Reclaiming Rhode Island

Although Rhode Island is geographically the smallest of our fifty states, we are lucky to have many non-governmental and non-profit organizations with visions that promote missions for improving social justice and equity.

I recently learned about a relatively new non-profit organization called Reclaim Rhode Island. Incorporated in May of 2020, Reclaim Rhode Island was organized to “…promote the social welfare and common good of Rhode Islanders through collective action.”

The founding members of Reclaim Rhode Island initially worked as volunteers for the Bernie Sanders campaign. Their website states (reclaimri.org), “When the campaign ended, we decided to work together to reclaim Rhode Island for the people.”

Reclaim Rhode Island is organized around three campaigns: Housing Justice, Marijuana Justice, and Tenant Organizing. These three campaigns are three legs that support the social justice stool. At first glance, these three campaigns seem different from one another. However, they are related. Far too often, the same people are harmed by a lack of social justice on all three issues.

With respect to Marijuana Justice in the Ocean State, Reclaim Rhode Island is a significant player. In 2021, Reclaim Rhode Island launched its Marijuana Justice Campaign to push for the legalization of recreational cannabis in the state. Reclaim Rhode Island works with a coalition of community advocacy organizations, such as the Formerly Incarcerated Union (UFCW Local 328) and the Marijuana Policy Project, to put racial and economic justice at the center of Ocean State cannabis legislation. The result is that Rhode Island now has what some consider “the most progressive marijuana law in the country.”

Reclaim Rhode Island has advocated for: Automatic expungement of criminal records from prior cannabis-related offenses, Social equity to provide licenses, access to capital, and business training for people negatively impacted by the failed war on drugs, Labor protections for all cannabis workers, including making entering a labor agreement with a union a mandatory condition for getting and maintaining a cannabis license, Six cannabis retail licenses are exclusively for worker-owned cooperatives.

Reclaim Rhode Island is working on efforts to support the formation of worker cooperatives and ensure success for the state’s cannabis industry. They are striving to empower working-class Rhode Islanders to build wealth and have ownership in a cannabis industry dominated by white males and global corporations.

Reclaim Rhode Island’s efforts to promote social justice and equity have attracted media attention over the past four years. Their website lists citations of at least forty published articles and broadcast media pieces.

As noted earlier, the three major Reclaim Rhode Island campaigns are connected by the unifying theme of having a safe and affordable place to live and access to and training for well-paying cannabis industry jobs in a safe working environment. To me, it is gratifying to see a non-profit website where their campaigns to promote social justice were mentioned in the Boston Globe: “Revised RI Marijuana Bill Would Make Expungements Automatic” (17 May 2022) and in the EcoRI News: “Rep. Morales Introduces Bill to Fund Lead Service Line Replacements at No Cost to Property Owners” (7 February 2023). At first glance, one might think that reforming cannabis legislation and replacing lead water pipes are policy issues, much like two ships passing each other at night. The two ships don’t see each other because they travel in darkness. However, both ships are navigating in the same ocean and are at risk from the same perils. Reclaim Rhode Island kicks at this darkness until it bleeds daylight. Check out their website. You will see what I mean. •