As we honor the work and life of Martin Luther King, Jr. today, we thought we would share a fun fact about our brewery name. Our name Blackbird was inspired by, yup you guessed it, The Beatles song. While researching the song we came across some interviews with Paul McCartney about the song’s origin. Blackbird was written and released in 1968, during the years Dr. King, Jr was fighting for equal rights for African Americans.
So, I was doing explanations, and I actually just remembered why I’d written “Blackbird”, you know, that I’d been, I was in Scotland playing on my guitar, and I remembered this whole idea of “you were only waiting for this moment to arise” was about, you know, the black people’s struggle in the southern states, and I was using the symbolism of a blackbird. It’s not really about a blackbird whose wings are broken, you know, it’s a bit more symbolic. – Paul McCartneyMore specifically, McCartney has said the song addresses the plight of black women in the south. When Ian and Harmony first learned this meaning, it coincided with our country’s rising awareness of racial inequalities that still exist. Unfortunately, we still have a lot of work to do in this great nation for all to feel truly equal. We hope at Blackbird we present a message of inclusion and equality. We invite anyone of any color, race, or religion to visit us. We want to create an environment of acceptance, love and community, much like Dr. King wanted for this nation. And we hope to see in our youngest children’s lifetimes those broken wings are not only mended but given opportunities to fly higher than ever before.
