Hats off to and spotlight on The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling (The MJF). An organization “that funds scholarship awards for technical education to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color within the brewing and distilling trades.” Winners use these scholarships to kickstart or advance their education towards careers in the brewing and distilling industries.
What is the Michael Jackson Foundation?
The Michael J. Jackson Foundation is named in honor of Michael James Jackson, a.k.a. “The Beer Hunter”, an English writer who can undeniably be credited with sparking the American Craft Beer movement. He was also – as perfectly worded by Garrett Oliver – “actively and profoundly anti-racist.” Oliver is Brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, as well as an accomplished writer, an American Craft Beer icon, and the founder of the MJF.
Established in 2020, the Michael J. Jackson Foundation announced its first five scholarship winners in early 2021. The MJF will annually award two scholarships to worthy recipients: The Sir Geoff Palmer Scholarship Award for Brewing and The Nearest Green Scholarship Award for Distilling.
Sir Godfrey Henry Oliver “Geoff” Palmer Scholarship
Sir Godfrey Henry Oliver “Geoff” Palmer is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University. He’s a pioneering scientist and educator as he is the first Black professor in the history of Scotland. He’s a foremost expert in grain science, inventor of the barley abrasion process, winner of the Award of Distinction from The American Society of Brewing Chemists (the “Nobel Prize of Brewing”), and human rights activist. He was recently named Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, one of the most prestigious brewing and distilling schools in the world.
Nearest Green Scholarship
Nearest Green was the first known African-American distiller, originally while enslaved, and the original Master Distiller for Jack Daniel’s Distillery. “Uncle Nearest” was hailed by local preacher Dan Call as “the best whiskey maker” he knew of and – along with Call – worked with a 15-year-old orphan to craft and sell Tennessee Whiskey. That orphan boy would come to be known as Jack Daniels. Daniels bought out the company and after Nearest was a Free Man, offered Nearest the job as Master Distiller. Together they built the Jack Daniels brand. To this day, Nearest Green’s family – seven straight generations – has continuously worked for Jack Daniels.
The first five MJF Scholarship winners:
LATROYA BUTTS – SIR GEOFF PALMER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNER
JONATHAN CANO – SIR GEOFF PALMER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNER
ENRIQUE LEYVA – SIR GEOFF PALMER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNER
ALEXANDRA TURNER – SIR GEOFF PALMER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNER
LANNON POWELL – SIR GEOFF PALMER SCHOLARSHIP AWARD WINNER
Congratulations to the inaugural recipients! We look forward to the impact the MJF will have on this world, both in our culture and in our glass.
For more information and to donate to The Michael J. Jackson Foundation, please visit the MJF Website. Cheers to the winners, cheers to Garrett Oliver and his fellow MJF Board Members, the MJF as a whole, and to Michael Jackson. This American Craft Beer Week is because of and dedicated to you all.
