For many Black-owned and family-owned businesses, their missions are often rooted in stories of community, unity and perseverance through life’s obstacles. In the case of Flight — the newest and only state licensed cannabis dispensary in San Francisco’s Park Merced — cousins Eric Grayson, Keena Middleton, and Charles Toney II all teamed up to launch a business that could set an example for their community and honor their family all at once. “It means a lot because we’re from here, but it means a lot more because it took so much effort to even get to this point,” Middleton tells AfroTech. “[Flight] is not your regular business by any means, you can open up a million [other] things before you open up one of these [dispensaries]. It has a lot to do with being Black as well, but to be able to do it with family members means the world.” The dispensary’s name itself is a tribute to Grayson’s mother, Clara Grayson, who passed away from cancer after the family pooled money together to fly...