There’s something about Mary Pryor

The cannabis industry needs people like social justice expert Mary Pryor.

And by people I mean people who say, “Do more; do it better and do it now. ”

People who will remind you that the balance of billions of dollars in the pockets of highly visible cannabis companies would never be possible without all of the blacks and browns sacrificed in the so-called “war on drugs”. And more than anything, we need people like Mary Pryor who are not denigrated for their roles.

“The black influence on cannabis is undisputed. The same goes for indigenous influence, the same for Latinx. The same goes for my Asian brothers and sisters and my Indian brothers and sisters. “

– Mary Pryor

Who is Mary Pryor?

Professionally, Mary Pryor is the co-founder of CannaClusive, a collective that aims to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the cannabis world; Cannabis For Black Lives (CfBL), an organization that makes it very easy for the above types of businesses to put their money on their lips; Fit For Us, a company dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of minorities in a world that wants us all to die of diabetes; Breaking Bread NYC, a nonprofit that aims to feed the homeless in a world where the less fortunate are not even human; and the Chief Marketing Officer for TONIC CBD.

Personally, she is so much more.

Mary Pryor was raised by her grandmother when her mother was battling multiple sclerosis and her father was battling drug addiction.

She grew up wanting to be a lawyer, then an engineer. As a child, she was a huge introvert, interested only in crayons and colors. That was until 8th grade when Mary had to defend herself against a tyrant who called her the N-word.

Recalling the experience, Mary says:

“I passed out and fought them. The private school I attended ignored my complaints about bullying, [so] my entire family stopped and threatened to sue the school. After that, I got up and became one of the most popular girls in school. “

Since then she has been defending herself against bullies. Instead of a private school in Michigan, it is now against cannabis conglomerates, MSOs and sometimes even against other DEI advocates.

When a straight shooter like Mary walks in, egos are hurt and fear can skyrocket. But now she knows why. That’s because Mary isn’t afraid of asking the cannabis industry to correct their wrongs.

Related

How to show yourself to women and minorities in cannabis

The fuel behind Pryor’s fire

Mary is Detroit through and through. She tells it as it is and lives in its truth. She is giving, community minded, and generous. She is also very talented at reading people’s energies. When Mary walked into the room in 2015 to find medication, she was overwhelmed to see that the legal cannabis industry was dominated by white men and even more so by questionable products.

Her signature observations and willingness to speak out in the cannabis industry blossomed from there. Since founding CannaClusive in 2017 with Tonya Flash and Charlese Antoinette, Mary Pryor has become a leading voice in the field of social justice around cannabis. She was featured in USA Today, Essence Magazine, and even became a consultant for The Parent Company, which owns Jay-Z’s Monogram.

Luke Anderson, CANN co-founder and founding member of Cannabis For Black Lives, explains what it’s like to work with someone who has Mary’s trust.

“People think it’s scary; I was one of them. She has a razor sharp bullsh * t detector, and for someone who has just learned about diversity and inclusion in relation to the cannabis industry, this can be very intimidating. She will call you, but she will also call you in. “

People don’t know that fame was never Mary’s goal. Safe access to the drugs that will help her feel better about the pain and inflammation of Crohn’s disease was the goal.

“I do this for the benefit of my life and I pay close attention to what I consume and who I get it from. That’s one of the reasons I work with Tonic. I was on the farm, I know [Tonic CEO Brittany Carbone] don’t play around. I know that the integrity of our work is important to her. “

Related

The new “Seeds of Change” report evaluates states on cannabis justice, finding that it is the most lacking

Find the resources you need

Mary’s passion and vision of safe spaces, products and minority owned companies in the cannabis industry are one of the reasons the CannaClusive team created InclusiveBase, a database of black and brown companies in the field. With this tool, it has never been easier to find black and brown companies in the cannabis space to support.

“The influence of black people on cannabis is undisputed. The same goes for indigenous influence, the same for Latinx. The same goes for my Asian brothers and sisters and my Indian brothers and sisters, ”says Mary.

CannaClusive also created The Accountability List to hold people accountable for their commitment to social change. In the future, the organization wants to expand into further regional areas with nationwide partners. The goal is to have different representatives in each state as states continue to legalize marijuana one by one so that social justice can be effectively achieved everywhere, and they need support for that too.

“The little potatoes are [talking about] Equity, the big potatoes are access and capital opportunities in the cannabis sector. ”

Companies wishing to participate in the fight for change can do so immediately and directly through Cannabis for Black Lives.

Dante Jordan

Danté Jordan is a former member of the Leafly Subject Matter Expert Team and currently a freelance writer, video producer, and media consultant specializing in cannabis culture, strains, products, education, and everything else related to this little green flower. Contact him at smokewithdante on Instagram or datenetworks (at) gmail (dotcom). His website is www.dantejordan.com.

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