Womxn in Cannabis: Shaleen Title!

This Womxn’s Month we celebrate all the pioneers + hot mamas making it possible for cannabis to be accessible for all. With legalization well underway in Massachusetts, we are watching closely how those most impacted by the War on Drugs - specifically Black + Brown people- are finding ways to engage with cannabis and claim back their communities’ right to wealth. These womxn have been on the forefront of the cannabis movement and we want to celebrate their accomplishments as they push for equity on all sides.

Our series kicks off with none other than Shaleen Title!

Shaleen Title is a Commissioner at the Commonwealth’s Cannabis Control Commission.

Definition: Womxn -

The term Womxn is an alternative term for the English language word “women” which has been used to explicitly include non-cisgender women. It has been used in a similar manner as womyn and wimmin, as a rejection of the English-only etymology of 'woman'.

Shaleen Title. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHALEEN TITLE

Shaleen Title is an Indian-American drug policy activist and attorney who currently serves as one of five commissioners on the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the agency tasked with regulating legal and medical marijuana in the Commonwealth. As Massachusetts deals with a complex problem around the vaping-related deaths that have occurred, Shaleen remains a stoic advocate for equity in our processes. She spoke out against the temporary vape products prohibitions that Governor Baker installed and against the creation of a task force around the illicit vape market. Quoting from her twitter, Shaleen shared a thread calling attention to our record on overcriminalization and pointed to move away from criminal penalties and toward (a) creating an accessible pathway to the legal market and (b) reasonable civil penalties for unlicensed businesses.

This isn’t the first time Shaleen uses her voice to advocate for equity within the cannabis industry as her role on the Cannabis Control Commission is the peak of a career path designed to do exactly that. Shaleen is a founding board member of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, where she led the drafting of the first model bill created to give states guidance to implement a process of reinvestment and reconciliation.

When I reached out for our interview, Shaleen opened up about family, equity, and her own push for more.

Asian families - similar to my experience growing up Caribbean - are often explicitly anti-drug and very strict with their offspring on these matters. So how did cannabis come into your life?

My parents don’t even drink alcohol! A funny story growing up was me reading the back of a medicine bottle and exclaiming to my mom “DRUGS ARE BAD!”. I was five years old and as a kid, I could not comprehend the difference between medical drugs and the drugs my teachers were constantly warning us against. My mother took the opportunity to educate me on the different types of drugs available-those used for illnesses and those that were often misused by the public. The lesson stayed with me until this day. The classification of drugs and their uses - and the claims we use to make some appear more harmless than others - is a question I have continued to explore. I view the legalization of cannabis as a racial justice matter and I work everyday to explore that issue.

What has been the most surprising aspect in the path towards cannabis legalization?

I have been pleased to see the output of support from groups of people who may otherwise not have been working together- farmers from all across the Commonwealth, veterans, youth, and all people from different races. The legalization of cannabis has opened up an opportunity for cannabis advocates to work on a path to equity together while allowing a variety of perspectives to take the lead on the best way forward.

The city of Boston’s first recreational cannabis shop- Pure Oasis located in Grove Hall-opened this past week. The shop is the first from a set of candidates approved through the state’s Social Equity Program under the guidance of your leadership at the Cannabis Control Commission. How does that feel and what’s your ideal vision for recreational cannabis in MA?

I would love to see us take alcohol as a model for recreational cannabis. We do not question where alcohol is sold and you would not be alarmed if you were to see it being sold even at your tiniest convenience store. Imagine if we could say the same for cannabis. The opportunities for recreational cannabis are endless: micro-businesses, social consumption lounges, craft co-ops. Consumers deserve an environment where cannabis can be enjoyed openly. At the same time that this is happening, we need to continue our fight for decarceration. Equity needs to happen on all sides.

Summer Reading List

We closed our eyes and next thing you know: September is less than a week away. We look forward to summer all year (for those of us in the East Coast) and boom- it goes just as quick as it arrives! Let’s enjoy the next few weeks as much as possible.

As part of my hot-girl long term goals, I am dedicated to my growth + committed to feeding my mind nourishment that inspires my creative dreams into reality. So with that in mind, I am sharing my reading list!

Here is what I’ve read so far:

“You and I have ... have never been a family of tuck-ins and bedtime stories any more than we’ve been a family of consistent bill money, pantries, full refrigerators, washers and dryers. We have always been a bent black southern family of laughter, outrageous lies, and books.... your insistence I read, reread, write, and revise in those books, made it so I would never be intimidated ... by words, punctuation, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and white space. You gave me a black southern laboratory to work with words.”

