Maloney, the school’s president, was the consistently low graduation rates in the city for boys coming from low-income households. About 95% of the student population at the Nativity School is Black, indigenous or people of color; 91% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
“You have a population that is marginalized in a lot of different ways and is struggling through that with very few options,” Maloney said. “We see education as the surest way forward. The longer you’re in school, the higher degree you have, the less you have to deal with a whole host of issues. We want to break the cycle of poverty through the transformative gift of education.”
This year, more than any other, our beer has had something to say.
Brewers have told us, “Black is Beautiful,” a powerful statement to raise awareness for racial injustice and funds for police brutality reform and legal representative for those who have been wronged.
They have echoed, “All Together,” a resounding global rallying cry to pick each other up after the pandemic ravaged their industry.
Now Greater Good and Soul Purpose have spread the word that lagers and education and justice should be for everyone.
When ordering a beer called EQUALITY and taking home cans with labels showing Black and brown raised fists, it’s hard not to think about the near-constant struggle for racial justice in America.
Beers like EQUALITY and Black is Beautiful inspire meaningful conversations about police brutality and systemic racism, including among groups of people who could not be further removed from those perils.
So for Wambui, even a traditional lager can lead to change, as long as the people drinking it are willing to act.
“When you think about the concept of beer, it’s something that brings people together and gives them the opportunity to have these kinds of difficult conversations,” Wambui said. “Certainly, in my circle of friends, when we’re sitting and having a beer, we’re talking about the good and the bad. We hope that this leads not just to those conversations, but to action. We’re in an election year, and we hope the choices that we’re making will lead to the change that we want to see, to crying out against injustice.”
