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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2018)
edition CAREERS special June 20, 2018 Spring Special Page 15 Sweet Street Food Cart Located at 15th and Alberta call 503-995-6150 to place order Mon. - Fri., 11:00am - 9:00pm • Sat. 11am - 6:00pm • Closed Sun. Wednesday Special: 3 Wings $3.00 Friday Special: Rib Sandwich, Beef or Pork, $4.00 Michael E Harper State Farm R Agent Providing Insurance and Financial Services Home Office, Bloomingon, Illinois 61710 photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver Nicole Kennedy and Karanja Crews are business partners for their new Green Hop dispensary in northeast Portland. The owners are pledged to give back to the community by running training and internship programs for young African Americans wanting to find employment in the legal cannabis industry which under represents blacks. Green and Equitable C ontinueD froM f ront the expungement of convictions for past possession of a drug that is now state-legal. “We have seen several gener- ations of young black men and young black women become fel- ons,” Frederick said at the Green Hop ribbon-cutting ceremony. By getting these convictions ex- punged, he said, folks can actu- ally “get jobs, get housing, get education, get loans to become entrepreneurs in the community.” The dispensary was the recip- ient of a $96,000 grant from the city’s three percent cannabis tax for the purposes of workforce de- velopment and support for minori- ty-owned cannabis businesses. The revenue will be used to run the training program Green Hop Academy, geared for young African Americans over the age of 21 working toward getting li- censed as a bud tender. They also run a 10 week paid internship program that is done in partner- ship with Portland Opportunities Industrial Center to give newly licensed bud-tenders workforce experience. City Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who championed the can- nabis tax, and urged for a portion of it to go to economic develop- ment in communities of color that have been disenfranchised by past cannabis prohibitions, said the dispensary was exactly the kind of place she’d hoped the revenue would support. “We particularly wanted to start repairing some of the wrongs of the past,” she said. Mayor Ted Wheeler, who has worked with other U.S. mayors to fight to end cannabis prohibition nationally, voiced his support, too. “The City of Portland will be with you 100 percent,” Wheeler said. Congressman Earl Blumenau- er, who was also in attendance, has been backing cannabis re- form bills in Congress, pushing for states’ rights on legal pot and to correct inequities in punish- ment from cannabis cases. Less than one percent of the legal can- nabis industry is African Ameri- can, Blumenauer said. “Barbara Lee and I introduced a resolution this week in Con- gress to encourage the devel- opment of policies that corrects that. We’ve got legislation to deal with criminal records,” he added. Kennedy and Crews both have teaching backgrounds, with Ken- nedy originally starting out as a nurse and medical assistant, and Crews dedicated to bolstering the African American community for non-profits in and outside Port- land. When asked what inspired him to become an entrepreneur, Crews said the elements of hip- hop, as outlined by rapper KRS- One, set him on the path to be- coming a business co-owner. “One of the elements is street entrepreneurism. So just me being a hip-hop head, just un- derstanding the importance of economic development…that’s always been in me, it’s been in my spirit. We took a leap of faith to run the business, to start the business,” he said. We are located at: 9713 S.W. Capitol, Portland, OR 503-221-3050 • Fax 503-227-8757 michael.harper.cuik@statefarm.com