It started as a tweet, in response to the sort of anonymous personal attack that has become all too common online. Then it struck a chord, and it snowballed. That ball is still rolling.
The hashtag is #IAmCraftBeer, and the idea behind it is wider inclusion in an industry and customer base that tends to skew white and male. The people behind it—chiefly Chalonda White, a longtime Chicago beer enthusiast known online as “Afro Beer Chick,” and J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham, a.k.a. “Dr. J,” the diversity ambassador for the Brewers Association—have taken a viral moment and turned it into an ongoing campaign.
That hashtag is now an aegis under which a variety of activities are possible—namely, events held at breweries or beer bars anywhere in the country, ideal for welcoming people who might not normally cross that threshold.