{"id":21327,"date":"2020-06-30T12:05:51","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T16:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/?p=21327"},"modified":"2020-06-30T15:04:15","modified_gmt":"2020-06-30T19:04:15","slug":"gay-black-prideful-2020-6-lgbtqia-cannabis-icons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/2020\/06\/30\/gay-black-prideful-2020-6-lgbtqia-cannabis-icons\/","title":{"rendered":"Gay, Black &#038; PRIDEFUL 2020: 6 LGBTQIA+ Cannabis Icons"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_static--><p>Being Black and gay during Pride in 2020 hits different. But that doesn\u2019t mean we stop celebrating Black LGBTQIA+ people in the cannabis industry. Thanks to handy dandy COVID-19, there were no Pride Parades (I hope) for the sake of safety.<\/p> <p>But you can still have a good time getting to know these notable icons that represent the best of intersecting cannabis, the gay community and Blackness.<\/p> <p>We admittedly don\u2019t cover the entire nation (or world) of queer Black folk killing it in the plant game. But these 6 wonderful individuals are the future of expanded diversity in an industry overloaded with heterosexual White cisgender men.<\/p> <p>You\u2019ll get to know:<\/p> <ul> <li>The innovative founders of Unoia<\/li> <li>The transformational hemp farmer and herbalist of Melanated Medicinals<\/li> <li>Cannabis\u2019s first openly gay model and entertainer<\/li> <li>An angel investor and LGBTQ pioneer<\/li> <li>A Black Futurist and former Georgia State Senate candidate<\/li> <li>A marketing and tech business founder of Visioneer IT with a dope cannabis app<\/li> <\/ul> <p>Read on for our private parade of dazzling Black folk!<\/p>\n<h2>What LGBTQIA+ stand for<br\/><\/h2>\n<p>To start, what does the acronym mean?<\/p> <p>Pride Month is a celebration of not only the gay community everywhere humans exist on this planet. The overall community uses an inclusive and ever-growing acronym: LGBTIQA+<\/p> <p>We took a shot at getting influencers who fit under at least one letter. This is for people who don\u2019t know them or may get terms mixed up.<\/p> <p><strong>L:<\/strong> Lesbian, women who love women<\/p> <p><strong>G:<\/strong> Gay, men who love men<\/p> <p><strong>B:<\/strong> Bisexual, people who love men and women (there\u2019s no formula to this)<\/p> <p><strong>T:<\/strong> Transgender, people who identify as a gender beyond assigned biological sex at birth<\/p> <p><strong>I:<\/strong> Intersex, people born with non-traditional biological sex characteristics; it&#8217;s not tied to gender or sexual identity<\/p> <p><strong>Q:<\/strong> Queer (reclaiming the term from its derogatory uses) or Questioning one&#8217;s sexual\/gender identity<\/p> <p><strong>A:<\/strong> Asexual (NOT Allies), or &#8220;aces,&#8221; people who don&#8217;t experience (much) sexual attraction but still have romantic feelings<\/p> <p><strong>+:<\/strong> Additional sexual identities such as Pansexual (meaning), Demisexual, Greysexual and more.<\/p> <p>Want a thorough understanding of this? Enter the rabbit hole to educate yourself by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/21\/style\/lgbtq-gender-language.html\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Brande Elise &amp; Danielle Gray of Unoia<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.34.26-692x1024.png\" alt=\"unoia founders danielle gray and brande elise having a good time\" width=\"692\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.34.26.png?resize=692%2C1024 692w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.34.26.png?resize=203%2C300 203w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.34.26.png?resize=768%2C1136 768w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.34.26.png?w=986 986w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 692px) 100vw, 692px\" \/><\/p> <p>Brande Elise and Danielle Gray are <a href=\"https:\/\/theemeraldmagazine.com\/atlanta-based-power-couple-infuses-the-industry-with-mindfulness-and-cbd-honey\/\">THE premiere power couple<\/a> for cannabis, LGBTQ+ and Black excellence. They\u2019re co-founders of their CBD honey company Unoia. To match their beautiful faces, spirits and products, the company name means \u201cbeautiful thinking\u201d in Greek.<\/p> <p>These lovely Black lesbians (sorry that sounds like a Pornhub title) aren\u2019t new to the Cash Color Cannabis platform. The founder Mehka King interviewed them in 2019 AKA the pre-pandemic world.<\/p> <p>Watch the video or save it to your \u201cWatch Later\u201d to learn the essentials of branding and defining your audience.<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EnAa4G6Zuao\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/brande.elise\/\">Brande<\/a> is Unoia\u2019s Chief Connection Officer with a background as a VoiceOver artist and event host. She has a thorough web of relationships with celebrities, artists, photographers and influencers that she brings to the table.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/daniellegraymba\/\">Danielle<\/a> is all-things marketing thanks to MBA and ownership of her other company DG Marketing Co. Other than developing and designing Unoia\u2019s brand identity, she\u2019s reached over 10,000 people with speeches.<\/p> <p>Make sure to follow their individual Instagram pages by clicking the links above. And keep up with Unoia on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/worldofunoia\/\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/worldofunoia\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p> <p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldofunoia.com\/shop\">get a taste of their honey<\/a> (and more) by exploring their shop!