Farming While Black

by Leah Penniman

  Ben Burkett, president of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives

  Booker T. Whatley, agricultural professor at Tuskegee University and pioneer of CSAs and pick-your-own farms

  Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association

  Charo Minas Rojas, Proceso de Comunidades Negras—PCN (Afro-Colombian solidarity network)

  Cynthia Hayes, founder of SAAFON (Southeastern African American Farmers’ Organic Network)

  Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association

  Dominique Hazzard, BYP100 organizer, outreach specialist at DC Greens

  Fannie Lou Hamer, founder of Freedom Farm

  Francia Márquez, coordinator of Mobilization of Women for Care for Life and Ancestral Territories

  Gail Taylor, director of Three Part Harmony Farm

  George Washington Carver, professor at Tuskegee Institute and regenerative farming pioneer

  Karen Washington, founder of Black Urban Growers and Rise & Root Farm

  Malik Yakini, founder of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network

  Nelson Carrasquillo, general coordinator of CATA Farmworker Support Committee

  Owusu Bandele, professor of sustainable agriculture at Southern University Agricultural Center

  Ralph Paige, 30-year executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives

  Rosalinda Guillen, founder of Community to Community Development in Bellingham, Washington

  Shirley Sherrod, founder of the New Communities Land Trust and plaintiff in the Pigford v. Glickman lawsuit

  Tanya Fields, founding director of BLK ProjeK

  Tavia Benjamin, Earthseed and Black/ Land Project

  Wallie and Juanita Nelson, tax resistors and market farmers in Deerfield, Massachusetts

  Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

  Will Allen, founder of Growing Power urban farm

  Zachari J. Curtis, owner and operator of DC’s Good Sense Farm & Apiary

  Allow each participant to have a turn sharing their collage card. Encourage them to state the person’s name, their contribution to food sovereignty, and one specific detail that inspired the artist making the collage. Circle back to the quote at the beginning. Ask, “In what way have these leaders ‘come alive’ in their work? What type of justice work can you do that would make you also ‘come alive’?”

  Land Loss and Resistance

  Overview: Participants create skits to uncover the historical factors that led to the decline of Black farm ownership from 14 percent in the 1920s to less than 1 percent today.

  Time: 30–45 minutes.

  Materials: Props, handouts.

  Preparation: Print historical summaries.

  Activity

  Ask participants to consider the following quotes, discussing why Ralph Paige and Malcolm X place such strong value in the land. Ask participants whether they agree with this perspective on land.

  “Land is the only real wealth in this country, and if we don’t have any of it, we’ll be out of the picture.” —Ralph Paige, Federation of Southern Cooperatives

  “Revolution is based on land. Land is the basis of all independence. Land is the basis of freedom, justice, and equality” —Malcolm X

  Break the participants up into groups of three to five. Each group will receive a paragraph describing certain events in the history of land loss and resistance. They will act out their scene in front of the other groups. Encourage groups to think creatively about their skit—for instance, instead of a play with dialogue, they could also make a freeze-frame human sculpture, a poem or song, or a human library where each person gives a personal narrative. Note: Especially if there are white people among the participants, reinforce that it is never okay to use racial slurs or act out violence, even in a skit. Generally, white actors should not assume an “oppressor” role over black actors.

  The following historical vignettes are summaries of the information contained in the PBS special Homecoming: The Story of African-American Farmers.

  Group 1: The wealth of this nation was built on the backs of enslaved Africans. The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the ratification of the 13th Amendment at the end of the Civil War in 1866 gave 4 million enslaved African Americans their legal freedom. The federal government provided a limited number of opportunities for Blacks to acquire land. In 1865 General William T. Sherman’s Field Order #15 deeded “40 acres and a mule” over to Black families on the South Carolina and Florida coasts. President Andrew Johnson reversed the policy, and most never received their allotments. Most Southern Black farmers worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers on white-owned plantations, a system very similar to slavery. Despite this, African Americans worked very hard and saved money to purchase land. Black people purchased 120,738 farms by 1890. By 1910 Black farmers had accumulated 218,972 farms and nearly 15 million acres, 14 percent of the nation’s farmland.

  Group 2: As African Americans acquired land, resentment from southern whites mounted. After 1877, and the election of Republican president Rutherford B. Hayes, the South quickly replaced Reconstruction laws with new ones that restricted the rights of Blacks. White secret societies began forming to address the “Negro problem.” In 1881 the first “Jim Crow” law was born when Tennessee required racial segregation in railroad cars. By 1896 the Plessy v. Ferguson case put the federal stamp of approval on Jim Crow, excluding blacks from public transport and facilities, jobs, juries, and neighborhoods throughout the South. The laws helped spur racist hysteria, lynching, rioting, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. In the two-year period 1900–01, 214 lynchings were reported. While many Black people moved North to escape the violence, other African Americans organized with poor white farmers to form the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. It was the only interracial union of its time and used nonviolent protest to demand their fair share of government support during the Great Depression.

