THE BUZZ

Art for Justice

A small Boston museum helps visitors understand the impacts of America’s drug laws.

Located in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Core Social Justice Cannabis Museum is “a platform for multiple perspectives relating to the defective system of cannabis law in the United States.” Its current exhibition, American Warden—curated by a panel of cannabis activists, writers, and academics—encourages visitors to think about what being incarcerated for using cannabis would be like.

Visitors also learn about people whose lives were shattered by US drug laws—many of whom are from minority or fi nancially disadvantaged communities—and are inspired to consider the irony of today’s highly profi table legal cannabis industry, which disproportionally benefi ts large corporations.

The museum, which opened in March, is also home to a rotating street art exhibit and an exhibit dedicated to illicit cannabis cultivation. Visitors to the museum’s website can submit their own cannabis stories to be considered for use in a future project.

Social in the City

A new virtual community— created by a Black female tech entrepreneur—celebrates all things urban.

In response to the need for more diversity in online social media platforms, London native Caroline Wilson launched AfroAvenue in 2017. Originally created for London’s AfroCaribbean community, the social media and e-commerce site was well received in the UK, allowing Wilson to secure more than $1 million in venture capital funding in 2019. Since then, AfroVenture has gone global, with more than 100,000 members. Join for free at afroventure. com or download the app from Apple or Google Play.

BY THE NUMBERS

750K

PINTS

The amount of ice cream made each day at Ben & Jerry’s Waterbury, Vermont, factory

SOURCE: newengland.com

18

DAYS

The record amount of time, during the summer of 2020, that the temperature in Burlington, Vermont, exceeded 90 degrees

SOURCE: weather.com

LEGAL EAGLES

One university aims to diversify the law profession.

Western New England University School of Law in Spring eld, Massachusetts, is hoping to change what most of us think of when we hear the word “lawyer.” The school’s Center for Social Justice educates law students about legal issues pertaining to economic and social inequity, climate justice, elder law, gender equity, immigrants’ and indigenous people’s rights, racial justice, and criminal justice reform. It also reaches out to young students in low-income communities to encourage them to think about legal careers.

wne.edu

300

SHARKS

The number of great whites spotted o the New England coast, from Maine to Nantucket, from June through August 2020

SOURCE: boston.com

A life without love is like a year without summer.”

—Swedish Proverb

BILITIES

BY STEPHANIE WILSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF

1 BONG CARTS. Did you hear the news? Bong carts are the new bar carts, and you totally need to get one.

2 OR YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE ONE if you have any piece

of accent furniture on wheels where you store your stash in a decorative jar next to the water pipe you display like its a ne vase. It technically is a vase, at least as far as the dictionarians* at Merriam-Webster are concerned.

3 SENSI’S DICTIONARY OF CHOICE de nes a vase as a “usually round vessel usually with greater height than width used chie y... for holding owers.” Sounds just like a bong, except for that “s” at the end. Bongs are for ower, singular; vases are for owers, plural. Both will look great on the bar cart you’re about to transform into the hottest accent furniture trend of the century.

4 IF YOU HAVEN’T HIT A BONG SINCE COLLEGE, a) give it

another whirl, but put some ice cubes in it rst (gently, because: glass)—it’s a cool game changer; b) your bar cart could still use a refresh in prep for the roaring fun the 20s promise to provide. Despite what the name implies, bong carts aren’t just for bongs. Pipes, papers, grinders, stash jars, rolling trays, and other high-end accoutrements can mix and mingle with spirited accessories, books, and other objets d’art that you fancy.

5 YOU ALREADY HAVE A BONG CART, YOU SAY? Oh, you

fancy! I like your style. And the world wants to see, so snap some pics, run them through a lter (I recommend “Food 1” on the free Photoshop camera app if you want to make your photos pop), and share using the #bongcart hashtag. Show the world what the cannabis lifestyle looks like from your eyes.

*Side note: I have now known that “dictionarians” is a real word for as many seconds as its been since I nished typing it out, hit the space, and didn’t see a red squiggly line appear. So that’s fun.

Let Freedom Bling

Look good while you do good.

Arizona-based High Point Jewelry, a maker of high-end cannabis-themed necklaces, rings, and earrings for women and men, has partnered with The Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofi t dedicated to criminal justice reform and the amendment of unjust US drug laws. While supplies last, High Point will donate 100% of the purchase price of all jewelry in its popular “Legalize It” line.

highpointjewelry.com

VOX POPULI Question: What are you looking forward to most this summer?

LEIGH CAMPOS

Salesperson Hudson, NH

MARIANNE GHIZZONI

Healthcare administrator Norwood, MA

JAY MORRISSEY

Human resources professional Boylston, MA

DANIELLE LANGER

Daycare manager Marlborough, MA

___________________ Getting to see people. I’m really looking forward to warm weather so that we can swim, hike, and play outside with our people in a way that nally feels normal.

___________________ I cannot wait for that butter y feeling in my stomach when the lights go down right before a concert.

___________________ I’m looking forward to something that looks like “normal” with other people.

___________________ Friends and families getting together for traditional back yard barbecues.

NANCY ROGERS

Real estate agent Chelmsford, MA

___________________ Spending time out on the water, shing, and soaking in the sunset while the sea is calm, the breeze is warm, and the salt air smells fresh— most important of all, enjoying it with friends.

Hemp Heirlooms Upgrade your wardrobe with beautiful, sustainable hemp.

Hardwick, Vermont–based textile artist Laura Sullivan has dedicated her career to creating unique clothing, linens, and home accessories from naturally dyed hemp fabrics. Sullivan sells her designs, which include skirts, dresses, compostable facemasks, towels, napkins, and diapers through her company, Pipe Dream Hempworks. She has even designed a sustainable wedding gown from hemp fabric, and she o ers repair services for any type of clothing to help keep textiles out of land lls.