In celebration of Black History Month, Kush Queen is sharing our current obsessions spearheaded by inspirational Black female entrepreneurs.

You may see articles circulating that say women of color are starting more businesses faster than any other demographic. But don't be fooled by the boasting headlines. Yes, the State of Women-Owned Businesses Report does confirm Black women-owned businesses represented the highest growth rate of any other group between 2014 and 2019; however, these go-getters face a unique array of challenges to get there. Often referred to as "survival entrepreneurs" because of high unemployment rates and vast gender and racial pay gaps, the study shares women of minorities are more likely to have a "sidepreneurship" out of necessity. The venture capital space comes with even more scrutiny. Business Insider confirms “before 2021, only 93 Black female founders had raised $1 million or more in venture capital”.  For those hard-working women who need a moment to relax, our THC gummies can help ease the stress and provide much-needed relaxation.

At Kush Queen, we've experienced our journey as a women-owned business. It's because of your support and your support only that we exist in today's cannabis market. We know the struggles of being a small business in America, and the best thing we can do as a community is to continue supporting the businesses we want to see succeed. Our dollars truly are our power.

 

With that in mind, we'd like to highlight some of Kush Queen's Favorite Black Women-Owned Businesses:

Sexologist Goody Howard

 

We had the pleasure of being on a panel discussion with Goody back in 2019, and she left an impression on the KQ team that we sill talk about today! From her workshops to 1:1 consultation, Goody is determined to normalize sex-positive conversations as a way to ease stigma and improve sexual responsibility.

Goody Howard is a world-renown sexologist, educator, and consultant. She has dedicated her life to “Empowering through sexual exploration, education, and awareness.” Pair your next self-care session with one of our relaxing CBD gummies while learning from Goody's amazing workshops.

Goody teaches sexual skill workshops, offers sex-positive professional development opportunities, and creates dope, sex-centered t-shirts! She layers her focus on pleasure and education with her energetic and engaging presentation style. 

 

Ariana Foote, Cannabis Content Creator & Podcast Host

 

You might know of Ariana as @indicawife, @fruit.worship or the host of Chat About It podcast. Regardless of the channel, platform or topic - you can trust the Ariana keeps it 100% real with you whether is talking about dating, mental health, smoking, edibles or making the most drool worthy smoothie bowls. 

 

Ariana began creating content, giving her followers an unfiltered look into her life as she navigated her medical experience through bong rips, blunts and the occasional dab.

“The biggest part was me being very vulnerable with my followers,” she said. “Many people smoke for physical pain. But we’re all human beings and there’s a lot of emotional pain there, too.”

 Give her a follow and a listen!

 

KNC Beauty

Image Source: Hypebae

KNC Beauty makes our favorite eye masks of all time. You won't regret having these beauties in your bathroom. We love to use them before a big night out, while enjoying weed gummies, or while we're soaking in a Kush Queen bath bomb.. Founded by beauty and fashion influencer Kristen Noel Crowley, KNC Beauty also created the KNC School of Beauty to address the inequities in the beauty industry. 

Crowley has expressed in the past “as a Black female entrepreneur, it has always been extremely important to me to pay it forward and provide opportunities for emerging talent in our community. Having a skincare brand has always been a dream of mine and I’m excited to support other Black businesswomen who share similar goals and visions.”

 

 

Snocorner 

 

Image Source: Mike Guardabascio for Long Beach Post

Snocorner is a Long Beach-based storefront, specializing in New Orleans-style snowballs. As Louisiana natives, we can't get enough of this delicious local treat. Sure it looks like Hawaiian ice, but New Orleans-style snowballs are different. Trust us. 

Visit their storefront in Long Beach and taste this delicious southern treat for yourself. Interestingly enough Snocorner is a legacy Long Beach business, its current owner Ashley Monconduit is the third generation to own a business at this location!

 

 

Maya's Cookies

Image Source: K.C. Alfred for The San Diego Union-Tribune

Maya's Cookies is the number one Black-owned Gourmet Vegan cookie company in America. Founded by a vegan with a self-proclaimed sweet tooth, Maya Madsen launched Maya's Cookies after several unsuccessful searches for that soft, chewy, freshly-baked vegan cookie she badly desired. Madsen spent years crafting her award-winning recipes, including her "Chocolate Chip S'mores" and "Marble Fudge". 

You can visit their San Diego storefront or order online. Recently, Maya's Cookies released their Black History Collection, which was inspired by inspirational figures such as Chadwick Bosman, Michelle Obama, and Uncle Nearest.  

 

Moving Forward...

Taking a page from the crypto world, we encourage our readers to continue doing their own research before investing their powerful currency into companies that don't necessarily align with their moral values. Supporting minority-owned companies, more specifically Black women-owned businesses, remains a priority within Kush Queen's roadmap and company culture. As a society striving for change, we must develop more conscientious shopping habits if we really want to make a difference.

Follow these incredibly talented Boss Babes for more info!

 

 

The connection between cannabis and Juneteenth runs deeper than most brands are willing to admit, and that discomfort is exactly where this conversation needs to start. This piece gets into the real history behind that link, what corporate exploitation of the holiday actually looks like in practice, and how to tell the difference between a brand doing meaningful work and one that's just timing a promotion. If you've ever felt skeptical watching a cannabis company post a Juneteenth graphic, your instincts are worth trusting.

Why cannabis and Juneteenth belong in the same conversation

Juneteenth marks the end of legal enslavement in the United States — a moment of profound freedom and resilience that deserves genuine recognition, not a marketing moment. The connection between cannabis and Juneteenth isn't a convenient pairing someone dreamed up for June content calendars. The history runs deep, and it's impossible to talk about one without the other.

