This story first appeared in print as part of the Spring 2018 Green Guide.
Bess Byers was walking around Capitol Hill last summer when she saw the perfect Instagram opportunity. It was the weekend of Capitol Hill Block Party, and in between listening to bands and taking photos, she saw a parked Seattle Police Department cruiser with no cops in sight. She jumped onto the hood of the car, lit up a joint, and started puffing.
“There had been a bunch of reports around that time about how police departments disproportionately arrest black people for cannabis,” she remembered recently. “I’ve had friends who are African American get hassled or even set up by the police, and I wanted to raise awareness about that. It if takes me smoking weed on a cop car to draw attention to this issue, fine. I’m trying to use my platform and my privilege to speak out about the issues I’m passionate about.”
She later posted the photo to her Instagram account, @imcannabess. Accompanying it was a caption about the failed war on drugs and the over-policing of minority communities. It got thousands of likes—just like most of her posts do.
