How a coffee company made itself one of the right's biggest brands

[View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter]( February 8, 2021 Good afternoon! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. Which was your preferred choice of entertainment: the Super Bowl or the Free Britney documentary? Neither, both, or something else entirely? I watched the Britney documentary, and then I tuned in for the second and third quarters of the Super Bowl, just long enough to ascertain that former Patriots Tom Brady and Gronk were going to win it. The Super Bowl was a welcome reminder of more normal days, but I was a little concerned by the images of [maskless fans]( that started cropping up on my social media before and after the game. The third wave of the virus in the United States appears to be waning, but the more contagious variant first found in the United Kingdom is starting to [circulate widely]( here. The country continues to experience a staggering loss of life. This weekend, the US lost its first sitting member of Congress to COVID: Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas) [died at age 67]( on Sunday after being diagnosed with the virus on January 21. Widespread vaccine distribution can't come soon enough. —Abigail Weinberg Advertisement [Giffords PAC]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [How Black Rifle Coffee Company Made Itself One of the Right’s Biggest Brands]( From Kenosha to Capitol Hill, armed extremists savor its militaristic marketing. STORY BY ALI BRELAND, VIDEO BY MARK HELENOWSKI [Trending] [A last-minute Trump move threatens to send released prisoners back to prison after the pandemic]( BY MADISON PAULY [Damage wrought by Trump's border wall “will not ever be remediated or mitigated”]( BY ARIANA BROCIOUS [Gripping photos: Anti-coup protesters are defying Myanmar's military in the streets]( BY AJ VICENS [Report: The Trump campaign paid an Arizona lawmaker amid efforts to overturn state election results]( BY AJ VICENS Advertisement [Giffords PAC]( [Health & Environment] [Special Feature]( [I Moderated a Facebook Live Event With Two Nursing Home Residents. It Was Shocking.]( "I realized somebody has to really speak up from inside, and who else but me?" BY MOLLY SCHWARTZ [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( [Recharge] SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE [A Striking Ballad by 23-Year-Old Saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins in Tribute to James Weldon Johnson]( Take just four minutes to start the week with “Dreamer,” an impressionistic ballad honoring civil rights activist and artist James Weldon Johnson, born 150 years ago. The song is by 23-year-old saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, nominated days ago for an NAACP award for outstanding jazz album. It’s an instrumental, monumental tribute punctuated by the rhythms of stanzas and syllables in Johnson’s 1910s poem “A Mid-Day Dreamer.” The [livestream]( was released last week, and on Saturday he won the LetterOne Rising Stars Jazz Award, with a fast-growing footprint. Wilkins is a New School professor, a Juilliard jazz graduate, and a Blue Note bandleader with Jason Moran producing him. [Watch]( as the piano, bass, and drums create a wash of harmony and rhythm before Wilkins, minutes later, floats in. The song, like the poem, applies small strokes to paint a big picture, with each pause mirrored in the saxophone: “I love to sit alone, and dream, and dream, and dream / In fancy’s boat to softly glide / Along some stream.” The song is anchored by bassist Daryl Johns, pianist Micah Thomas, and drummer Kweku Sumbry. And while Wilkins leads it, the sheer subtlety and alchemy of each are stunning on their own. The video is [here](. The studio version is [loopable](. Recharge is at recharge@motherjones.com. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755