For decades, Black Americans have faced disproportionate arrest, prosecution, and incarceration under cannabis prohibition. Meanwhile, the legal cannabis industry grew into a multi-billion dollar market where Black ownership and leadership remain significantly underrepresented. That gap didn't happen by accident. It's the direct result of policies built on racial targeting, and that context doesn't disappear just because a brand slaps a red, black, and green color palette on a product drop.

When cannabis brands post a Juneteenth graphic or run a June sale without acknowledging any of that history, it's fair to feel a little skeptical. Borrowing the cultural weight of a freedom holiday to move product, with no real commitment to cannabis social equity or support for Black cannabis entrepreneurs, is exactly the kind of opportunistic messaging worth calling out.

This article gets into why that distinction matters, what Juneteenth cannabis activism actually looks like in practice, and how to tell the difference between a brand that genuinely understands the moment and one that's simply timing a promotion. If you want to start with who's been doing the real work, this roundup of Black cannabis trailblazers is a great place to begin.

What the War on Drugs did to Black communities

The War on Drugs didn't land equally. Despite research consistently showing that Black and white Americans use cannabis at similar rates, Black Americans are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession, according to ACLU data. That gap has held for decades, and its consequences go far beyond a single arrest.

By the numbers:
- Black Americans account for nearly 50% of cannabis possession arrests while making up about 13% of the U.S. population
- In some counties, the arrest disparity climbs as high as 10 to 1
- Federal cannabis convictions have historically carried mandatory minimums that added years, sometimes decades, to sentences

Those aren't abstract statistics. They represent jobs lost, housing applications denied, federal student aid revoked, and voting rights stripped away. For millions of people, one arrest became a permanent economic barrier, not a mistake someone moved past, but a wall that stayed up.

That enforcement history shapes the legal cannabis industry today, and it's central to understanding cannabis and Juneteenth meaning:

• Black entrepreneurs face steeper barriers to entering the legal market, from limited access to capital to complex licensing requirements
• The communities most harmed by prohibition often benefit least from legalization's economic opportunities
• Cannabis social equity programs remain underfunded and uneven across states
• Distrust of corporate equity messaging runs deep, especially when it arrives without accountability or follow-through
• Juneteenth cannabis activism increasingly calls out the distance between brand symbolism and actual structural change

This is the backdrop that makes cannabis brands showing up on Juneteenth complicated. When a company profits from a plant that was used to criminalize Black communities for generations, the bar for meaningful engagement is genuinely high. Recognizing that tension isn't pessimism. It's just an honest starting point.

How corporate cannabis brands use Juneteenth marketing

As cannabis and Juneteenth have both moved into the mainstream, some corporate brands have started treating the holiday like any other item on the marketing calendar. The pattern is pretty recognizable by now: a themed drop, a heartfelt caption, maybe a small donation pledge, and then silence until next June. Visibility without accountability is still just marketing.

Performative tactics tend to look like this:
- Limited-edition Juneteenth product drops
- One-day social posts with no follow-through
- Holiday discount codes tied to the date
- Small, one-time donations announced publicly for the press value
- Temporary campaigns with no structural commitment behind them

Genuine support looks different:
- Year-round hiring from communities most impacted by the War on Drugs
- Active expungement advocacy and legal support funding
- Reinvestment in Black neighborhoods, not just Black aesthetics
- Equity ownership pathways for Black cannabis entrepreneurs
- Sustained, long-term partnerships with community organizations

Performative support shows up on June 19th. Real support shows up on June 20th, and every day after.

Juneteenth cannabis activism deserves to be a standard for accountability, not a seasonal campaign. The brands actually doing the work understand that honoring Black freedom movements means showing up consistently, not just when there is content to post. That kind of sustained commitment should not reset on July 1st. It is worth carrying into every month of the year, which is exactly what this piece on finding your path forward gets into.

What meaningful support looks like beyond a social post

Separating genuine commitment from a well-designed graphic takes some practice, but the signals are there once you know what to look for. Here's a practical framework for telling accountability apart from aesthetics.

• Transparent sourcing and ethical production. Does the brand explain how its products are made, who benefits, and where the supply chain leads? Understanding how cannabis products are made is a reasonable starting point for seeing who actually holds power in that process.
• Real reinvestment in Black communities. Look for specific dollar amounts, named partners, and ongoing programs. Vague promises to "give back" are easy to make and easier to forget.
• Equitable hiring and ownership. Who runs the company? Who holds equity? Representation in leadership tells you more than representation in a campaign.
• Year-round cannabis social equity advocacy. Brands doing real work support expungement efforts, licensing reform, and policy change in October the same way they do in June.
• Amplifying Black cannabis entrepreneurs. The spotlight should shift toward community voices, not stay fixed on the brand doing the spotlighting.
• Respecting what Juneteenth actually means. A discount code is not solidarity. The day deserves reflection and community, not a conversion funnel.

The standard: If the brand benefits more from the moment than the community does, that's a signal worth paying attention to.

Juneteenth cannabis activism is not a marketing category. It's a call to examine who has been harmed, who is being heard, and who is genuinely building something different. Hold brands to that standard, including the ones you already love.

Where Kush Queen fits into the conversation

Kush Queen isn't here to slap a Juneteenth graphic on a product page and call it advocacy. That's exactly the kind of move this article is pushing back on, so doing otherwise would be more than a little hypocritical.

What the brand does instead is try to show up consistently, and not just in June. That looks like talking openly about cannabis history and racial justice year-round, centering education over sales pressure, and being honest about where the industry still falls short on cannabis social equity. It also means not pretending that buying a bath bomb is a political act. Products can support a wellness routine in genuinely useful ways, but they're not a substitute for systemic change, and conflating the two helps no one.

