BLM — Time to Move Forward with “the Ask” because Black Communities Matter
7/20/2020
I have worked in sales for billion-dollar companies with the best sales training money can buy. I have started my own small business, with a sales team of me, myself, and I. The common truth in sales is that if you show why someone needs the benefits of what you’re selling, but don’t ask for the business with specifics… you don’t get the business. And the business in this case is policy changes that improve the quality of life in black, brown, and impoverished communities. Because they matter. Gentrification not included.
For decades, many of us have been trying to sell to the masses that there is an institutional system in this country dedicated to making the lives of minorities harder than the majority. By removing barriers for and investing in minority communities, things will get better for us all. A rising tide of prosperity lifts all ships.
We have described so many instances of injustice. There have been images of atrocities that have struck a chord and put the suffering on display. The bravery of Emmit Till’s mother to have an open casket to show the world the mutilation her son endured at the hands of white supremacist child torturers. The inhumane sicking of dogs and water cannons on blacks in Birmingham by the despicable Bull Connor. All of those things changed public discourse to a degree that created positive changes. But nothing like the 8+ minute video of George Floyd’s murder has rallied the citizenry of the USA like this.
Indeed the entire world has had enough. In the last month, I have been on too many Zoom meetings and conference calls that have seen those of us in the Social Justice movement continue down the road of describing for everyone the history of why change needs to happen — myself included. We’ve just been selling the WHY for so long that it’s habit. Look around, almost everyone has now seen the injustice and is ready for change. Millennials, long derided by some of us older folk as being too sensitive for their own good, have stepped up for equality big-time. It is time to move on to ASK FOR THE BUSINESS or we won’t get the social equity leap forward that is possible.
The real question that needs to be answered, in as singular a voice as possible, is what EXACTLY do we want? Politicians are looking to get on board and give their constituents what they want. So, with the impending elections, let’s give their constituents a message. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not forgetting the many groups who have been doing yoeman’s work forever — Norml, Marijuana Policy Project, Doctors For Cannabis Regulation, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Minorities 4 Medical Marijuana, and many more. They have been pushing great policy ideas for a long time. Indeed the current ballot issues like giving minority communities priority access to cannabis licensing, expungement for marijuana convictions, and releasing prisoners for crimes that are now legal such as possession, and the promotion of many other upcoming specific legislation that you could influence are the result of their work. I am simply trying to suggest a methodology to incorporate new allies with seasoned stalwarts. The political pressure could create a tsunami.
We need a comprehensive platform that takes everyone investing themselves in Black Lives Matter into the realm of Black Communities Matter. There should be priorities given to allow the black, brown, and communities living in poverty to benefit from the legalization of at the very least the broadly state licensed medicinal cannabis. Those aforementioned groups are all pulling their sleds in the same direction. But we need to get all the newfound allies to pull, and pull as close to one sled as possible in each state to avoid muddled demands that yield incongruity. State successes can drive federal alignment.
Perhaps this amalgamation by all those seemingly disparate groups is happening already and I personally just haven’t put it all together. That’d be fantastic, except if I haven’t seen it, we need to do a better job of using mass media to put the message out there. TV outlets, print media, even the so-called big shots in music need to step up their game. Everyone should listen to Marvin Gaye’s song “Inner City Blues” and pay attention to the lyrics. How far have we come in the 50yrs since Marvin wrote that song?
Current musicians, expand upon the songs about the world you currently sing about. During your online mini-concerts, introduce new songs about the near future world that your neighbors growing up could/should live in. Perhaps end your performances with info about (and links to) the social justice/social equity groups and agendas above. Many other unique marijuana policy advocates like clergy exist (CNDP).
Imagine for a minute if you were a black man in jail for marijuana sale or possession only to watch as white men and Wall Street have turned selling marijuana into a billion-dollar legal market. Jailing so many black men for cannabis has for decades contributed to the many single parent households and lack of male role models. Does this sound like a familiar example of the WHY that is continuing to be discussed almost nonstop? I’m not saying you forget about all the tragedies. It is just time to focus people on the next leg of the journey — the specific, united, political ASK.
Let’s offer the black community the chance to benefit from the newfound cannabis culture. A LEGAL BLACK MARKET. With business services support, easy business lending, removing the need for hundreds of thousands of dollars for license application fees and legal costs, etc. Let’s keep the money cycling through the black community ecosystem. One example of a tool is the thousands of Opportunity Zones from coast to coast offering economic incentives for real estate purchases, low or no taxes, etc. They could produce good businesses and create good jobs. Look at the map and see the typically minority communities that have been declared Opportunity Zones in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens NY. More are in suburban and rural areas too.
In November, folks are going to vote in record numbers to get past, or keep, Trumpism. That race aside, there’s a lot of opportunity given all the local cannabis ballot initiatives out there for those record numbers of voters — the majority of whom favor cannabis legalization regardless of political party.
Let’s put our heads together, and come up with a strategy that starts with the end in mind: the communities ripped apart by bad drug policy that can be uplifted by good policy. Politicians need help crafting good legislation that’s actually going to do what’s intended by including groups fighting for better social services, schools, banking support, decriminalization, expungement of records so that cannabis felonies don’t preclude opportunities, and so on.
With as good a comprehensive preliminary plan as possible, let’s ask for the business of a controlling stake in the legal marijuana industry. Together with our ready and willing allies helping, let’s…keep…moving…forward. The time is right now for the ask to repair black, brown, and impoverished communities. Even better — THE ADOPTION OF A NATIONAL POLITICAL PLATFORM WITH PERSUASIVE SPECIFIC DEMANDS BY EVERYONE IN A UNIFIED VOICE.
Dr. Adrian Adams is the CEO of Ontogen Botanicals, a company dedicated to providing the highest quality CBD to physicians and their patients alike. As a former biology and chemistry educator, Dr. Adams has a deep understanding of the physical properties of the Cannabis sativa plant as well as the various processes used to grow hemp, extract CBD and create superior CBD products. Dr. Adams holds a doctorate in Education as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.
Dr. Adams is also a passionate influencer within the CBD industry, and a proponent and activist for the use of Medical Marijuana in New York State, having witnessed the significant, positive differences cannabis can make in people’s lives. Adrian is currently the New York State Director of Minorities for Medical Marijuana, a national nonprofit organization devoted to helping give new minority businesses access to the emerging Medical Marijuana industry.
Please read “The Invisible Journey”; #BLM and Being Bi-racial in the Jim Crow South and share our stories to help save lives.
