Celebrating Black History Month

It has been an honor to serve as members of the Standing Committee for Social Equity for the National Hemp Association. As our mission is to extend supportive educational opportunities to communities missing generational inclusion, it begins with supporting existing inclusion visionaries, new business owners, leaders and experienced consultants to improve social, economic, and environmental well-being by fostering education into the 50,000+ products hemp can produce.

These opportunities to support, serve as a catalyst for actionable equity-centric solutions. These solutions include a curriculum style education series on hemp that comes with our newly developed interactive app. Our latest partnership opportunity is with the Cannabis Health Equity Movement (CHEM) Global Campus Coalition, where with support from the White House we are combining forces to cultivate the next generation of hemp leaders and transform communities devastated by the war on drugs. We absolutely believe this can work by partnering with local municipal leaders, but most importantly our HBCUs, and community colleges. The aim of this collaboration is to support the revitalization of underperforming Black communities by restoring underutilized land, reinvesting in small business and workforce development, and establishing an educational pipeline to success in this rapidly growing multi-billion dollar hemp industry.

We are also very excited about our newly formed Club Hemp, which is a forum created on one of the country’s more popular social media apps, Clubhouse. Social media is where everyone goes in the new era of information and conversation, and we are plugged in, as well as looking forward to participation from people of all backgrounds in the hemp space.

From education to connection, opportunities within the hemp industry whether agricultural, operational, or environmental, are endless. Environmental Equity is a significant challenge within BIPOC communities which is realized through poor air quality, land, soil and housing. This challenge can also be recognized through climate change and understanding that hemp can be a sustainable resource may greatly aid underserved communities of color.

Social Equity, on the other hand is about fairness in policy, regulation and resources. Done well, it lowers the barriers and can provide a path for those hemp-ready businesses. At times we see leaders look at equity defined differently. Some believe it is a focus on diversity and inclusion which is simply a seat at the table, where equity is access. Said differently, the investment in diversity, coupled with opportunity for equity, can lead to agency within the hemp industry for BIPOC businesses. There is no doubt that hemp is providing an industry that benefits our environment, our economy and our people, and the NHA’s Standing Committee for Social Equity is leading the way forward, to ensure the benefits are for all people.