Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Down with Taxes, Uplift People Rally and Press Conference
50+ CALIFORNIA BIPOC CANNABIS ACTIVISTS, POLICY MAKERS, OPERATORS, AND SOCIAL EQUITY BUSINESSES TO RALLY AT SACRAMENTO’S CAPITOL STEPS ON JUNE 2 AT 2PM WITH MESSAGE TO GOVERNOR:
“For five years, our attempts at generational wealth have been thwarted by state-sanctioned exclusion, violence, and a Drug War 2.0 weaponized with oppressive taxes.”
SACRAMENTO, CA - TUESDAY, MAY 31 - In response to the May 19 release of Governor Newsom’s 2022 California state budget, Supernova Women - an Oakland nonprofit that works to empower Black and Brown people to become self-sufficient shareholders in the cannabis space - will be hosting a Capitol steps “Down with the Taxes, Uplift the People” Rally and Press Conference on Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 2pm.
As of the end of 2020, California’s social equity license holders represented just 8% of the industry. Today, that number is XX and falling.
Bringing together 50+ BIPOC cannabis activists, policy makers, operators and social equity businesses, the rally highlights two urgent actions asked of the Governor and the Budget and Finance Committee ahead of their July 1, 2022 budget deadline: repeal the excise tax for social equity retailers across the state and reduce the excise tax to 5% for all others.
“Governor Newsom promoted Prop. 64 as less of an opportunity for tax revenue and more of an historical opportunity for racial and social justice — to remedy the damage of a drug war that had disproportionately criminalized Blacks and Latinos,” explained rally organizer and Executive Director of Supernova Women, Amber Senter. “And yet five years later, California’s Black and Brown cannabis operators, many of whom voted for Newsom not once but twice - are literally sitting on the brink of extinction, due to onerous state taxes, while the Governor sits on a $95B surplus. Where is the racial and social justice in that? Without meaningful tax reform NOW, California’s few remaining BIPOC cannabis operators will not survive, and the communities they serve will not be able to access affordable and safe cannabis,” said Senter.
Organized by Senter, who spearheaded the November 29, 2021 Oakland City Hall Rally and Press Conference following the vandalization and robberies of 15 licensed social equity cannabis businesses as well as the January 13, 2022 #NODRUGWARV2 Rally and Press Conference with Origins Council, Thursday’s 2pm “Down with the Taxes, Uplift the People” rally features a powerful line-up of BIPOC cannabis stakeholders and speakers including: Amber Senter, chairman and executive director of Supernova Women, Sen. Steve Bradford (35th District), Nina Parks, activist and CEO of Gift of Doja, Chaney Turner, Executive Director of Beyond Equity, Malaki Amen, Executive Director of California Urban Partnership, Whitney Beatty, CEO of Josephine & Billies (South Los Angeles dispensary), and Maisha Bahati, CEO of Crystal Nugs Delivery.
“With a majority-minority population comprised of 49 percent Latinos and 10 percent African Americans, Los Angeles alone could help rewrite the recent experience of white entrepreneurs presiding over an industry that has physically, emotionally, psychologically, and economically imprisoned so many people of color… but not without true tax reform at the State level that not only protects our industry as a whole, but most importantly our vulnerable BIPOC members,” said Senator Steven Bradford.
The “Down with the Taxes, Uplift the People” Rally and Press Conference comes on the heels of Governor Newsom’s recent Tax Proposal,
“California cannabis legalization has not been Newsom’s promised social justice revolution but rather a continuation of a deeply American form of inequality in which prosperity and social mobility for Black and Brown people are only possible in theory. For five years, our attempts at generational wealth have been thwarted by state-sanctioned exclusion, violence, and a Drug War 2.0 weaponized with oppressive taxes. While we are nearly out of time, the Governor and Budget and Finance Committee can change this. Let’s hope they do the right thing.”
Join Supernova Women on the steps of the Capitol building, West side, on June 2, 2022 at 2pm for a Rally and Press Conference. Remote attendees may watch the Rally live via Facebook or Instagram.
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About Supernova Women
Founded by Black and Brown women in 2015, Supernova Women is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works to empower Black and Brown people to become self-sufficient shareholders in the cannabis and natural plant medicine space through education, advocacy, and network building.