Kush Queen was founded by a woman who built the brand from the ground up without corporate backing. That history matters here. There's a real understanding that cannabis and Juneteenth aren't just a content opportunity, and that the industry's complicated relationship with the communities most harmed by prohibition deserves honest acknowledgment rather than a seasonal marketing spin.

If you're looking for a cannabis brand that tries to engage with culture thoughtfully rather than opportunistically, Kush Queen is worth exploring. The goal is to earn trust over time, not ask for it upfront.

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At the start of my career in cannabis, long before I founded Kush Queen, I learned about the path to legalization in California and the shared history of the LGBTQIA+ community with cannabis.

From that moment on, I made it my mission to honor the Queer activists who came before us, the true OGs we can thank for providing us with safe access to this plant.

At Kush Queen, Pride is Honoring a Shared History

In the 1980s, Queer community leaders in San Fransisco ushered in the beginnings of legal cannabis as they worked to ease health and wellness struggles around the AIDS epidemic. Their real-life needs brought legitimacy to the medical cannabis conversation. Pictures of my Queer community heroes hang in my office; Cleve Jones, Dennis Peron, and Mary Jane Rathburn look over me as I run Kush Queen.

 

Brownie Mary, wearing one of her signature buttons. SCOTT SOMMERDORF / SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE / POLARIS

Also on my wall of heroes is Marsha P. Johnson, another great reminder of gay liberation and how we got here today. Her beautiful smile beams back at me as I write this. 

 

For those not familiar with her story, Johnson was a trans activist, self-identified drag queen, and a true survivor living in New York City. She was also one of the first protesters at the Stonewall riots in 1969. Many recall Johnson having thrown the first brick outside of the club, but the truth is no one really agrees on who or what started it (was it a brick? a bottle? or city cobblestone?). 

 

Marsha P. Johnson Poster by MICAH BAZANT

Nonetheless, everyone does agree that Johnson and fellow trans activist Sylvia Rivera played a massive part in the spontaneous protest against a police raid in those early morning hours. This act of social uprising is often viewed as the first Pride celebration, sparking a series of events that would change the LGBTQIA+ community forever. 

Pride is Revolutionary and Non-Conforming

Pride (as we know it today) is all about Queer celebration and love, but its roots are steeped in the journey of equal rights, visibility, and the acceptance of LGBTQIA+ people. It was never about rainbow-tinted capitalism, fleeting social media icons, and albeit, even super fun parades. Pride is about Queer liberation. 

"Stonewall was, at its core, about people reclaiming their narratives from a society that told them they were sick or pitiful or didn’t even exist," writes Shane O’Neill, a journalist for the New York Times. 

 

A 1970 photo of Marsha P. Johnson handing out flyers in support of Gay Students at NYU is seen here courtesy of the New York Public Library's "1969: The Year of Gay Liberation" exhibit. Diana Davies/NYPL/Handout via Reuters, FILE

After Stonewall, a new generation of gay activists emerged and organized, creating resources like the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). These events and grassroots organizations focused on Queer individuals gaining access to equal rights as citizens while also helping the community find dignity, acceptance, and a sense of belonging within society. STAR, for example, provided housing and support to homeless LGBT youth and sex workers in New York City.

Pride is About Community and Peers Supporting Peers

For everyone at Kush Queen, Pride is about more than just a seasonal festivity, it’s about taking a stand, increasing visibility, and supporting our Queer communities all year round. 

This year Kush Queen is donating 20% of proceeds from our Pride Collection to The Social Impact Center, founded by beloved Queer cannabis hero Felicia Carbajal, as well as to the Trans Latina Coalition, a local Los Angeles community-led, and founded organization.

 

Kush Queen 2022 Pride Collection

Our Pride Collection for 2022 features a Delta 8 THC water-based and latex-safe infused lube and 1:1 Delta 8 THC and CBD Trans Flag-inspired bath bomb in honor of our trans brothers and sisters.

 

Queer Liberation is Still Needed

Currently, countless pieces of appalling legislation are moving through state governments as an attempt to target the rights of trans people, attack trans youth, and reverse decades-worth of progress. 

 

According to the advocacy group, Human Rights Campaign, over 300 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were proposed in 2022 alone.

Sam Ames, the director of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project recently explained to CBS news "research has shown that as many as 85% of trans youth say that they are watching these debates over their identity play out,". Ames continues "the direct results of these bills when they pass are to take away things that we know are correlated with increased mental health and decreased suicide risk: sports team participation, seeing yourself represented in a classroom, being accepted by your parents and your healthcare professionals. These are all associated with significantly lower odds of attempting suicide." 

It feels like Queer liberation is more important than ever, especially with such blatantly coordinated attacks against people who identify as such. 

Pride is Personal

Inclusivity and visibility are part of Kush Queen’s DNA. From the all-gender restroom to the Queer individuals who appear in our content and work behind the scenes, Kush Queen's identity as a brand is unapologetically gay.

 

As I get choked up thinking about my own experiences and identity, I can’t help but think about what a personal intimate experience celebrating Pride is for me. As a human, I self-identify not only as the CEO of this company but as a Queer woman surrounded by countless other Queer people in my life. People who are my family, friends, and frankly, my inspirations. I think of my parents raising a Queer son in South Louisiana and not once did anything but accept him for who he was. 

Since its inception, Kush Queen has celebrated Pride (year-round) and has raised well over $40,000 for Queer organizations, something I'm incredibly proud of.

Shop the 2022 Pride Collection and join our community for community support.

At Kush Queen, our hope for the cannabis industry is for those within it to be as diverse as the people who use this plant.

We started this company with infused bath bombs because we recognized how approachable this product is and how much a stigma breaker it could be. Destigmatizing cannabis, and the people who use it, has always been our mission as a brand.  That mission also extends to the innovative ways people enjoy cannabis today, like through our CBD gummies, Weed Gummies and THC gummies.

