S.T.I.L.L. (The St. Louis Tavern and Independent Liquor Licensees, Inc.) was an offshoot of the Tavern Owners Association, a trade organization established by African American bar owners in 1968 to protect their interests. Matthew Miley, a pioneering African American firefighter and later owner of the Speakeasy bar, joined the association in 1971 and was disappointed to discover that it was little more than a “glorified social club” that did little to exercise its collective clout. He immediately set about transforming the group into an association that truly worked to represent its membership. He convinced the group to include package liquor and convenience stores and change the name to S.T.I.L.L to reflect the addition of retail outlets. Six months after joining and rebranding the group, he was elected president. He led the organization on two separate occasions, from 1971 to 1982 and again from 1985 until 1992. During his tenure, S.T.I.L.L. was able to bring together similar groups across the state to create the Missouri Association of Beverage Retailers (MABR) and was instrumental in forming a national organization, the National United Merchants Beverage Association (NUMBA).

S.T.I.L.L. became a force on both the local and state level. The group retained a full-time lobbyist for the first time and was able to exercise considerable influence on behalf of independently owned bars and liquor stores. Miley states that he saw S.T.I.L.L. as more than just a trade group and recognized its potential for community service. The group raised funds for scholarships, awarded annually to one student in each of the city’s ten public schools; financially assisted distressed families; and engaged in other charitable activities.

With the assistance of Carolyn Kelley-Bounds, who was the secretary of S.T.I.L.L. from 1973 until 1985, Miley published a newspaper, The S.T.I.L.L. Gazette, to counter the negative image of black bars that he felt was being propagated by a widely distributed periodical called The Pub. The Gazette emphasized the good works promulgated by the group in the community, in addition to promoting its membership.

S.T.I.L.L. no longer exists; it began to decline for a number of reasons by the turn of the 21st century. At its height, it represented over 100 bars and other small liquor retailers in African American neighborhoods, approximately 75 percent of the total.