Jon sits down for a cannaconvo with Niambe McIntosh, Head of Peter Tosh Legacy & Brands. Their conversation touches upon the heartbreaking story of what happened to her brother Jawara as a result of the inequitably enforced War on Drugs, how it brought her to this industry, and how she is trying to continue the legacy of her father and brother in the cannabis brand that she is building.
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Over the last several years Niambe McIntosh, the youngest child of the revolutionary musician and activist Peter Tosh, has stepped up to the mantle to carry on her father’s message and legacy. A renaissance woman, she serves many roles including the head of the Peter Tosh Legacy & Brand; Managing Member of Tosh Holdings LLC; Board Chairperson for the Peter Tosh Foundation Ltd.; and President of PT Capital LLC.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, McIntosh has come to call both home. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering and enjoyed a successful career in the field during her early 20’s. However, her passion for working with children of all ages led her to switch gears and become an educator; attaining her Master’s in Education. She spent nearly a decade working in the Boston Public School System as a high school mathematics and special education teacher.
During this time, Niambe was instrumental in the planning and development of the Peter Tosh Museum which opened in 2016 and is a national landmark edifice in Kingston, Jamaica dedicated to the preservation of her father’s legacy. Additionally, Mcintosh and her family founded the Peter Tosh Foundation in 2017 to serve as the vehicle for the realization of her father’s dream.
Niambe’s fire for advocacy also stems from a family crisis in February of 2017 in which her brother Jawara McIntosh – musician and cannabis activist – was brutally attacked while incarcerated for cannabis possession while being held in Bergen County Jail in New Jersey. Jawara later succumbed to his injuries in 2020 which compelled Niambe to raise awareness of the dire conditions faced by prisoners, the need for prison reform, and the necessity for legalization of cannabis nationwide.
Beyond family and business, McIntosh also serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit cannabis advocacy organization, Minorities For Medical Marijuana (M4MM), which focuses on public policy, business development, patient education, and social justice as it pertains to minority issues in the cannabis industry. McIntosh is a spokesperson for the organization’s “Project Clean Slate” which provides record expungements and wrap-around services for individuals with cannabis arrests. She also serves on the advisory board for the Last Prisoner Project, an organization geared towards cannabis criminal justice reform.
Niambe McIntosh is unquestionably cut from the same cloth as her father, yet not living in his shadows… Instead, she has developed her own identity while breathing new life into his.
DISCLAIMER: All opinions are my own, and not those of my law firm Zuber Lawler. Even though I drop knowledge bombs, the show is NOT legal advice.
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