Hyphae Leaks: Akoma, Oakland’s First Black-Owned Psychedelic Church, Is Ready to Serve
Security checks my ID before welcoming me in. To my right, the backlit bar displays an elegant array of jars partly filled with dried mushrooms and cannabis, bottles of elixirs, and pitchers of jeweled-tone juices. A neon sign flashing the words “Akoma” and “Experience Euphoria” alongside a mushroom appears like a beacon. My eyes adjust to the warm lighting reflecting off walls painted red on one side, bricks on the other.
Leafly.com: Hard-won lessons from Posh Green Cannabis Boutique’s Reese Benton
Reese Benton opened the Posh Green Cannabis Boutique in San Francisco in 2020, solidifying her place in history as the first Black woman and first social equity recipient to become the sole owner of a cannabis retail store anywhere. It only got harder from there…
The Bold Italic: America’s First Black Cannabis Shop Owner Finally Shares His Story
Oakland’s Purple Heart is one of the first dispensaries I ever visited after getting my medical marijuana card in 2011. Back then, cannabis stores didn’t flank every other corner of the city like they do now. I don’t even recall how I found the place, but as someone just starting her weed journey at the time, the unassuming storefront near Jack London Square balanced a professional yet accessible vibe that put me at ease. At the time, I didn’t realize the store’s history as Oakland’s longest-operating marijuana retailer and the fourth-oldest, still operating cannabis business in America.
The Bold Italic: This 72-Year-Old Grandmother Is Changing The Weed Game
Sue Taylor was the first cannabis celebrity I ever met. I spotted her, chic and golden-haired, in the hotel bar at a weed conference in a San Francisco hotel back in 2017. She greeted a line of admirers with a warm smile, but her commanding presence signaled she wasn’t someone to be messed with.