— Heavy

HEAVY by Kiese Laymon.

This memoir-as the title references- is heavy on the heart. The author takes us through painful childhood memories tying his personal story with one of identity and loss, drawing parallels to our history as Americans to bury the truth only for it to creep up in all aspects of our daily living.

Is blackness a burden? If so, how do we carry it without breaking our backs?

Blackness, in and of itself, isn’t a burden at all. In this nation, we all carry the immense burden of being human, but our backs are sore as hell because white Americans have failed to compassionately reckon with the worst of white folks. They tried to destroy us intellectually, psychologically, emotionally, economically, and we helped them out quite a bit. When people with more access to healthy choices and second chances obsessively want, and really need, you to have even less access to healthy choices and second chances, your back and your heart will tend to break. The wonder is that we’re not broken. We’re not broken. The wonder is that we’re still here creating, still willing ourselves into generative kinds of human being even though we’re really, really, really, tired. — Excerpt from The Nation Interview w/ Kiese Laymon

“The reality is, no matter where you come from, no matter how big your dreams are, you already are more than enough, even if you are a work in progress”

— More than Enough

MORE THAN ENOUGH by Elaine Welteroth.

Elaine Welteroth is dope AF. First, she killed it as the First African-American woman to hold top office at Teen Vogue. Then, she made an even more bad-azz move and LEFT- carving her own path, her own way. More Than Enough is a great reminder to all of us that every step along our journey matters. The challenges, pitfalls, and perceived setbacks all lead us to exactly where we need to be. All the Universe asks of us is to trust that we are- yes- more than enough.

“To be ourselves causes us to be exiled by many others and yet to comply with what others want causes us to be exiled from ourselves”

— Women who Run with the Wolves

WOMEN WHO RUN WITH THE WOLVES by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D.

This book is magical realness with a feminist twist. The folk tales throughout the book are a testament of the female spirit to love, to be free, and to live without restrictions. I highly recommend for any one fighting to find their voice in a world that tells us to be silent.

“Liberated relationships are one of the ways we actually create abundant justice, the understand that there is enough attention, care, resource, and connection for all of us to access belonging, to be in our dignity, and to be safe in community”

— Pleasure Activism

PLEASURE ACTIVISM by adrienne marie brown.

I just started reading this gem which has already made me not want to put it down. Every page is filled with a reminder that life is not about pain + struggle- life is about pleasure. The revolutionary act of living our lives through the pursuit of pleasure is the author’s call to action for all of us- activists, parents, youth, leaders, and all in between. This is a must read for anyone doing the hard work of resistance in these times of dire need for compassion and unity.

“Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom”

— Pleasure Activism

What have you read so far this summer?

Hot Girl Summer in Full Effect....on a budget.

Ever since Megan Thee Stallion came at us with straight HEAT talkin’ bout HOT GIRL SUMMA, I have not been able to sit still.

As a Caribbean gal, I look forward to the sticky summer months to truly be in my element. I love the sun, the beach, the cold Presidentes, and yet- one thing that has hit me hard was realizing my hot girl summer needed to come on a budget.

This past March, I was blessed with getting my dream career role- one that ultimately bumped up my salary significantly + put me right in the driver’s seat. The opportunity came at a time when I was not feeling so great after two major transitions hit me with a reality check: a break-up which also left me looking for a new home in the midst of my heart healing.

The boost in salary felt like a boost to my self-esteem and it quickly dovetailed as I was busy trying to adjust to my new status + maneuvering major life changes.

so, to all my hot girls-

let’s be hot girls long-term. not just this summer. here are some tips I’m looking to implement as I stay clear and on task while shaking it up to some Meg!

• Get a fun card!

  Get a separate account + debit card to use for your hot girl ‘tivities this summer. this helps you create a spending limit w/o asking you to put your main account in peril. it will also enable you to keep track of how much you’re spending- not every brunch is worth it, sis!

• Track your credit

  this isn’t really that fun, but still crucial. the truth is even if you are a high-earner: your credit matters. alot. keeping track of your FICO score will keep you in line + allow you to assess your debt in a smart way.

• Get an online Savings account

  millennials really have came up with everything, huh? traditional banking may not be the only way to keep your savings since you can easily link accounts if you are using the same bank making it way too easy to transfer. instead, consider an online savings account like Ally where you will not be so tempted even once you find that $1 oyster specials at that place after work. even if you need to transfer, it will take several days making you really consider the need.

