Actions Speak Louder

 

by Christine Bryant Cohen

with Andrew Quattrociocchi, Jerina Pillert, and Logan Bowers

Shared humanity Social.png
 

Hashtag Cannabis Stands with the Black Lives Matter movement



We believe in our shared humanity. And so, our stance on current events that matter to all of us who work for or own Hashtag Cannabis is: Black lives matter. The killing of Black people must stop. The violence against Black people, perpetrated by the police, must stop.



On Saturday, May 30 when the curfews in Seattle began, and our hours began changing, we inserted the #blacklivesmatter hashtag into our messaging. In addition to sharing that hashtag, we have shared the following message through our social channels in support of the movement:

At Hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter every day. It’s why we use our privilege of owning a pot shop to ensure representation in our team, give back to marginalized communities, and advocate an end to the racist war on drugs. Many have asked how to help during this time. We encourage peaceful protests, donations to the official GeorgeFloyd memorial on GoFundMe, and most importantly, calls to your elected officials to demand police reform now. 

 

Here are a few more ways we can each make a difference right now:

Donate

There are two different organizations raising money to pay bail for those arrested during protests and other people who are unfairly jailed because of an inability to pay cash bail.

Learn and Share

There are countless great posts and articles to read, learn, and share. Here are just a few:





Then, we went silent until Monday, June 8, out of respect for the crisis that our city is in and knowing that the movement works best when social media feeds at large are less clogged with brands posting their business as usual.





In addition to believing in our shared humanity, we at Hashtag believe that actions speak louder than any of our words.

 


Brief Report of Recent Corporate Actions Taken in Support of the Black Lives Matter Movement

 

1. Hashtag pledges to match Botanica Seattle’s donations to Black Lives Matter, in the amount of $1 for each Mr. Moxey’s Mints seasonal Pride tin sold, and $2 to Lifelong for each Pride tin sold, at both our Fremont and Redmond locations. These Pride tins are available for purchase here, and once they’re sold out, they’re gone until Pride 2021! These vegan, gluten-free, micro-dosed mints have a relaxing, light effect because of their ratio of 2 parts CBD to 1 part THC.

 

2. Our co-owners Jerina Pillert and Logan Bowers wrote a policy-focused letter to their Washington state representatives, and with their permission, we’re sharing it below. Please, feel free to copy and paste it to your own representatives!

Their personal stance, and the stance of their business Hashtag Cannabis, clearly supports the protests and the Black Lives Matter movement at large. They suggest legislative tactics that could protect citizens from police violence, by ensuring that basic Civil Rights limitations, which dictate how police are allowed to engage with citizens, are taken out of police contracts which are part of collective bargaining, where police unions can use their bargaining powers to remove these very limits (which hold police officers accountable for their uses of excessive force) from the contract that binds them.

 

3.  With great joy, Hashtag joins the Colored Cannabis Collective in celebrating Juneteenth, and marching in support of Black lives, by co-sponsoring the 1st Annual Juneteenth Freedom March! Read on for details below.

 
 

Thoughts on Protesting 

by Andrew Quattrociocchi, Hashtag Fremont store manager 




In the past week that I have spent protesting with the Black Lives Matter movement, I have felt simultaneously outraged by the brutality and destruction exhibited by Seattle police, and also inspired and filled with hope as I watch my city come together and collaborate for a common cause: to shout from the top of our lungs that Black lives matter. 




While the police never miss a beat to instigate and agitate the crowd (answering our umbrellas and water bottles with their tear gas canisters and flash grenades), the protesters have been consistently showing them how it’s done, by de-escalating and staying calm during tense situations, providing medical attention to those in need, providing food and water to each other, directing traffic, providing masks and hand sanitizer to everyone, and generally being good neighbors and looking out for each other's well being. 




The way I see it (and I do not claim to speak for the protest movement, but only for myself), I do not protest against all police officers, but against excessive police violence, particularly police brutalizing and killing Black people and non-Black people of color. If the Seattle Police Department, and police departments across the country, are against police brutality and the killing of innocent citizens, then they should be marching with us right now, and holding their peers accountable. Clearly, that is not the choice that they have made in Seattle so far.




As protesters, many of us feel like this is a defining moment in history--a time when we finally come together and say, “Enough is enough, and we will not allow these horrendous acts of violence to continue.” 




We feel that it is imperative to say with our words, and show with our actions, that we will not allow this heinous behavior to go on with our implicit consent. 




It is honestly shameful that as a country, a city, and a community, we have allowed police violence against Black people and non-Black people of color to go on for as long as we have. 




