At Chicago Cane Cooperative, our commitment to worker-ownership guarantees a democratic, equitable workplace for all our employees. And as a worker cooperative that produces rum, our organizational model is a response to that spirit’s legacy of colonial violence and exploitation: rum was developed in and around the Caribbean, where European empires began their conquest of the Americas and the genocide of Indigenous peoples; on the same, stolen lands, the transatlantic slave trade emerged in part to provide colonizers’ sugarcane plantations with captive, unpaid laborers. But while we recognize that rum and the sugarcane from which it’s made were pivotal to systems that terrorized tropical colonies, we must also reckon with the settler-colonial nature of our cooperative’s home city and namesake, Chicago.

It’s true: rum is among the finest things in life, and the rich have drunk plenty. But along with the world’s wealthy elite, working folks love their rationed grog. Really, rum emerged and evolved–moreover, it continues to exist–through the efforts and innovations of laborers. And outside grand plantation houses, far from ritzy beachfront resorts, those same laborers were among the first people to enjoy rum. Together with an eclectic mix of troublemakers, thirsty workers have drained the bulk of history’s rum barrels. With this in mind, our newest bottle–Dani’s Tavern Rum–is a throwback to the spirit’s days as a base in blue-collar beverages, when rum was the drink of choice for sailors and subsistence farmers, pirates and revolutionaries.

As is often the case, Beyoncé said it best, “god made me so bitch pay me.” I love how these 7 words quickly and effectively attack the hyper-productive work culture we have inherited. These lyrics upend ideas of earned value through work contribution, and instead state in no unclear terms that our value is inherent in being alive. This echoes a growing sentiment in our society that workers deserve more; more money, more rest, more agency, more equity. All toward providing everyone with more of what gives their life meaning.

Sugarcane was first domesticated in Papua about 6,000 years ago. As one of the largest islands in the world, just north of Australia, Papua is home to ~5% of the world’s biodiversity. With over 20,000 plant species, 800 species of coral, 600 species of fish, and 750 species of birds, it’s no wonder Papua was home to humans who began experimenting with plant and animal domestication.