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