SACRAMENTO, Calif — ABC10's celebration of Black History Month continues with a look at the obstacles Black women-owned cannabis businesses face. Four Black women share their stories of how they work to support and create opportunity for people of color within their industry.
- Maisha Bahati is the CEO of Crystal Nugs, the first dispensary owned by a Black woman in Sacramento.
- Rhonda Ernest is the CEO of Natrl Hi, an online cannabis delivery business that started in April 2022.
- Adeola Adedipe is the CEO of Aiden's Re-Leaf, a business inspired after her son was diagnosed with leukemia.
- Zion Taddese is the CEO of Shashemene Institute and the current owner of Ethiopian restaurant Queen Sheba.
These four Black women have fought hard to be where they are today as successful cannabis business owners. They've formed a strong bond, all crediting the Sacramento's Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity, or CORE Program, that started in 2019.
"The intent of the program is to help reduce barriers to entry into the cannabis industry, for those who are most impacted by the war on drugs and the communities that were most impacted by disparate policing of cannabis related offenses," said Davina Smith, the city's Cannabis Program Manager.
Smith says cannabis is primarily run by white men and the CORE program awards funds to retailers to help open their cannabis business. However, these four women say the journey wasn't easy, even with the extra help.
"We're a very small minority here in Sacramento, it's Black women in cannabis. And you know, sometimes you need help, sometimes you need advice, sometimes you need ... how do you do this? How do you do that, and just to have a little bit of that is so essential," said Bahati.
"I'm advocating for parents with catastrophically ill children and so that's a whole other demographic. In the Sacramento area, we have well over 30,000 families that are using cannabis openly for their children for autism and cancer and MS or anxiety. And so just getting into that space alone was trying to figure out how can I represent Black women? I'm educated, I'm a great speaker, how can I help the community," said Adedipe.
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While these women credit the CORE Program for helping them, they recognize it isn't perfect and say it's more than just funding that contributes to success.
"When you pick these people, the funds should be attached to that. Because you're saying to her, 'Yeah, you were marginalized? Yeah, you were affected by the war on drugs? We're gonna give you this opportunity.' But the reason why you're saying it is because she's been disenfranchised," said Ernest.
These women say the challenges continued to build along the way to success.
"Trying to get in there with the historic racism, right, with the lack of access to generational wealth, and then just the family commitments too. I mean, we talk all the time about all the commitments that you have for family, parents, children, relatives, you're trying to take care of businesses," said Bahati.
"What they put as far as equity money into us is practically pity or especially when they're giving funds to the to different departments," said Taddese.
The CORE Program gave these women a $75,000 loan they're still paying back to this day. Then, they were awarded $133,000, broken up into two payments. To date, the city says 42 businesses have been permitted through the CORE Program, with an additional 16 in the application process. The feedback about the program is nothing new, but noted.
"If you get somebody permitted and operational, but then they have to close six months later because they haven't able to get adequate business, they're too much in debt, they've got these issues, then that's not success. That's not success for the CORE Program. So, we really had to kind of think and work with a CORE community about for where you are in your journey, what do you need, like what can best assist you," said Smith.
Other barriers Black women cannabis business owners say they face is lack of resources, support and high taxes. These women say they're taxed 27.5% with minimal write-offs. Regardless of the challenges, these women say they have a positive vision for the future of the industry.
"I think we have a platform now to change all that. We're not gonna be listening to the city and the state, and instead we will be coming together to advocate ... for us to build our community," said Taddese.
"We, as Black women, we as Black people in this industry, we have the ability to give opportunities to those who otherwise would not have. You're giving people an opportunity because they feel comfortable with you, and you grow and you grow," said Bahati.
"I cannot go back to a 9 to 5, so I see myself continuously to have this freedom to be able to create and live a life and help people and then see the vision of Aiden's Re-Leaf on everything and continue to have that peace of helping people and building teams and stuff. So for me, the sky's the limit," said Adedipe.
"We gave them hope that you can get in here. You might have to kick the door but hey, you want to do it? I can do it. It takes a lot of work. I'm not going to act like it doesn't, but you can do it," said Ernest.
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