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SHELBYVILLE, Tenn., June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, the fastest-growing American whiskey brand in U.S. history and the most-awarded Bourbon of 2019 and 2020 worldwide, announced the formation of the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund. The $50 million fund was created specifically to invest in rapidly growing, minority-founded and owned spirit brands. According to Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest founder and CEO, it's by design that the timing of the announcement comes on the 100
th anniversary of the destruction of Black Wall Street.
Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest founder and CEO, and founder of the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund
"On June 1, 1921, an entire community of wealthy and successful African Americans was wiped out in a matter of hours. We are talking about 35 square blocks known as Black Wall Street," said Weaver. "As an African American, learning about that history broke my heart because we, as a people, were really onto something in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We were lifting one another up and creating wealth within our own community, and then showing others how to do it for themselves. We cannot go back and undo the past, but I do believe we have full power over our future, and that recreating a Black Wall Street of sorts within the spirits industry is a great place to start."