Photo Courtesy of Kush Queen

In honor of Black History Month, we at Kush Queen are celebrating the incredible individuals working towards and advocating for real change in cannabis - more specifically, for a socially equitable space. With skyrocketing taxes and very little support, the disenfranchised communities (whose backs this industry was built on) are sadly getting left behind. The truth is the cannabis industry as a whole has a long, long way to go before becoming the equal playing field it needs to be. Thankfully, these inspiring and selfless Black entrepreneurs are working incessantly towards making social equity in cannabis a reality. 

 

Successful Reality Television Executive turned Cannabis Industry CEO

Whitney Beatty - Founder, CEO Josephine & Billies and The Apothecarry

Whitney Beatty is a woman of many talents. After leaving her career in entertainment, she founded Apothecarry, a luxury accessories company for the modern-day smoker. Then, inspired by the golden days of Jazz and cannabis Teapads, Beatty opened Josephine & Billies, the first dispensary in the country designed by and for women of color. Beatty secured the first equity investment from The Parent Company (TPCO), California's largest vertically integrated omnichannel cannabis platform, where Jay Z is the Chief Visionary. 

Beatty currently sits on the board of Supernova Women, an organization working for equity in the legal cannabis space. 

On top of it all, she is an inspiring and hilarious mother sharing her life on social media. Beatty is a powerhouse in every sense of the word, and the cannabis industry is better with her in it. 

 

The #RapPriestess, also known as the West Coast Wave Goddess 

Lizzy Jeff - Founder, Zen and Kush

We have admired, followed, and enjoyed the work of Lizzy Jeff for years. 

A cannabis OG, rap priestess, medicine woman, and founder of Zen and Kush, Lizzy Jeff delivers plant medicine, spirituality, and community in one erotically delectable serving. Her unique events nationwide feature healing, sensuality, community-building, education, and wellness workshops. These events aren't called an after-dark experience for no reason; this is Ascension at its finest and most seductive. 

Our bath bombs are often made to her music as it's commonly on repeat at Kush Queen headquarters. We are constantly inspired by her passion for activism and her celebration of the divine feminine. 

Give Lizzy Jeff a follow for alternative ways to heal that embraces masculine and feminine energies while connecting you deeper to your spiritual roots. 

 

Startup Advisor, Accountability Keeper, and Co-Founder in Cannabis, Tech, and Wellness

Mary Pryor - Activist, Writer, Founder Cannaclusive

Mary Pryor is one of the most powerful women in the cannabis industry. Pryor is an activist, media expert, and the founder of Cannaclusive, a platform created to facilitate fair representation of minority cannabis consumers. 

If you haven’t heard of Pryor’s work with Cannaclusive, then this is your intro. Cannaclusive is currently working to solve the industry's biggest issues: diversity, equity, and part of its namesake - inclusion. Her work with the Accountability List, a living breathing document that holds cannabis companies accountable, is some of the most important work currently taking place in cannabis. 

Pryor has appeared in and contributed to countless publications like Refinery 29, New York Times, and Instyle; her piece on diversity in cannabis for SELF is one of our personal favorites. 

 

The Ivy Leaguer and Former Athlete turned Cannabis Maven 

Nadir Pearson, a graduate of Brown University and founder of Student Marijuana Alliance for Research and Transparency, is one to watch in cannabis. A leader, advocate, and entrepreneur, he has worn many impressive hats in his young career. 

Inspired by sneakerhead culture, Pearson founded Get Hybrid, the cannabis industry’s first release date calendar where you can find new cannabis drops and product launches in one place. Pearson’s accomplishments have been featured in Forbes and Huff Post; he’s also a very talented writer himself. 

One thing we love about Pearson is that he thrives on creating educational cannabis content. He is certainly the future of the industry and we cannot wait to see what big things he does in the future. 

 

Award-winning Business Coach, Strategist, and Serial Entrepreneur

Sabrina Peterson - CEO & Founder Pretty High Co and Glam University

Sabrina Peterson dedicated herself and her businesses to be a powerhouse for female empowerment- socially and financially. 

Peterson turned facing a 23-year indictment into Pretty High Co, making CBD and cannabis products. She is a mother and content creator who is always making us laugh while feeling inspired. Peterson is undoubtingly a champion for women and people of color in cannabis. 

Late last year, Peterson invited Kush Queen out to a weekend cannabis educational workshop for women and we left oozing with excitement for how she brings opportunities, shares education, and keeps things transparent about the industry. 

 

It takes great courage and tenacity to go against the cannabis corporate machine. Through the community these amazing advocates continue to build, these inspirational cannabis professionals are aiding in creating visibility, changing the stigma, and opening doors for more BIPOC individuals to come.

 

 

 

As we are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I can’t help but sit and reflect on the life, words, and lessons of Dr. King.

This quote feels fitting of the moment…

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” - MLK, Jr.

In a world that can feel leaderless, where division seems easier than community, and threats to fundamental things like democracy and voting rights are real-life conversations, it’s easy to find despair and focus on what seems like endless challenges rather than finding our paths forward.

In these moments, Dr. King’s legacy is at the forefront of my mind.

Last year, we called on our community to honor with action and operate from love. Surely, the way we can honor Dr. King is action and we should always operate from love, but we can’t help but feel where we are. 

We want to hold space for truth: your truth and the truth of our community.

This MLK Jr. Day we would love to meet you where you are with encouragement to find your path forward.

We’re not here for toxic positivity or pretending everything is ok. Right now, things just aren't ok. TBH we're feeling tired, sad, and a little angsty. And even in that expression of truth, we can look to Dr. King for inspiration.