<\/p> <p><em><strong>Takeaway Quote:<\/strong> \u201cWe just want to show the world that you can be exactly who you are\u2013and if a lane is not there for you, create it yourself.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Sun English of Melanated Medicinals<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c9.53.15-1024x1017.png\" alt=\"black trans hemp farmer sun english tending to plants\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\" \/><\/p> <p>Sun (sometimes Bobby) English is a queer transgender woman (pronouns: she\/they) and friend of mine who\u2019s a committed farmer and herbalist. We met years ago in Baltimore, Maryland during an artist workshop and reconnected over cannabis in 2019 when they returned from Oakland, California.<\/p> <p>Sun is a woman of the land and has a magic to them that I\u2019ve witnessed with their at-home garden and grows.<\/p> <p>They are the founder of Liberation Seed and Melanated Medicinals with a mission to build a co-op in Farmville, Virginia.<\/p> <p>Commuting between Baltimore and Farmville, they have hosted workshops for herbalism and rituals within Black communities. Sun is an eclectic soul\u2014and could use your support with the co-op via their GoFund Me.<\/p> <p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4deqjJvglmM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p>Click the highlighted link to learn how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/melanatedmedicinals\">your support is a step in the right direction<\/a> for all Black people.<\/p> <p>Follow Sun on one of their 3 Instagram accounts: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/themajik\/\">Individual<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liberationseed\/\">Liberation Seed<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/melanatedmedicinals\/?igshid=vqjjaca197c1\">Melanated Medicinals<\/a>. Support Black farmers and herbalists in this space!<\/p> <p>Takeaway Quote: &#8220;This planet is a gem, and we must not give up on it. Each newly sown seed is a step towards healing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Anye Elite of Icon City &amp; Cannabis&#8217;s 1st Gay Model<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.38.09-1024x553.png\" alt=\"first gay black cannabis model anye exhaling smoke\" width=\"1024\" height=\"553\" \/><\/p> <p>Anye is a multi-talented creative. He showed up on our radar when he became the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iconcity.net\/post\/gay-rapper-becomes-first-lgbt-cannabis-model\">first open LGBT man to become a cannabis model<\/a>. He\u2019s looking high and fly for Cali Green Gold, a national cannabis brand.<\/p> <p>When he\u2019s not toking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caligreengold.com\/\">Cali Green Gold<\/a>\u2019s The Benny Cannagar \u201cBennygar\u201dwith the utmost Black excellence, he\u2019s a rapper, media personality and entertainment executive\/founder of Icon City.<\/p> <p>Outside of business (can we separate identity from work??), he\u2019s a LGBT activist and cultural commentator.<\/p> <p>Get a taste of his welcoming sound with his official music video for \u201cHow U Doin\u201d below.<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nj8wypprK2M\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe>\u00a0Support Anye and show him some love via one of his Instagram accounts and respective websites for his endeavors:<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/anyeelite\/\">Public figure account\u00a0<\/a><\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/smokeandsoundofficial\">Cannabis culture business<\/a><\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/iconcityorg\/\">Inclusive Urban Entertainment Company Icon City\u00a0<\/a><\/p> <p><em><strong>Takeaway Quote:<\/strong> &#8220;I\u2019m fine and so are you. COVID or corona can\u2019t kill creativity.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Cee Smith of Cee Smith Media and Pipeline Angels<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.19.05-1024x954.png\" alt=\"cee smith smoking a flower joint\" width=\"1024\" height=\"954\" \/><\/p> <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wickedwead\/\">Alex C Brown<\/a><\/em><\/p> <p>I don\u2019t know much about Cee Smith. She\u2019s a DC native lesbian <a href=\"https:\/\/pipelineangels.com\/\">angel investor<\/a>, entrepreneur and LGBTQIA+ pioneer. She has over a decade of experience as a serial entrepreneur.<\/p> <p>\u00a0<\/p> <p>Her company is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceesmithmedia.com\/\">Cee Smith Media<\/a>. They offer investment opportunities for LGBT entrepreneurs and creatives of color.<\/p> <p>And she\u2019s been involved in media and business development in industries like tech, entertainment, film and cannabis! Have a listen to her interview on podcast Artists without DayJobs with host <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jo-nawilliams.com\/#videos\">Jo-Na Williams<\/a>.<\/p> <p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed-podcast\/episode\/3VygSYdUPYvoqp7szxBfhl\" width=\"100%\" height=\"232\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p>With the uprisings nationwide in 2020, she\u2019s a proponent of supporting Black women. Especially in light of the mistreatment of DC Mayor Bowser, the capital\u2019s first Black female leader.<\/p> <p>Reach out to her via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ceethenoise\/\">her Instagram account<\/a>. (Shout to to Cannabis Chef <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/livviesmalls\/\">Liv Vasques<\/a> of Netflix\u2019s <i>Cooked with Cannabis<\/i> for HIGHLY recommended her.)