Joy Beckerman lived a life exemplified by her name, spreading cheer and using her natural gifts of kindness and influence throughout her storied career as a hemp and Cannabis activist.
My favorite memory of Joy is at Olympia Hempfest, although I have countless memories of her at the iconic Seattle Hempfest, where she organized and spread her special brand of cheer and activism relentlessly. The moment I remember is Joy running a booth by herself, a white tent in the shadow of the state Capitol dome stuffed with different goods and products made from hemp. She had soaps, cooking oil, motor oil, clothes and so many food items, all made from the plant that was so versatile and useful, it’d been made illegal 100 years before, catching Cannabis up with it.
Her booth was a little store where nothing was for sale, and every piece had a story attached of how hemp was involved. She even lugged around a chunk of hempcrete, which is a most amazing and natural form of concrete — made by mixing hemp hurds, lime and water — that is mold and microbial resistant, can’t burn, is extremely breathable and durable as a construction material and lasts for centuries. Joy would approve of this educational aside.
Why I love Joy and this memory is that she wasn’t getting paid to be at the state Capitol. She’d accumulated all the items herself over 30-plus years of activism, loading a car and driving from event to event, spreading the truth about hemp the way a traveling missionary would. She cared so much about the plant — and making the world better — that she would stand publicly and proclaim it to anyone within earshot, never selling anything or asking for donations. If ever there was a pure and true spirit of activism for the plant, Joy was certainly a shining example.
Joy was a smiling rebel who opened a hemp store in Woodstock, New York, in the early ’90s and received a visit from the Secret Service in 1994 for stamping “I grew hemp” on dollar bills next to George Washington’s face. Far from arresting her, the freedom fighter was advised to use a specific type of ink for her free speech activities, and she continued stamping “legalize it” and “lower taxes” on bills for years despite the threat of arrest.
Joy’s energy was contagious, and she spread the vibe everywhere she went, activating others and earning awards and recognition along the way, including the Hemp Industries Association’s 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2014 National Hemp Activist of the Year Award, the Cannabis Women’s Alliance’s 2016 Outstanding Contribution Award and Seattle Hempfest’s 2016 Outstanding Cannabis Activist Award.
She was an advocate for hemp before it became hip for the purest of reasons: saving the Earth! Joy inspired my own deep dive into the usefulness of hemp, which can replace and improve upon so many petrochemical plastic or synthetic products. Even as Cannabis was being legalized, and so many activists were high on the potential of THC, myself included, Joy was there to ground us in the potential of the movement and remind us that we can celebrate medicine and Cannabis, but hemp can change how the world works and runs. She cared so much about people and this planet that she spent her life trying to improve both with plant medicine and resources.
We spent many sunny afternoons at various weed events, where I would be peddling the Leaf, others would be selling their newest high hopes and weed and Joy would always be on mission. The term “tireless advocate” should have a picture of her beaming next to it, for her smile lit up a room, and it was her energy above all that drew people in to learn about hemp.
When she opened her hemp store in Woodstock in the ’90s, the plant was illegal, and all the hemp products she sold were imported from European or Asian countries where the plant was allowed to grow. Amazingly, Joy lived to see fields of hemp planted all over America, the legalization of Cannabis and the restoration of a crop that helped build this country and the human species itself. Joy is certainly resting peacefully knowing that hemp roots are in the ground, but I hear her calling on us to continue the activism she began decades ago. We’ve planted the seeds, but the work to change the world isn’t done, and her torch is still lit, waiting to inspire and ignite the next generation of activists.
Joy came to a Leaf event earlier this year, and as we spoke about life, growth and love of the plant, she told me that she wasn’t scared of what was to come. I spoke of God’s love for her, of eternal life in heaven, and the peace she emanated in return filled me not with sadness, but with the very feeling her name embodied. As she shared a sense of satisfaction of a life well lived, the progress of the Cannabis plant and industry and her own journey reaching the end of one destination and the beginning of another, she had no fear.
As she was here on Earth, and I’m sure she is today in heaven, Joy lived up to her name in every single way.