He was met with adversity, he was threatened, and he was constantly on the defensive. Yet, he always kept going and moving forward. 

As always, our community work starts with us which makes this year's MLK Day theme of "It Starts With Me: Shifting Priorities To Create The Beloved Community" so fitting. 

Join us in celebrating Dr. King’s legacy today and in your way, keep moving forward.

So How Do We Keep Moving Forward...

Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday that is also a national service day? DOsomething.org shares, the who, how and why of MLK Day and ideas for celebrating through service. The next portion of this post was sourced from DoSomething.org.

 

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for his leadership during the American civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s (a wave of activism contesting racial segregation, discrimination, disenfranchisement, and injustice). From 1955 to 1968, Dr. King lead several efforts to eliminate Jim Crow laws and other forms of systemic racism that hindered the mobility of people of color in the US. From sit-ins to marches, Dr. King championed demonstrations that combined nonviolence with direct action.

Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington is one of his most celebrated. In it, Dr. King envisioned a world with equal justice for all people under the law. He went on to earn a Nobel Peace Prize and see the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Towards the end of his life, Dr. King’s advocacy emphasized the importance of economic justice in the fight for equality and racial liberation. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, where he was supporting Memphis sanitation workers in their strike for union recognition, better safety standards, and live-able wages.

 

How did MLK Day become a holiday?

Today, Dr. King’s contributions are pretty undeniable. We’re taught about Dr. King and the civil rights movement in school, and celebrating his legacy on MLK Day feels only natural. But this wasn’t always the case.

The creation of MLK Day was a hard-fought battle between Dr. King’s supporters and those who felt threatened by his advocacy. Calls for the holiday began shortly after Dr. King’s assassination in 1968, but it wasn’t until 1983 that Congress passed legislation making Dr. King’s birthday a federal holiday. This was thanks in large part to the work of Coretta Scott King and the King Center and Rep. John Conyers and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Then came the battle for MLK Day to be recognized at the state level, which included a stand-off between the NFL and the state of Arizona over their refusal to adopt the holiday. Southern states showed the most resistance, and some even tried combining MLK Day with celebrations for Confederate leaders. In 2000, all 50 states officially adopted MLK Day -- 32 years after it was first proposed.

 

Why does it matter?

MLK Day matters because it recognizes Dr. King’s legacy of service while inspiring us to serve in our own ways. A lot of the things Dr. King advocated for during his lifetime (racial justice, economic equality, affordable housing, labor rights, etc.) are issues we’re still trying to move forward in 2022. The protests of recent summers, for example, followed in the footsteps of the civil rights movement and leaders like Dr. King. The fight for justice is ongoing, and we can use this day to reflect on the work that Dr. King started and take responsibility for the work we still have left to do.

 

How can I celebrate MLK Day?

According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service, and Americans are encouraged to spend this day volunteering to improve their communities.

 

Here are some ways you can participate:

1. Learn about and discuss Dr. King’s life and teachings. The King Institute's Liberation Curriculum is a great place to get started. Don't forget to include younger folx!

 

2. Do an act of community service. Any act of service can build community. Clean up your street, reach out to neighbors that have been isolated through the pandemic, or volunteer at your local shelter. 

 

3. Educate yourself on systemic barriers. Read about the racial wealth and income gap in the US and the 12 key federal policies that have contributed to it.

 

4. Protect existing civil rights. Consider donating to the Social Impact Center to help them promote community, educational equality, economic justice, and expand their mental health resources.

Community Care Above All Else

When times feel especially challenging, leaning into community, acts of service, and caring to make a change can keep us all finding our paths forward.  Pair these moments of reflection with a little self-care—perhaps a relaxing bath or weed gummies to ease stress and focus your mind on positive action.

Like Dr. King said, "faith is taking the step, even when you don't see the whole staircase." Today, we celebrate and find hope in the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

 

 

 

If I had a gram for every time some well-meaning person ecstatically approached me about the latest celebrity cannabis or CBD brand, I’d have pounds for days. In fact, I’d probably be Kush Queen’s supplier rather than a member of the team. 

Much of the media’s focus on cannabis has thankfully shifted away from the propaganda and PSAs of years past. Unfortunately it still misses the mark by elevating celebrity-backed companies and organizations whose marketing campaigns promote justice and advocacy, while their execution of those intentions demonstrates questionable tactics.

Kush Queen’s values have always centered around representation, inclusion, and justice.  As Black History Month comes to a close, we are holding space to acknowledge and uplift the Black leaders in cannabis who are creating real change, every day, in their communities and across the globe, while also celebrating the diverse ways people enjoy cannabis, from weed gummies to flower.

Which they’ve been doing all along.

Supernova Women, Bay Area, CA

Web: https://www.supernovawomen.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/supernovawomen/

 

Founded by and created for women of color in the cannabis industry, Oakland-based nonprofit organization, Supernova Women has been fighting for social equity since 2015. Offering educational workshops on licensing, business development, and advocacy to women of color in cannabis, Supernova fosters important conversations through networking and events while taking action at the legislative level in the Bay Area and beyond. 

Their charitable project, Cannabis Equity Relief Fund, distributes grants and resources to cannabis businesses owned by women and people of color. 

The Hood Incubator, Oakland, CA

Web: https://www.hoodincubator.org/ 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/hoodincubator/

Demanding a seat at the table and empowering Black community members to become cannabis industry stakeholders is The Hood Incubator’s love language. They launched the first ever cannabis business accelerator for people of color in Oakland, CA in 2016, resulting in 30+ Black-owned cannabis businesses to date--impressive AF. 

They are currently building the Cannabis Justice Policy Platform for a Spring 2021 launch. 

