Black in Cannabis; Celebrating Canadian Black people in the cannabis space

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 | www.TorontoCaribbean.com | Toronto Caribbean?

Written by Sean Seurattan [email protected]

I was invited to attend an event held by thegood people at Kronic Relief celebrating Canadian Black people in the cannabis space called Black in Cannabis. Being the only Black owned licensed producer of cannabis in Canada puts them in excellent standing to be the ones recognizing others within the industry. Steven Conville and his staff were able to assemble some of the best and brightest professionals amongst the attendees for an evening of recognition, connection, collaboration, love and laughter.?

Pulling up to the event, I was anxious to see what a representation of our people in this industry would look like at this point in early Canadian cannabis history. I was apprehensive about how many people would be attending knowing that Black people are sorely under-represented in this and many other sectors of business. I was hopefully curious about who I would meet and how they added to the vibrant cannabis culture we are creating.?

As I stepped into the venue, a wave of immense pride swept all other emotions away. At first it came in the form of a light fog of cannabis smoke surrounding the room made from some of the best strains that Kronic Relief had to offer. The sweet pungent aromas were a testament to the hard work Conville and his team do to achieve excellence. Just being in a sophisticated environment where cannabis was not only being openly accepted, but being proudly celebrated always brings a huge smile to my face.

My pride swelled with one glance around the room to see how many Black professionals were in attendance both as guests and as vendors of cannabis adjacent brands.?After quickly going through some brief orientation, I was given a bingo card that encouraged me to meet and interact with other attendees. By finding out who they were and how they fit into the cannabis industry, I could fill squares in order to win some auspicious prizes from the Kronic Relief product line. Fortunately, I needed much less incentive to bounce around the room like a bumblebee in a fresh new garden. Instantly, I was greeted by a dear friend and fellow creative, founder of the innovative clothing brand; Kill Them With Love. He and I had collaborated many times in the past to bring food and fashion together, so it was wonderful to catch up since our last meeting.?

These face-to-face connections were invaluable. While we have evolved into a society that can function almost entirely via the internet, seeing the smiles, hearing the joy and feeling the love towards cannabis in person cannot be translated into programming code. Even if nothing further happened, the event was a success based on this alone, but there was definitely more in store! Once I had spent some time schmoozing amongst the crowd, I made sure to check out and support some of the vendors that were there to showcase their talents. I had to internally applaud Kronic Relief for including these small business members of the Legacy community, which by no means were they required to do. In fact, most other licensed brands want nothing to do with "black market" (a horrible term steeped in racism) brands for fear of reprisal, or diminished profits. Kronic Relief recognizes that most market direction and innovation come from these grassroots companies who are closest to the pulse of the cannabis community.

Due to my affection and personal connection to food, I made a beeline to another dear friend and Heightened Chef alum, The High Society Supper Club. Chef Reena knew to greet me with her specialty, a Trinidadian street food favourite of Doubles (a soft fried bread stuffed with curried chick-peas). I devoured it in minutes, and it was better than an enormous hug from the Chef herself!

I was also able to meet another up coming Black cannabis culinary talent; Chef Aiko who had a stunning array of dishes for guests to indulge in. We spoke about our shared experiences and admiration for each other's work in the food space with plans for collaboration in the near future.?

In the guided portion of the night's festivities, Steven took time to individually recognize some members of the audience for their achievements. Being able to see each other in positions of power was uplifting to say the least. With the night ending in clouds of smoke, waves of laughter and musical vibes from the live DJ, I would be highly honoured to attend this soon to be historical event again.