And for the folks who may agree that the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police was horrible, but feel the city of Seattle police cannot be blamed with the same brushstroke, I encourage you to look up the many cases of innocent people of color being murdered right here in our own backyard. Here is a brief overview:




So this is an issue that is critically important to us right here at home, and it is an issue that should transcend political or religious views, because it is a human issue. 




If you believe that the police should not have the authority to be jury, judge, and executioner, then now is the time to speak out and get involved in any capacity that you can. 

  • Having people demonstrating out in the streets is important, but there are many other ways to get involved that are also vitally important. 

  • One of the critical things that we can be doing right now is speaking with our own family and friends, to help them understand why the Black Lives Matter movement is so incredibly important right now, to make sure that they are on the right side of history. 




In 1946, Martin Niemöller wrote “First They Came”, a poem in response to the Nazi movement, read by many of us in school. It illustrates how important speaking up for others is, and as a kid, it always stuck with me, especially since it ends with the chilling line, “Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” 




Now is one of those moments in history, where it is our responsibility not only to ourselves, but to the well-being of all of humanity, to speak out against injustice, and stand loudly and unwaveringly for racial equality--because if we don’t speak out now, there may be no one left to speak for us. 

 
 

An Open Letter to Washington State Legislators and Congressional Representatives

by Logan Bowers and Jerina Pillert, co-owners of Hashtag Cannabis


June 10, 2020

Dear Representatives Macri and Chopp, and Senator Pedersen,


Jerina and I are long-time Seattle residents of the 43rd District. As I’m sure you have as well, we have watched in horror over the last two weeks as the Seattle Police Department clearly and flagrantly assaulted lawful and peaceful protesters, used escalation tactics to provoke responses from the crowd, and failed to maintain peaceful order while simultaneously attacking and injuring non-threatening individuals. 


The United States has a long history of racially motivated police violence that disproportionately harms Black people and non-Black people of color. We believe reforms must be taken by all elected officials to demilitarize policing and, in most cases, substitute civilian social services for many duties currently handled by police. 


It is clear, however, that after nearly a decade under a consent decree and countless attempts at reform, we are further than ever from a fair and just city where the law is applied equitably, and peacefully. We have seen that labor contract negotiations have been a particularly acute stumbling block, as policing reforms duly passed by the Seattle City Council—and reflecting the will of the people—have been nullified by employment contracts. 


We are writing you today to ask you to sponsor legislation in the session to break this impasse. 


It is clear that Civil Rights protections, and protections from police violence, cannot be something to be “bargained away”--they must be mandatory and non-negotiable. We have an epidemic of police violence against civilians, yet Washington cities cannot take action because the rights and safety of the people are subject to collective bargaining. Will you help reform our police force to be more fair and just by carving out Civil Rights-related accountability and disciplinary measures, safely out of reach from collective bargaining? 


We believe that at least the following items should not be subject to collective bargaining (instead prescribed by City/County/State law): 

  • Rules requiring the use of body cams, dash cams, and recording devices, including disciplinary processes and consequences for failing to follow these rules

  • Statute of limitations on officer misconduct

  • The use of and public disclosure of police conduct records, including records of past misconduct whether or not they are sustained

  • Rules governing the use of force, including disciplinary and inquest processes 


We believe the correct place would be to create an explicit carve-out in RCW 41.56.465(1)(e), and bar arbitration panels from considering accountability and civil rights-related disciplinary actions, IF Due Process is provided via a different mechanism prescribed by city or county ordinance. 


Thank you for your hard work and your service. I hope together we can create a safer and more peaceful city for everyone. 


Respectfully, 

Logan Bowers

Jerina Pillert

 
 

Send Your Own Letter

Now you want to send your own letter to your representatives, don’t you? 

You have our permission to copy and paste!

Next, find out which Washington state representative district you live in here:

Finally, find your representatives’ email addresses here, paste in your copied text, and hit send!

 
 

1st Annual Juneteenth Freedom March

by the Colored Cannabis Collective

Hashtag Cannabis will co-sponsor the 1st Annual Juneteenth Freedom March, led and organized by the Seattle-based Colored Cannabis Collective.

Join us and march with us on Friday, June 19 at 4:20pm! We will share location details within Seattle as soon as possible. Here are the event details as of June 10:

Location TBA

The Colored Cannabis Collective presents the 1st annual Juneteenth March for Freedom. Juneteenth celebrates African American freedom from the bonds of slavery. Though we are no longer in physical chains, white supremacy is so engrained into the fabric of this country that we must continue to advocate that All Black Lives Matter. In this march we will celebrate all facets of black culture, a culture that we built from nothing after ours was stolen from us. Ending the march we will list demands that we have for our city and state government officials.

Learn more about Juneteenth here: https://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm


Learn more about Black history and heritage here: https://www.naamnw.org/resources

As always, you can reach us at [email protected], or in the comments below.

 
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