Colored Cannabis Collective is Fulfilling Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream

Image credit: By Colors by Emijrp – Own work, Public Domain

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” — Martin Luther King

When Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his infamous, I Have a Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 it was perhaps the words above that best summed up his glorious vision for America and its people. And though his life was cut short and his dreams for equality thus interrupted, Martin Luther King left us with a beautiful charge – to let freedom ring as loud as we can.

“Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

Unfortunately, 56 years after he delivered this speech, we are still struggling with equality in the United States. Equality, prejudice and institutional racism has, in fact, become a hot topic for debate during the Trump presidency, but for all the wrong reasons. See Charleston…

That doesn’t mean King’s message fell on deaf ears, however. There are micro actions taking place all over our wonderful country that adhere to MLK’s dream; actions that are bringing Black, White, Asian, Chicano and Native American people together rather than dividing them.

Collectively, these groups are taking on the jobs and issues that much of current society seems too willing to ignore, such as cleaning up the environmental waste produced by the cannabis industry. A group called the Colored Cannabis Collective, however, is taking this issue head-on in the city of Seattle, neighborhood by neighborhood.

In fact, last week Canna West Seattle, Pearl Extracts and Liberty Reach sponsored a clean-up of the neighborhood surrounding our West Seattle pot store. It was an inspiring moment for all of us, as it truly fulfilled King’s dream. People of all colors showed up to work together, as you can see in the photos below. Not only did this effort result in some serious trash pick-up, but we also got to hang with and get to know some really cool people who are working really hard to make a difference! And as a result of our collaboration, freedom did ring that day on the streets of West Seattle.

Click here for more photos from the clean-up event…

Protecting the environment is a topic that should command our immediate attention, for obvious reasons, but especially as cannabis users. Did you know that 90% of the cannabis packaging housing pot products sold at retail is non-recyclable? And that by 2020 some experts estimate the cannabis industry will generate well over one billion units of single-use plastic packaging waste per year if things don’t change?

That is why the Canna West Seattle blog is highlighting the Colored Cannabis Collective on MLK’s birthday – they are the one’s taking those important, micro actions against big issues right now and it is having a positive effect.

Who is the Colored Cannabis Collective?

According to its organizers, “the backbone of the Colored Cannabis Collective is community service. The War on Drugs has been a hindrance on many local communities of color, and created a false narrative. To alleviate the various stereotypes, we strive to provide tangible value by giving back to our local cannabis neighborhoods through trash removal and recycling, food drives, fundraisers and more.”

We look forward to future events with these folks.

Bless you Dr. King. May you rest in peace.