Day 79: First to Fall
In 1976, Bob Marley was badly wounded by a gunman outside his home. Just two days later, he played a concert, meant to ease political tensions, organized by the Prime Minister. When asked why he would play such a show, having sustained such resent injuries, he said "The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?""
Thank you for joining me again, thirsty readers. It would be easy to stop writing. After all, cocktails seem pretty silly right now, when you look at the much more important issues taking place. Then I thought to myself, "this is the best platform I currently have." Social media, while a great way of sharing information, can cause messages to become lost. Everyone is scrolling so quickly through their feed, they might not take the time to read something of substance. Therefore, I'm still here, and I may as well give you a drink as a reward for taking the time to join me.
When I hear people complaining about "destruction of property" or "protests not being peaceful," I can't help but wonder if they ever studied their own history. It seems the most patriotic-identifying people, also like to omit the parts of history, they choose not to identify with. They certainly don't want to be reminded that the first person to lose their life for those precious freedoms was a black man, so it's my absolute pleasure to remind them.
He was the "first of five," and his name was Crispus Attucks. During the years before the start of the American Revolution, British Troops would pretty much bully their way around the colonies, imposing British taxes and British rule. On the night of March 5, 1770, a few of the colonists began taunting Private High White, a British soldier who was guarding the King's money at the Custom House in Boston. After enough insults, the soldier stuck one of the colonists, and they all began throwing sticks and snowballs.
Soon, White called for reinforcements, also alerting over 50 colonists, who rushed to the scene. The officer who responded, Captain Thomas Preston, sent a number of soldiers over to the Custom House, ordering them to maintain order. However, the sight of British soldiers armed with bayonets just aggravated the crowd further. (sound familiar?) They began to shout at the soldiers, daring them to fire.
Captain Preston rolled into the scene, trying to get the crowd to clear out. Unfortunately, an object thrown from the crowd struck one of the soldiers and knocked him down. He blindly fired into the crowd. After a few moments of silence, a number of other soldiers fired into the crowd as well. Three colonists died immediately and two more died later from wounds. Crispus Attucks, the former slave who ran way and worked his way to freedom, worked the docks and stood up to the British bullies, was the first to fall. We know this event today as the Boston Massacre.
First to Fall
1oz Aged Barbados Rum
.5oz Aged Jamaican Rum
1oz Vermouth Rosso
.5oz Amaro Averna
.5oz Apricot Liqueur
Cocktail coupe
Stir and strain into chilled glass.
Express and discard lemon peel.
Garnish with flower.
*It's important to keep in mind where your rum comes from. I know this isn't a comfortable thing for many of you to think about, but that rum probably wasn't made by a white guy. Let's just keep that in mind when we enjoy our favorite spirits.*
It's something worth keeping in mind, that the first person to bleed for you freedoms, looked a lot like the people demanding those same freedoms right now. For my black readers out there, I would gladly bleed for you in return. I hope everyone has a safe night. Hold each other tight, and keep shaking.
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