The Mensa Model

Dr. Mila K. Marshall CNW Staff Writer

The global equity enthusiast and brand guru Vic Mensa transcends the status quo of weedpreneur. His connection to the culture shows up with deep intention well beyond the clever branding. The Chicago native and 93 Boyz owner embody the essence of what a lifestyle of social equity means and looks like. It’s not about checking the “I gave back” box as the cannabis industry’s social equity approaches can range from superficial and tone-deaf to new-age tokenism. The bottom line is equity, inclusivity, and empowerment aren’t Mensa’s “brand strategy”it’s his mantra.

For many companies and cannabis executives there may have been light touches with incarcerated populations prior to their profits being linked to the legacy of the War on Drugs. The self-charge on some level can be seen as performative and self-serving. Mensa on the other hand is elevating his efforts that existed long before it was cool for the private sector to rock with prisoners. His practice of supporting the prisoner population isn’t just a narrative prompted by creative competition for a cannabis license.

“It is important to me that 93 Boyz supports under-resourced & incarcerated communities,” said Mensa. I’ve been sending books to my homies since I was 17-so I knew that books were something I’d be able to send into prisons. I’ve personally seen the impact that the right book can make in a person’s life.” - Mensa IDOC is OC “outta control.”

Illinois adult incarceration has been declining since the greatest population of 49,401 in 2013. Still, there is an insulting trend of disproportionate incarceration for Blacks. In the State, Black people make up 14.7% (source: U.S. Census) of the Illinois population yet 54.1% of the Illinois Department of Corrections are Black and 95.3% male. Nearly ½ (42.6% of incarcerated prisoners are sentenced from Cook County. (source: Illinois Department of Corrections Adult Individuals in Custody on June 30, 2022)

Studies have shown that prisoner self-education benefits mental health and well-being. Access to books can help combat illiteracy, reduce recidivism and help formerly incarcerated people adjust to life upon release. While the cannabis sector was celebrating the passing of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, prison advocacy groups were raising hell over IDOC’s new policies to ban 200 books about race and civil rights from college-prison programs.

Both, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass and The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. DuBois were considered and denied clearance in 2018. (source: The Education Justice Project at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

The very power of new ideas, and new thoughts of a Black mind is criminal. Mensa’s motivation isn’t to incite harm but to invite readers to stop weaponizing their words of self-harm, and to practice discernment of thought as well as move through the adversities of their lives with intention. The list of books denied clearance includes one of Mensa’s, Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon, a book that has been touted as influential on the civil rights and theories of revolutionary struggle.

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Mensa shared, “these books were specifically chosen to help master your mind. A lot of these books have helped in my own transformation journey. It’s important to know that while you may be in this circumstance now, you are still in control of your thoughts and actions.”

Social equity in the cannabis space requires deep awareness of having an intersectional lens and strategic partnership to avoid tokenism and shallow goals. Vic has not done this alone and has lifted up his partners like Semicolon Bookstore and Gallery on N. Halsted in Chicago, IL. It takes a village and it is so Chicago to tag the homies in.

“We’ve been able to supply the Dixon Correctional Facility library with books and we received a lot of love and requests from families with incarcerated loved ones across the country. So far, 1000 books have been sent out to 57 different facilities.” - Mensa

The “Mensa model” works. It’s mindful, it’s clever, it leaves no one behind, it is purposeful and it’s impactful. He may be a musician but Vic Mensa has set the baseline high AF for what it looks like to pull up for your people and stay gassed up with good vibes for this roadtrip to reparations.ss