National Diversity and Inclusion Cannabis Alliance (NDICA), Los Angeles, CA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thendica18/ 

Web: https://www.thendica.org/ 

 

LA based nonprofit, NDICA, has been bridging the gap between the harms of the War on Drugs (WoD) and the new opportunities born in the era of legal cannabis. Hosting everything from educational workshops to expungement clinics, and vocational training to social equity programs, NDICA was the first cannabis organization to be awarded a grant funded by cannabis tax revenue from the state of California, and deservedly so. 

In partnership with LARRP (Los Angeles Regional Reentry Program, NDICA continues to pay it forward by funding grants for people exiting the carceral system.

National Expungement Week, National

IG: https://www.instagram.com/expungementweek/

Web: https://nationalexpungementweek.org/ 

 

What began in 2018 as a weeklong, multi-city effort to host expungement clinics providing free legal aid to formerly incarcerated individuals has grown into a national, year long resource for communities impacted by the WoD. While NEW is not a cannabis organization, it is aligned with and widely supported by cannabis brands and grassroots organizations, including Kush Queen and our community partners at The Social Impact Center. 

Get involved! Help NEW bring legal services to a community in need.

Social Equity Owners & Workers Association (SEOWA), Los Angeles, CA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/_seowa_/ 

Web: https://www.seowa.org/ 

 

Comprised of social equity applicants in the world’s largest, and most corrupt legal market, SEOWA was formed to address the systemic flaws in LA’s cannabis licensing process that disproportionately impacts Black cannabis industry stakeholders. While the organization is young, its members have been on the frontlines of the battle to secure licenses for years. 

Many applicants have been funneling resources into not-yet-approved-to-open businesses to meet the requirements for the highly coveted social equity licenses, only to discover that the game is rigged. Well, SEOWA sued, and the city opened up 100 more licenses last year. 

Conclusion

As you move through the rest of 2021, don’t forget that celebrating Black history should never be confined to a month. 

Take your activism farther this year. Channel your energy into supporting Black-led grassroots organizations. Donate funds if you have the means. Volunteer your time if you don’t. Do both if you can. 

Black history is being written NOW.

In Solidarity,

Team Kush Queen 

We first published this list in February 2021, and it has stayed one of the pieces we are proudest of. Five years on, the people in it are still worth your attention.

Cannabis is one plant among many that people have used to feel more like themselves. It sits inside a much older set of practices, most of which have nothing to do with us and were never ours to claim. Vodou, astrology, ancestral conjure work, affirmation, sound and music are all healing traditions with their own histories, many of them carried forward by Black practitioners through periods when doing so openly was dangerous.

These five weave spirituality, self care and empowerment into everything they do. We are not selling you anything in this piece. Go and find them.

Jessyka Winston of Haus of Hoodoo

A Vodou priestess based in New Orleans, Louisiana, who owns an apothecary and botánica offering conjure fixed candles, ritual baths, oils and spiritual consultations.

What makes her work matter beyond the products is the teaching. Through video lessons and both virtual and physical spaces, she has built somewhere her community can learn the real history of Vodou and Hoodoo, and understand the impact those practices can have. Two traditions that have been caricatured relentlessly in American popular culture, taught properly by someone inside them.

What We Love MOST from Jessyka: Conjure Fixed Candles

Instagram: https://instagram.com/hausofhoodoo

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCbodFzqtzDbIe60MeAOp32g

Bernard Velasquez, @authenticberns

"I said to myself, Self! My self said, Sis?" If you have ever come across one of his short videos, you know the cadence before you know the name.

Bernard's gift is compression. In under sixty seconds he can shake genuine confidence loose in someone who logged on feeling like nothing, and then push further, amplifying their voice and their sense of what is actually in their highest good. Affirmation work gets dismissed as lightweight. Done at this level, on the days when someone needs it most, it is not.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/authenticberns

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMedRw42f/

Lizzy Jeff of Zen and Kush

Rap that feels mystical, sensual and high powered. Lizzy Jeff, the Rap Priestess, also known as the Westcoast Wave Goddess, uses plant medicine and creative expression to empower her community.

She is the clearest answer on this list to anyone who still treats spirituality and pleasure as opposites. The work is celebratory and grounded at the same time. Start with Goddess Code.

What We Love MOST from Lizzy: Goddess Code by Lizzy Jeff

Website: https://lizzyjeff.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lizzyjeff

Bandcamp: https://lizzyjeff.bandcamp.com/

King Soon of Orun

King Soon writes mantras built to be used daily rather than admired, calling in protection, strength and abundance. The money tree line has lived in a lot of people's heads rent free.

What stands out is how he holds the community around the work. He replies constantly, and those replies create the actual safe space where conversation and healing happen. The mantras are the doorway. The responsiveness is the room.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCqxhp6i9epbhZ_Bhi__jp_Q

Imani Cohen, The Hood Healer

But like, what is your star sign?

Imani Cohen, better known as The Hood Healer, is a psychic clairvoyant offering daily astrological guidance, sharp humour and a community that keeps it real. The part of her work we keep coming back to is that she does not stop at telling people what their intuition says. She teaches them to trust it, and to understand that it is leading them towards safety, abundance and growth rather than away from them.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thehoodhealer

What these five have in common

Not a modality. They work in Vodou, astrology, affirmation, music and conjure, and those are genuinely different practices with different histories and different demands.

What connects them is who they built for. Every one of them chose to do this work publicly, in community, for people who have historically been served badly or not at all by mainstream wellness. That industry has a long habit of borrowing from these traditions while leaving the people who carry them out of the frame and out of the money.

Listing five people in a blog post does not fix that. Following them, paying them, buying from them and learning from them does more.

Keep reading

If this is the part of our work you care about, the companion piece is Black Leaders Creating Real Change, and everything we have filed under Social Responsibility sits together in one place.

