Land as Liberation
The Black Farming Legacy
This virtual display is one part of a two-part exhibit for Black History Month 2021. The other exhibit can be found at the Mansfield Library and focuses on the representation, identity, and diversity of the Black family. You can preview a few of the books featured in the display under the "Physical Exhibit" heading.
"The land was the scene of the crime...But she was never the criminal."
- -- Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm
For over 400 years, Black people in the United States have been subjected to forced labor on this stolen land. From slavery to sharecropping to prison labor, this country has been built and maintained by race-based slavery in all different forms.
After slavery was technically abolished in the U.S., white supremacist violence towards Black landowners and systemic racism within institutions like the USDA continued (and still continue) to prevent Black people in this country from owning land and profiting from their own farms.
Despite these struggles, many Black farmers in the U.S continue to fight for their farms in order to provide for their families and communities, combat food injustice, and heal a historically traumatic relationship with the land through culturally relevant and sustainable farming practices.
This virtual exhibit provides links to books, podcasts, videos, and articles relating to Black land ownership, farming, and food justice. All books listed in this exhibit can be checked out from UM Libraries! Feel free to explore this exhibit in whatever order makes the most sense to you! Just click on the headings at the top of the page to navigate.
Systemic Land Loss
1982, from the United States Commission on Civil Rights. (USDA/ The Counter )
The fact that the number of Black farmers in the U.S. went from " 14% of the nation’s farmers in 1910 to less than 2% today–with a corresponding loss of more than 12 million acres of land " - is no accident. Take a look (or listen!) at the podcast episodes, articles, and books below to learn more about the causes of this land loss (hint: it's racism), and hear the stories of Black farming families.
blackfarmersthroughdecades - Infogram
Episode 5: The Land of Our Fathers, Part 1 - 1619
Episode 5: The Land of Our Fathers, Part 2 - 1619
Forgotten Farmers: African-American Land Loss | This New World
Articles:
Books:
Returning to the Land
Today, many Black farmers " are working to repair harm inflicted over the past 400 years, with an eye toward reparations. "
Building on the legacy of resistance and sustainability, these farmers are organizing to build collective power within the Black farming community. Black farmers and farmer-led organizations are feeding communities that have been historically impacted by food apartheid, teaching the new generation of farmers, and strengthening Black food and farming.
SoundCloud Widget
Articles/Websites
- A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Returning to the Land - YES! Magazine
- The Freedom Georgia Initiative: Website , article from Revolt
- Black Family Land Trust
- Black farmers look to next Congress, Biden to dismantle ‘culture of discrimination’ - POLITICO
- How to Fight Food Apartheid: An Interview with Leah Penniman from Soul Fire Farm
- 4 Not-So-Easy Ways to Dismantle Racism in the Food System
Mid-Summer LifeGiving Farm Update, Part 2
Above is a video from local farmer (and former UM professor!) George Price of LifeGiving Farm , a permaculture farm in Dixon. He has other great content on his YouTube channel and blog .
Farming While Black by Leah Penniman
Books
Historical Contributions
These are just a few of the contributions that black farmers in the U.S. have made to modern-day farming. This list does not include the hundreds of years of slave labor that built the country that we know today.
Raised Beds
Raised Beds. Click to expand.
The origin of raised bed practices in farming can be tied to the Obambo people of Namibia. In Namibia, this low-cost irrigation technique is called "nombete", meaning "beds."
Polyculture Farming
Polyculture Farming. Click to expand.
Indigenous polyculture techniques from Nigeria have greatly influenced modern-day permaculture.
Grandfather of Crop Rotation
Grandfather of Crop Rotation. Click to expand.
George Washington Carver played a huge part in bringing regenerative agriculture to the mainstream from 1896 to 1943. At Tuskegee University, Carver focusing his efforts on raising poor southern farmers out of poverty by showing them more sustainable farming techniques and teaching the next generation of agriculture scientists.
Inventor of the CSA Model
Inventor of the CSA Model. Click to expand.
Booker T. Whatley was a passionate advocate for regenerative agriculture and regenerating farmer livelihoods. He created "clientele membership clubs", which he described as "the lifeblood of the [farm]. It enables the farmer to plan production, anticipate demand, and, of course, have a guaranteed market." These clientele membership clubs evolved into the CSA model that is so prevalent today!
First Community Land Trust in the US
First Community Land Trust in the US. Click to expand.
In the 1960s, Shirley and Charles Sherrod (also known as the founders of the Southwest Georgia Project) started New Communities Land Trust, which was "created as a safe haven for African-American farmers during the civil rights movement." Today, the land trust continues to help black landowners profit from farming while serving as a model for affordable housing solutions.
Raised Beds
The origin of raised bed practices in farming can be tied to the Obambo people of Namibia. In Namibia, this low-cost irrigation technique is called "nombete" , meaning "beds."
Polyculture Farming
Indigenous polyculture techniques from Nigeria have greatly influenced modern-day permaculture.
Grandfather of Crop Rotation
George Washington Carver played a huge part in bringing regenerative agriculture to the mainstream from 1896 to 1943. At Tuskegee University, Carver focusing his efforts on raising poor southern farmers out of poverty by showing them more sustainable farming techniques and teaching the next generation of agriculture scientists.
Inventor of the CSA Model
Booker T. Whatley was a passionate advocate for regenerative agriculture and regenerating farmer livelihoods. He created "clientele membership clubs" , which he described as "the lifeblood of the [farm]. It enables the farmer to plan production, anticipate demand, and, of course, have a guaranteed market." These clientele membership clubs evolved into the CSA model that is so prevalent today!
First Community Land Trust in the US
In the 1960s, Shirley and Charles Sherrod (also known as the founders of the Southwest Georgia Project ) started New Communities Land Trust, which was "created as a safe haven for African-American farmers during the civil rights movement." Today, the land trust continues to help black landowners profit from farming while serving as a model for affordable housing solutions.
Check Out The Physical Exhibit for Black History Month 2021!
Interested in finding books about the Black family?
Visit the Mansfield Library and take a look at the physical partner to this virtual exhibit! This exhibit features books focusing on the Black family and includes several books from our Children's Collection. Here are just a few of the books in the physical display!
Pictured to the right: book cover of Ensuring Inequality: The Structural Transformation of the African American Family by Donna L. Franklin
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Settlin' : Stories of Madison's Early African American Families by Muriel Simms
You and Me and Home Sweet Home by George Ella Lyon and Stephanie Anderson
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
Black Womanist Leadership: Tracing the Motherline edited by Toni King and Alease Ferguson
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