  Group 3: A 1964 study exposed how the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) actively worked against the economic interests of Black farmers. The USDA’s loan agencies, such as the Farmers Home Administration (FHA), denied Black farmers ownership and operating loans, disaster relief, and other aid. One practice was to deny credit to any Black farmer who assisted civil rights activists, joined the NAACP, registered to vote, or simply signed a petition. The study further revealed that there had never been an African American elected to a county agricultural committee—a structure established by the USDA. Currently, less than 1 percent of US farmland is owned by African Americans. In 1999 farmers sued the US government for discrimination and won over $1 billion for 13,300 farmers who lost their land. It is the largest civil rights settlement in US history. Another 70,000 farmers are still fighting to receive their compensation.

  Group 4: Today African Americans and other communities of color suffer from high rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other diet-related illnesses. People of color are also more likely than whites to live in food deserts—neighborhoods that do not have access to affordable, culturally appropriate, healthy foods. One of the solutions is urban farming, but a huge challenge is that urban land is often owned by corporations or individuals with a profit motive. Urban farms and gardens can be taken over at any time. The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, a collective of motivated African Americans from Detroit, did not give up even after losing two of their farms to development. They now have a long-term lease on a 7-acre site, and people from the community can grow vegetables and fruit for their families. DBCFSN also started a food coop to get more healthy food into their neighborhoods.

  In conclusion, ask participants to summarize what factors led to the decline in Black landownership. What do they think we can do to reclaim landownership in our communities? If they get stuck, discuss the efforts of National Black Food & Justice Alliance, Federation of Southern Cooperatives Land Assistance Fund, Black Family Land Trust, and Movement for Black Lives.
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  During a scavenger hunt, one of the young people encounters a snake and befriends it. Photo by Neshima Vitale-Penniman.

  Scavenger Hunt

  Overview: Participants work together in small groups to find items around the farm. The objectives are to get moving, have fun, cooperate, observe the environment, and review what was learned on the farm earlier in the program.

  Time: 20 minutes.

  Materials: Printed lists, containers, healthy prize (optional).

  Preparation: Print list.

  Activity

  Divide the group into teams of two to four. Challenge learners to collect as many items from the list as they can find in 15 minutes and put them in the container. Remind learners not to step on the beds, and which plants are okay to pick. You can offer one “lifeline” per team whereby they can ask the facilitator to help them find an object.

  Adapt the following list to the items available on your site and the prior knowledge of the group.

  Edible “weed”

  Cover crop

  Animal that helps “till” the soil

  Compost

  Mulch

  Pest insect

  Insect that kills pest insects

  Mature seed

  Medicinal plant

  Chicken feather

  Water from a place where fish live

  Leaf from a deciduous tree

  Hair from an animal who keeps coyotes away

  Leaf from a plant that originated in Africa

  Leaf from a plant that originated on this continent

  Invite participants to circle up after time is up. Call off the items one at a time and ask participants to hold it up if they found it. Discuss any misconceptions as you go along. Offer a prize to the team that collects the most items from the list.

  Nature Is My Teacher

  Overview: Participants hone skills of observation, gain comfort being alone in nature, and learn to listen carefully to nature.

  Time: 30–45 minutes.

  Materials: Cell phone basket, a patch of nature (for example, a night sky, sunrise, sunset, river, pond, ocean, forest, or farm).

  Activity

  Explain to the learners that there is great wisdom in stillness and silence. When we are quiet we can hear nature, our ancestors, and our own consciousness. We are rarely still anywhere, especially in nature. Give a specific example of something that nature teaches us by example, such as the trees sharing sugars through mycelial networks, demonstrating cooperation and generosity. Explain that we can learn a lot by following nature’s example, and the first step is to pay attention.

  Collect cell phones and other electronic devices. Guide learners to each choose their own spot in nature, where they cannot see or interact with anyone else. Tell them you will pick them up at the conclusion of the allotted time, and no one should move from their spot.

  Ask learners to listen, look, breathe, and question while they are in their spots. Alternative: Give learners a notebook and pen and ask them to sketch or write.

  Return to a circle at the end and ask each person to share what they learned. Give some examples of things that can be learned by watching nature—for instance, how the forest floor shows us the way compost works and how the opening tree buds tell us it’s time to plant our seeds in the soil. Ask participants what feelings came up for them, how difficult or easy it was to be still in nature, and what they learned about themselves.

  We Gonna Be All Right

  Overview: Participants chant a positive message while passing stones in sync. This activity is rooted in a children’s game from Ghana where players sing about traveling to Kumasi as follows: “O sami nami nami nami na. O sami nami na abele abele. Kumasi banti ma bele o. O sami nami na e e. Abele o.”