<\/p> <p><em><strong>Takeaway Quote:<\/strong> \u201cI won\u2019t sit back quiet and watch people tear down a Black woman in any way shape or form.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Devin Barrington of Black Futurist Group &amp; Former Georgia State Senate candidate<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/\u30b9\u30af\u30ea\u30fc\u30f3\u30b7\u30e7\u30c3\u30c8-2020-06-29-\u5348\u5f8c10.45.11-922x1024.png\" alt=\"gay black georgia senate candidate devin barrington ward\" width=\"922\" height=\"1024\" \/><\/p> <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Photo from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.devinbarringtonward.com\/\">devinbarringtonward.com<\/a><\/em><\/p> <p>Devin Barrington is a visionary committed to creating a brilliant future for all parts of the Black community. The recent climate of protests address the inescapable reality of being Black in America.<\/p> <p>And Devin took a major stand as an Atlanta-based community organizer and freedom fighter.<\/p> <p>How?<\/p> <p>By shooting for the seat of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.devinbarringtonward.com\/\">Georgia State Senator of District 38<\/a>. He didn\u2019t win the spot. But he made his mission clear in advocating to defund the Atlanta Police Department.<\/p> <p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WTaew0-fmk4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/><\/p> <p>Now how about his involvement in cannabis?<\/p> <p>He\u2019s the managing director of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfuturistsgroup.com\/\">The Black Futurists Group<\/a>. It isn\u2019t a solely a cannabis organization. The group\u2019s mission is centered on building the future of our community with equity, freedom and liberation.<\/p> <p>All of which aligns with the \u201cgreen rush\u201d potential that\u2019s being milked from the cannabis industry.<\/p> <p>The Black community suffers the most but earns the least from it. The Black Futurists Group kicked off cannabis advocacy with the Trap Lecture on 4\/20 this year (our friend <a href=\"http:\/\/cannabisnoire.com\/\">Sheena at Cannabis Noire<\/a>\u00a0was on the panel)!<\/p> <p>Show Devin some love by giving him a follow on Instagram.<\/p> <p>Keep up with the Black Futurist Group and his future State Senate candidacy on IG by clicking the links.<\/p> <p><em><strong>Takeaway Quote:<\/strong> &#8220;Our job isn\u2019t to predict the future. Rather, it&#8217;s our duty to create it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Gavriel Legynd of VisioneerIT &amp; the CannaSprout app<\/h2> <p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/gavriel-visioneerit-gay-black-cannabis-1024x750.jpeg\" alt=\"gavriel legynd standing in front of graffiti wall\" width=\"1024\" height=\"750\" \/><\/p> <p>Gavriel Legynd is a marketing and tech business transgender man with a commitment to cannabis and making money. He doesn\u2019t partake in any parts of the plant. But he leans on it to help his daughter who suffers from sickle cell disease.<\/p> <p>He runs Visoneer IT, a marketing automation solution for a variety of businesses. And given his tech experience, he\u2019s developing a subscription-based cannabis app called CannaSprout. Read about how <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/authority-magazine\/how-technology-is-changing-the-cannabis-industry-7fbdb320949\">he\u2019s facing down the cannabis industry here<\/a>.<\/p> <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visioneerit.com\/\">https:\/\/www.visioneerit.com\/<\/a><\/p> <p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LeSqcHihO9Q\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p> <p>He also has a CBD company called <a href=\"http:\/\/greenzen.green\/\">GreenZen<\/a>. At the time of publishing, you\u2019re unable to buy from the shop. Overall though, he was inspired to create the company based on his daughter\u2019s needs.<\/p> <p>He is a force to be reckoned with as a serial entrepreneur, business strategist and overall methodical advocate for the transgender community and Jewish people of color.<\/p> <p>Connect with him via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gavriellegynd\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>. Follow VisioneerIT on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/visioneerit\/\">Instagram<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Visioneerit\/\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p> <p><em><strong>Takeaway Quote:<\/strong> his favorite life quote from Napoleon Hill, \u201cIf you don\u2019t conquer self, you will be conquered by self.&#8221;<\/em><\/p><!--\/themify_builder_static-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being Black and gay during Pride in 2020 hits different. But that doesn\u2019t mean we stop celebrating Black LGBTQIA+ people in the cannabis industry. Thanks to handy dandy COVID-19, there were no Pride Parades (I hope) for the sake of safety.<\/p>\n<p>But you can still have a good time getting to know these notable icons that represent the best of intersecting cannabis, the gay community and Blackness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":21347,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5272,6],"tags":[5328,5327,4676],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21355,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21327\/revisions\/21355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cashcolorcannabis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}