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Continue ShoppingBellyrub celebrates the work of playwright, poet, and revolutionary, Amiri Baraka.
In 1964, LeRoi Jones wrote a play called Dutchman about two people in a New York subway whose meeting explores complicated legacies of colonialism, equality, humanity and race in America. In that play, the protagonist, Clay, says to Lula, “You don't know anything except what's there for you to see. An act. Lies. Device. Not the pure heart, the pumping black heart.” He concludes, “Belly rub hates you,” as an indictment of the dehumanization of black love in the white imagination.
When Jones converted to Islam, Malcolm X’s Imam, Hajj Heshaam Jaaber, encouraged him to leave his slave name behind and take “Ameer Barakat,” which means “Blessed Prince” in Arabic. He chose Amiri Baraka instead, a Swahili variation, acknowledging his Tanzanian heritage.
With Bellyrub, we celebrate the Black hands that grew this coffee, the Black poet that inspired it, and all of the multitudes contained in every person, we celebrate the “pumping black heart.”
We hope for a world where everyone loves Bellyrub.
We developed the flavor profile to highlight the nuance of this single-origin Tanzania imbued by its origin with a contrast of sweet and bright flavors. By roasting it a little lighter, we bring forward the bright citrus and blueberry notes, and we roast it long enough to extend the caramelization, giving it our trademark milk chocolate sweetness.
Dutchman (the 1967 movie)
I recently updated Young Buck’s product names to align with our brand story, which is about the nexus of art and coffee. American communities are built by a diverse range of people from various backgrounds and experiences that come together to create a new world anchored in a core American value: freedom and justice for all. This story is exhibited in art and in specialty coffee.
America is an idea that everyone is equal and has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People come here from all over the world, with their heritages and cultures, to contribute to America in their own ways. Like coffee, art comes from cultures and histories that were grown by indigenous people all over the globe and imported here to be processed locally and contribute to local communities.
We want to celebrate American artists and the coffee that comes from the places that inspire them. We want to acknowledge that we are all connected by this planet and those connections make us who we are, both individually and as communities. Our American Dream now has always been built on the diverse and pluralistic contributions of different people from different places with different traditions learning to create a blend that is better than the sum of its parts. Two great metaphors for that story are art and coffee.