I kicked off my hot girl summer in my beautiful island of Dominican Republic! Can’t wait for more travels later this year.

hope this is helpful in keeping us all accountable this summer! I’m hoping to take my own advice so I can keep up with my planned travels + still find time to save for that beautiful condo that keeps coming up in all my dreams.

toodles! xo

Beya

For the Love: Promoting Inclusivity in the Boston Arts Scene

Boston. Boston. Boston.

City of Champions, home of the clam chowder and… racism?

The last few years have been explosive for the city dealing with an influx of high rising costs + a looming housing and transportation crisis. An insidious problem for the city has been an embedded perception (reality?) of isolation felt by its Brown and Black creative class.

These were the thoughts I had in mind when I e-mailed the event organizers at the Boston Center for the Arts to learn more about their upcoming Ball. As an emerging writer, finding avenues in the city where I could network + meet other creatives was increasingly difficult as many spaces simply felt closed out to people of color either through intentional exclusivity or the massive separation felt by many of us who live in one of the country’s most segregated urban areas.

To their credit, the Boston Center for the Arts’ communications team was gracious in their acknowledgement and instantly invited me to attend their highly anticipated ball. Looking further, I learned about their programming which this year included beautiful artists of color making major impact in Boston and beyond. Here, we will chat with these artists to hear their story + learn how they promote inclusivity in the Boston arts scene.

YVNG PAVL.

“When we started CLLCTV BOSTON in 2012, Boston was a place that was not really accessible for people that looked like us. There were few movements for people of color + they were not seen as profitable or sustainable so investment was missing.

We built everything upon community. We focused on building a diverse community, creating spaces that people could connect + foster friendships.

In nightlife, everything shouldn’t be about just making money. The true goal is about building sustainable and safe environments, that people want to come to time and time again.

Inclusivity is very important for the future of this city, and especially for under represented communities of color. We have a lot to provide in terms of culture and identity and people in power need to understand that”

To learn more about YVNG PAVL + CLLCTV.US, visit: https://www.cllctv.us/

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Yara Liceaga.

Yara Liceaga-Rojas is a Puerto Rican writer, cultural administrator, and educator

what has been a challenge for you since settling in Cambridge, MA to pursue your art from Puerto Rico?

Making a living- this city is expensive! The environment for artists was so different in Puerto Rico; although you had little resources you did all you could to promote you art + work. Here, it feels harder- feels like there are so many obstacles especially for POC’s. Housing (for artists) is another hurdle. With three children, it becomes very complicated, very fast. I left Puerto Rico and I did not want my family to struggle here. Knowing that my island is a modern-day colony, I truly feel that America OWES me for the toll our island-state has gone through. However, life doesn’t stop so I will not stop.

I feel like a full orchestra, playing every part- keeping the rhythm, and making the music! In order to keep afloat, I still work full-time. Through my art, freelancing, and finding time for family- it is a constant juggling act.

To find out more about Yara-Liceaga Rojas and support her art, please visit: https://www.yaraliceagarojas.com/

Jean Appolon Expressions /// Haiti Summer Dance Institute. Image Credit: JEAN APPOLON EXPRESSIONS

Jean Appolon, Artistic Director of Jean Appolon Expressions

first of all, I just have to say- I am incredibly humbled by your work. thank you for bringing back your beautiful dance traditions to your home country of Haiti, and for sharing these modes of expression with all of us here in Boston. How does it feel to be doing this work?

I am grateful.

Boston presented liberation for me and my family. We escaped Haiti after my father’s killing in 1991 and never looked back. I begged my mother to allow me to take dance classes, and when I was recruited by Alvin Ailey it allowed me the freedom I never knew I could have.

It is a privilege to be an artist in Boston; however, investment in the arts community is lacking. The need for art would aid in healing our communities. Dancing even allows you to breathe better!

Artists of color deserve a chance to thrive in Boston. Once this occurs, Boston will not only be better but the art itself will held build bridges and eliminate the separation we all feel.

To learn more about Jean Appolon Expressions and support their work: visit https://jeanappolonexpressions.org/

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Tim Hall.

“My work in this world is to be a resilience builder, and I believe that connection is the way to actualize that work. I care about people and what brings them joy, so whether I’m working with a student on their career plan, learning music for an artists’ album, or curating a show that provides a platform for an artist to do their thing, it’s about supporting them and their voice”

— Tim Hall, Educator, Artist + Entrepreneur of Hipstory.

To learn more about Tim Hall and support Hipstory, visit: http://hipstory.org

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This post is in support of Boston Center for the Arts. Let’s find ways to amplify + elevate our work together!