SAN ANTONIO — Weathered Souls Brewing owner, Marcus Baskerville, launched a social justice campaign called Black is Beautiful last summer. He made a deal with breweries nationwide; they could use the recipe for his stout beer and create a beer with their own twist.
In exchange, he asked breweries to give the proceeds to local foundations supporting equality and inclusion. On Weathered Soul's website, Baskerville further explained his intention for the campaign:
“This platform and collaboration is about understanding and supporting people of color and inclusion. We ask that you please stand with us to create something that has never been seen before and show the world the brewing community is one of a kind.”
Recently, and on different social media posts, people called out the owner of Back Unturned Brewing Company, Ricardo Garcia, who participated in the campaign. They accused him of remaining silent about where the funds went before subsequently claiming he gave the money to his personal trainer for his own gain.
Garcia addressed the accusations on the brewery’s Facebook page. He admits he gave the proceeds to his trainer, who goes by the name Coach JT. Garcia says the coach will help the Black community through his personal initiative.
The full Facebook post said:
“Black Is Beautiful
First off we sincerely apologize to our supporters for not handling the situation the best. I made mistakes in not communicating as clearly as I needed to be. Also, I should have handled inquiries in a more transparent manner. I honestly, feel it isn’t my place to announce that a company has received a donation and if they wanted to disclose that they have received a donation and the dollar amount themselves, that is up to them.
Things are blowing up online about us not disclosing donation information for our Black Is Beautiful Beer proceeds. Since October of 2020 I have been working with a local black business owner, Coach JT, to help the community based on the Black is Beautiful initiative. I am confident and trust he knows how to best utilize the proceeds for the black community. He is an amazing man and does so much for the community.
We HAVE, in fact, donated 100% of the profits from the Black Is Beautiful beer. We are working with Coach JT to make a full post and shine light on the cause through social media and the news.
@coachjt247
@weatheredsoulsbrewing
We have the paper trail to prove everything. We are in discussions with the Coach JT and Weathered Souls to further clear the air. Once we meet and discuss the situation in person we will make a fully detailed post to shine light on the cause!
Stay tuned for a future post on what is happening with the proceeds from the Black Is Beautiful initiative.
Cheers!
Back Unturned Brewing Co.”
Coach JT posted his own statement with a video on his Instagram account, saying Garcia’s intention was pure and the entire situation has turned negative. He said the money will go towards a nonprofit he wants to launch to help young and underprivileged kids succeed.
“I received the funds. I was ignorant to the fact of what the Black is Beautiful initiative was,” said Coach JT. “Does it line up 100% with the Black is Beautiful initiative? In retrospect, it does, but from the way it was done and given everything, it just looks really bad.”
KENS 5 reached out to Back Unturned Brewery for comment. We received a Facebook message that said the brewery will be making a full disclosure post sometime Friday.
On Friday, March 12, a Facebook post was made with the following:
"Back Unturned Brewing Co. and Weathered Souls have been communicating directly with each other to resolve the situation at hand. We had a great meeting yesterday at Weathered Souls to make amends and move forward. 100% of our profits have been donated to the NAACP."