  Time: 10–15 minutes.

  Materials: One small stone or palm nut for each participant.

  Activity

  Tell participants that you are going to challenge them with a game to see whether they have rhythm and know how to cooperate. This game comes from Ghana, and children as young as 4 and 5 years old can play it without making a mistake. It is simple. You just pass a stone around the circle to the beat. Ask whether they think they can do it.

  Ask participants to stand, sit, or kneel in a tight circle so that they are very close to the person next to them. This will facilitate passing the stone.

  First, teach the chant; the bolded type indicates the emphasis: “They try to cut us down, but we gonna be all right.” Repeat it several times until everyone can say it in unison.

  Next have the participants hold out their left hand. You will say the chant again, but this time use your right hand to clap the outstretched left hand of the person to your right, on the emphasized beat. On the interim beats, clap your own hand.

  Finally, pass one stone to each participant. They should hold the stone in their left hand and pass it to the person on their right using the same pattern as was just practiced. If done right, everyone passes in unison and everyone continues to have one stone at a time. Much laughter should ensue and many mistakes will be made. Keep trying.

  Ask the participants, “What does this activity teach us about unity?” and “What does this chant mean to you?”

  Words

  They

  Try

  To cut us

  Down

  But

  we

  Gonna be

  all right

  Hand Clap

  own

  neighbor

  own

  neighbor

  own

  neighbor

  own

  neighbor

  Hope Tree

  Overview: Participants write their wishes for health, justice, peace, and sovereignty on colorful ribbons to be caught and dispersed in the wind. This activity is inspired by drapo servis (Haitian Vodou prayer flags) and the S.T.I.T.C.H.E.D. project of Climbing Poetree.

  Time: 30 minutes.

  Materials: A tree or collection of branches, colorful ribbons, a fine-point permanent marker for each person, contemplative music (optional).

  Preparation: Cut the fabric or ribbons into lengths of approximately 12 inches and width of 1 to 2 inches. Give each participant a permanent fine-point marker and a ribbon.

  Participants write their wishes for health, justice, peace, and sovereignty on colorful fabric to be caught and dispersed in the wind. Photo by Neshima Vitale-Penniman.

  Activity

  Explain to participants that cultures around the world engage in the practice of inscribing things that are sacred to them on cloth and letting the wind interact with the fabric. From Tibet to Haiti prayer flags are central to spiritual practice. Each of us has wishes and intentions around our own health, justice, peace, and sovereignty, and for the community at large.

  Let each participant select a piece of fabric and marker upon which to write their hopes, prayers, and intentions. Play contemplative music and encourage people not to talk to one another while they decide what to write.

  Come back to the group and invite participants to read aloud their prayer and then tie the ribbon to the “hope tree.” After each person says their prayer, the group should respond, “We got your back!”

  “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.” —Assata Shakur. Photo by Jonah Vitale-Wolff.

  Soul Fire Farm Youth Food Justice Pledge

  Inspired by the “The Black Child’s Pledge” of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense

  I pledge allegiance to my Body, and will nourish myself with healthy food and outdoor play.

  I pledge allegiance to the Earth, and will show my gratitude by taking care of her.

  I pledge allegiance to my People, and will honor the memory and stories of my ancestors.

  I pledge allegiance to the Community, and will stand up for the human rights and dignity of all people.

  I pledge allegiance to
my Mind, and will study diligently to gain knowledge and truth.

  I pledge allegiance to Radical Love, and will do all I can to unite my people for justice.

  It Is Our Duty

  Overview: Participants close out the program by making action commitments and pledging to support one another in those commitments. This activity was created by Amani Olugbala, Soul Fire Farm.

  Time: about 10 minutes (30 seconds per person).

  Materials: None.

  Activity

  Offer a few highlights of the time together and encourage participants to think about how they will take this powerful experience back into their everyday lives and back to their community. They may choose to make a dietary shift, get involved in a campaign, advocate for community gardens, or connect with an elder to learn more about food histories. Give people a few moments to come up with their action step.

  One at a time, the person calls into the circle, “I feel evolutionary.” Everyone responds in unison, “Revolutionary!” The person then says, “I will …,” stating their commitment to action. Everyone responds, “Yes you will!”

  To close, chant the words of Assata Shakur. Do this entire chant three times, progressing from soft voices to loud, emphatic shouts.

  Call: It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

  Response: It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

  Call: It is our duty to win.

  Response: It is our duty to win.

  Call: We must love each other and support each other.

  Response: We must love each other and support each other.

  Call: We have nothing to lose but our chains.

  Response: We have nothing to lose but our chains.

  * * *

  * Cop a plea is slang for a plea bargain, in which an accused defendant in a criminal case agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a crime in return for a promise of a recommendation of leniency in sentencing to be made by the prosecutor to the judge and/or an agreement by the prosecutor to drop some of the charges.