Black Women Are Changing The Cannabis Industry For The Better

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Source: Courtesy of EstroHaze / EstroHaze public bios and headshots

Even though 4/20 might spark visions in your mind of hippy-dippy, young smokers getting high for fun, in recent years it’s also become an important day of awareness as those in and out of the cannabis industry call attention to the many people of color who’ve been disproportionately targeted and arrested for marijuana-related crimes. This is especially so since as of now weed has become legalized in 18 states across the United States and decriminalized in 31.

All things considered, even if partaking in the countless benefits the plant can offer isn’t your “thing,” weed consumption is on the rise and its industry is booming. Down below, read up on some of the Black women making an impact in the cannabis industry and the businesses they’ve started that are helping them do it.

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Kadijah Adams, Cannabis Expert and Industry Mogul

Adams has been a full-time entrepreneur since 1997 when she built her first business from the ground up as a single mother. Over the span of her career in the cannabis industry, her website highlights that she’s founded The Green Street Academy, “an online educational platform that teaches the basics of investing in the marijuana industry,” in addition to inspiringly being a co-author of The Minority Report, “an annual marketing analysis of Minority-owned companies in the cannabis and hemp industries.”

Source: Courtesy of EstroHaze / EstroHaze public bios and headshots

Kali Wilder, Sirita Wright, and Safon Floyd, Founders of EstroHaze

EstroHaze is a cannabis lifestyle and education brand on a mission to empower people with the knowledge and tools they need to confidently take advantage of the physical, medicinal, mental, and emotional benefits that can come with marijuana usage. The brand’s co-founders — Wilder, Wright, and Floyd — can be spotted all across its site and social media accounts in videos that range for book reviews, how-tos, and an entertaining “toke tarot” series that blends a light-hearted toke session with Wright as she talks you through what’s coming up on the astrological horizon.

Solonje Burnett, Equity Activist and Co-Founder of Humble Bloom

Not only is her Instagram a great source of inspiration, but Burnett’s account on the platform also often highlights where cannabis usage, systematic racism, and disparities regarding access and social acceptance intersect. With a personal mission “to give the underrepresented a seat at the table in the cannabis industry and beyond,” Burnett’s brand Humble Bloom is a collaborative community that is redefining the culture surrounding cannabis usage by “breaking stigma, elevating brands with integrity, forging partnerships with thought leaders and experts, providing consultative support to humanize growing brands, and connecting diverse communities through plant education, advocacy and inclusive immersive experiences.”

Mary Pryor, Co-founder of Cannaclusive

As shared in our feature of Pryor in Madame Noire’s Creative Class series, the Detriot-born, Los Angles and New York-based entrepreneur “offers professional opportunities to people of color in the legal cannabis industry” through her brand Cannaclusive. Started in 2017, the brand also provides a diverse range of realistic stock photos of people of color partaking in cannabis (ie. toking, vaping, rolling) since images like that can often hard to find. With a dedication to advocacy and educating others about the industry, Pryor, Tonya Rapley, and Charlese Antoinette (her co-founders that are also Black women) shared with VICE a few years ago that the creation of Cannaclusive was about forming “spaces and things for people like us – educated, driven women of color who enjoy the healing benefits of cannabis.”

Black Women Are Changing The Cannabis Industry For The Better