And if you came here for us rather than for them: we make bath bombs, gummies, lubes and topicals, and you can find all of it in the Kush Queen shop. None of the people above is affiliated with us or paid by us. We just think they are worth knowing.

By: Maria Spiridigliozzi

Let me be totally honest, large crowds sometimes freak me out. Loud sudden noises, and even loud sustained noises, sometimes freak me out. Waiting for many hours in a large crowd, sometimes freaks me out. 

So I choose to celebrate pride in other ways. Some things that are fun are supporting LGBTQIA+ artists, seeing a concert (Hi Mitski!), going to an event (QueerFest in Silverlake is a chill alternative to the Pride parades in West Hollywood). What always makes me feel connected to the community is outwardly showing my pride through my craft projects.

How to Tie Dye Your Way to Pride

• Pick your shirt!

  • This can be any type of white or light (the closer to white the better) colored shirt. Above are the shirts I used today.

  • A great way to show your pride before even touching any dye is to pick up some Pride swag from your local shops. Check out any LGBTQIA+ owned businesses in your area. If that’s not an option, some of the big stores have a line of Pride clothing that is A+ (Saturday School, Ralph Lauren will even put your name on this sweatshirt, Madewell, H&M)

• Prep your area!

  • There aren’t many things you need to tie-dye. If you’ve got a tarp or giant plastic sheet ala Twin Peaks then you can lay them down inside and have this party in your bathroom or living room. I don’t have such things so I cut up a trash bag and used that to cover my coffee table. Who says luxury isn’t possible on a budget?

  • It’s also a good idea to use gloves when working with tie-dye. Dye is right there in the name, so if you don’t use gloves expect some colorful fingers for a day or two.

  • Rubber bands make for the best hold, they just snap right into place. If you want to tie your shirt with string grab a buddy to help hold the shirt while you tie around it.

  • Scissors are optional. I used them to cut up one of the shirts as it was GIANT and as you can see it makes a much better tank top.

  • Prepping your shirt

    • The dye adheres better to wet fabric, so you’ll want to give your shirt a lil’ bath before you start. Once it’s nice and damp ring out any excess water. See here.

• Start your design!

  • Designs in tie-dye shirts are all based on the tie part. So however you twist your shirt will dictate how the colors show up. I’m partial to the crumple method and the traditional spiral, but you can find so many others online.

• For the spiral (see above)– pinch up where you want the center of the spiral. On this shirt, I went just above center and to one side so it kind of sprays across the chest. If you’re going to crop, take into consideration where the crop will be. Sometimes it helps to cut the shirts beforehand so you know exactly what you’re working with. But honestly, go with your gut on this one. As you can see I cut this so it’s a tank top.

• Once you’re satisfied start rubberbanding around. I used 4 rubber bands to really hold it in place.

• Crumple method (see above) is exactly what it sounds like, you crumble. This one runs the risk of coming out either all one color or very muddy if you use a lot of the dye. The basic method is, lay the shirt flat and start crumpling it up until it’s as crumpled as you like. The more wrinkles the more interesting the design.

• Then start rubberbanding. It helps to keep them in a sort of spiderweb formation.

• Get to dying!

  • Literally, this is where you lay down on the floor and wait for the imminent cold hands of death to grab you. Just kidding! It’s time to cover these shirts in fabric dye. As you can see some of my containers are already full and some aren’t. This is only because I’ve already used this tie dye set before. The dye will last a good while once you’ve mixed it.

  • To mix your dye simply add a little tap water to the bottle then shake. Once you’re pretty sure the dye is incorporated fill the bottle to just below the top and shake again to really mix that dye.

• Now is the really fun part, where you take dye to fabric. This time, as I’m making shirts to wear for Pride, I was inspired by Kush Queen’s Rainbow CBD Bath Bomb (which comes in the Relax blend).

• You will see there are these great lines of distinct color in the bath bomb and I wanted to mimic that on the shirt.

• The other shirt takes inspiration from my personal sexual identity as pansexual. In case you’re unfamiliar it means I’m attracted to people across the gender spectrum and when choosing a partner am interested in people across the gender spectrum.

  • Pride is the perfect time to support those in the LGBTQIA+ community as well as bear your (literal) flag.

• Once the top layer is completely covered in dye, flip it over and cover the back side. Here’s an example of my pansexual shirt top and bottom covered in dye.

• Let it rest!

  • Yeah, there’s an exclamation point there, because now is when you wrap these puppies in some plastic and let them marinate. It’s the perfect time to pop that CBD Bath Bomb in the tub and relax for an hour (or two).

• The dye needs to really set into the fabric so you can leave these as short as two hours or as long as a week depending on your dye.

• Most dyes suggest up to 24 hours. The longer you let it marinate the easier it will be to rinse the dye out and the more vibrant the dye will be once it is washed out.

• Unravel and rinse!

  • As you can see my shirts came out pretty damned good! Very excited to rock these around Pride all month long.

  • Once you unravel you can either rinse them in the bathtub by hand or put them in the washing machine on a delicates cycle.

    • Truthfully, this is the part I messed up on. I tried hand rinsing before switching to the washing machine and then my boyfriend accidentally included them in a load of normal clothes, so they’re extra faded now.

• Drying!

  • If you can line drying then I would highly recommend that. You don’t want a ton of heat involved in drying. If you don’t want to/can’t line dry, then you can use a normal dryer on low.

Now all thats left to do is get out there and show off your hard work! Tie-dye your way to your own Pride!

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Don’t forget to follow and tag @kushqueenshop & @kushqueenco in your Instagram posts and stories!

 

Shop Kush Queens Pride Collection and 20% of all  sales will directly benefit Trans Lifeline; a national trans-led 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to critical needs with direct service, material support, advocacy, and education. Make your pride celebration extra special by adding our colorful Weed Gummies to the party.

