Long before Firehouse opened its doors, both of its founders experienced firsthand the consequences of the War on Drugs.
Armani White grew up between Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, two Boston neighborhoods deeply affected by decades of aggressive drug enforcement and mass incarceration. Like many families across the city, Armani’s family experienced the consequences of the War on Drugs firsthand, with family members who were incarcerated and communities that were destabilized by policies that disproportionately targeted Black and Brown residents.
Determined to chart a different path, Armani became a first-generation college student and attended Wesleyan University. While there, he was arrested for cannabis possession after being subjected to racial profiling. The arrest nearly jeopardized his financial aid and threatened his ability to remain in school. Like countless others, Armani and his family were forced to spend money they did not have on legal representation to protect his future.
The experience reinforced something he had understood since childhood: the consequences of cannabis prohibition were never distributed equally.
That experience helped shape Armani’s lifelong commitment to criminal justice reform, racial justice, and cannabis equity. He began organizing around discriminatory policing practices like Stop-and-Frisk and worked to ensure that communities most impacted by the War on Drugs would have meaningful opportunities in the legal cannabis industry.
Sean Berte’s journey reflects another side of that same story.
A Marine veteran and former Boston firefighter, Sean dedicated much of his early life to public service. Years before cannabis legalization, Sean was arrested and incarcerated for nonviolent cannabis cultivation. Although he served his sentence and returned home determined to rebuild his life, the consequences followed him long after his release.
Like many people impacted by prohibition, Sean faced the challenges of carrying a criminal record in a world that offered few second chances. His family experienced financial hardship, bankruptcy, lost employment opportunities, and the lasting stigma that often accompanies a drug conviction. The stress and instability affected nearly every aspect of life, despite the fact that the conduct that led to his arrest would later become legal in Massachusetts.
Rather than turning away from cannabis, Sean became committed to ensuring that people harmed by prohibition would have a place in the legal industry that emerged from legalization.
Armani and Sean met through cannabis equity organizing before legalization and quickly discovered they shared a similar vision for the future of the industry. Both believed legalization should create opportunities for people and communities harmed by the War on Drugs—not just large corporations with access to capital.
While working together to help prospective entrepreneurs navigate Massachusetts’ Economic Empowerment and Social Equity programs, they realized they would make a strong team themselves.
What began as shared advocacy eventually became a business partnership.
Together, they founded Firehouse to help build the kind of industry they had been fighting for all along: one where locally owned businesses, social equity entrepreneurs, and people impacted by prohibition have an opportunity to succeed.
The Meaning Behind Firehouse
Firehouse is the House of Fire Weed.
In the cannabis culture that shaped both Armani and Sean, “fire” means exceptional, something high-quality, memorable, and worth sharing. The name also honors Sean’s past as a Boston firefighter before he was arrested for cultivating cannabis.
Firehouse brings those stories together: a celebration of cannabis culture, an acknowledgment of the past, and a symbol of what can be built when people impacted by prohibition are given the opportunity to lead.