Shop The Pride Collection!

By: DM Blunted

Illustration by @dmblunted

Pot brownies are one of the most, if not the most, notorious edibles known to stoner culture. The use of edibles, much like CBD gummies or THC gummies today, has been part of religious and pleasurable practices for centuries. What’s less known is that the pot brownie didn’t become a popularized recipe until a queer woman in the 1950s published a recipe for “Hashish Fudge,” marking the start of the iconic stoner treat in the United States. But it wasn’t until the 1980s, with the help of an LGBTQ+ ally, that the pot brownie as we know it was engraved into pot culture and our hearts.

When Alice B. Toklas moved to Paris at the age of 29 from San Francisco, five months after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, I doubt she imagined she was going to find her life partner the day after she arrived. But she did when she met Gertrude Stein, an American writer, and art collector also living in Paris (yes, that Gertrude Stein). They lived together hosting expat writers and avant-garde artists in their home for almost four decades. While Stein wrote, Toklas acted as her muse and confidant. So much so that Stein wrote a book in 1933 titled “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” which ended up becoming her bestselling book. They remained a tight unit until Stein’s passing in 1946. When she died, she left a large portion of her estate and many high-value Picassos to Toklas. But like many queer partnerships before the protection of federal laws, Toklas’s and Stein’s union wasn’t recognized legally. Which made it a cakewalk for Gertrude’s family to swoop in like a kettle of vultures and take those valuable pieces from Alice’s home while she was on vacation.

Alice B. Toklas Illustration by @dmblunted

This forced Alice to ask friends for money and scramble for new streams of revenue. And that’s how we got, “The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook,” filled with memories and recipes from friends. One of those recipes, a Moroccan inspired “Hashish Fudge” came from her close friend Brion Gysin. After the obvious shock and backlash, Harper’s, the publisher, pulled the recipe from the US print, but the media and the public weren’t done with hashish fudge. The pot brownie prototype frenzy quickly propelled the cookbook to bestselling heights and even immortalized Toklas’s last name in pot culture. Ever wonder where the term “toke” came from? Look no further than Alice B. Toklas. Even though there is no evidence that Toklas used this recipe, it doesn’t take away her place in cannabis history.

40 years after Alice B. Toklas hit cookbook was published, Mary Jane Rathbun (yes, that’s her real name) was working in a San Francisco IHOP, perfecting her pot brownie recipe in her free-time. Rathbun soon began selling her “magically delicious” brownies on the streets of San Fransico’s gay district, Castro – quickly gaining her notoriety in the city. A few years into her sales and Rathbun began to notice the health benefits of her cannabis-infused pastries for her chronically ill customers. Mind you this was during a time when the United States government had waged a war against its LGBTQ+ community by not speaking out on the HIV/AIDS epidemic that was devastating the community. With Nixon going out of his way to ignore the issue, it was left to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies to take care of one another. And that’s where “Brownie” Mary Rathbun came in. Soon after she realized how her brownies could help the ailing, she started showing up at her local AIDS and wards, brownies and fresh pots of coffee in hand. And even though she had retired from her job at IHOP, she used her $612 Social Security check to supply the sick with edible medicine. But just like with anything good in life, the police caught wind of Rathbun’s charitable deeds and wanted to put an end to it.

Mary Jane Rathbun Illustration by @dmblunted

So in 1981 Rathbun’s public-housing apartment was raided, where police found 18 pounds of high-grade cannabis, 35 pounds of margarine (which Mary would let the public know it was butter and not margarine), 50 pounds of flour and sugar, 22 dozen eggs and 21,000 sq ft of plastic wrap. At the age of 57, Mary Jane Rathbun was arrested for the first time. Rathbun received national news and the mercy of the judge in charge of her case and was let off with 500 hours of community service. Many of those hours she spent at gay thrift stores, soup kitchens and a hospice center called the Shanti Project. Ten years after her arrest and Rathbun was still selling brownies but was even more involved as an advocate and an ally to the cannabis and LGBTQ+ community. In 1991, her work with gay cannabis advocate Dennis Peron, came into fruition when Prop P was passed with 80% of the San Franciscan vote, Which made it the first MMJ law in the United States. A year later and Peron and Rathbun opened the first public dispensary in the nation, The Cannabis Buyers Club.

The pot brownies history is as deep and rich as it’s flavor, and it’s important that we acknowledge the reasons of who and why we’re able to enjoy this infused delight. Because behind every one of these stories lies the LGBTQ+ community. Toklas didn’t just publish a best selling cookbook she also founded the United States first LGBT Democratic Club. Rathbun dedicated her life to aiding the LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco up until her passing in 1999. These women used their lives to uplift the LGBTQ+ community, so shouldn’t it be innate for the cannabis community and industry to do the same?  

Illustration by @dmblunted

Right now, as you read this,  LGBTQ+ rights are being slowly and painfully stripped away. Our black trans sisters are being murdered in the streets with no justice. And in 2016 58% of all Black folks diagnosed with HIV were either gay or bi men. Being an ally doesn’t just stop at rainbows and Pride, there are 365 days out of the year where you should continue to think about our community. It goes beyond gender or sexual identity, it’s about privilege and using yours to help others with it. Do.Your.Part. From pot brownies to modern edibles, cannabis treats have evolved — discover our Weed Gummies today.

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Don’t forget to follow and tag @kushqueenshop & @kushqueenco in your Instagram posts and stories!

 

Shop Kush Queens Pride Collection and 20% of all  sales will directly benefit Trans Lifeline; a national trans-led 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to critical needs with direct service, material support, advocacy, and education.

Shop Pride Now!