Black Farmers Still Struggling, But Continue to Survive!

Black Farmers Still Struggling, But Continue to Survive!

16^th National Black Land Loss Summit

November 8 and 9, 2019

Hilton Garden Inn

111 Carolina Crossroads Parkway

Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870

Friday, 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Topics include wills and trusts for farmers; legal, political, and legislative issues; Black farmer documentary; and dinner and awards.

Speakers include Omari Wilson, Lawrence Lucas, Lorette Picciano, Waymon Hinson, Shoun Hill, and Gary Grant

Friday, 9:00 to 4:00pm. Topics include niche farming and urban gardening; how the USDA distorted data to the detriment of Black farmers; part two of the documentary; and what the future holds.

Speakers include Nathan Rosenberg, Bryce Wilson Stucki, Michael Stewart, Gary Grant, and others.

Full conference: $150; Friday only $59; and Saturday only $100.

Some scholarships available first come, first serve.

There is vendor space for nominal fee.

Call Gary Grant at 252-826-3017 for more details.

A Word or Two from President Gary Grant, BFAA, Tillery, NC

BLACK FARMERS & AGRICULTURALISTS ASSOCIATION

                                &

      THE LAND LOSS FUND

                            P.O. Box 61

                       Tillery, NC   27887

Phone:  252-826-3017        Fax/Phone: (252) 826-3244          E-mail: tillery@aol.com

            October 1, 2019

                     From:  Gary R. Grant, President, BFAA     
                  To:  BFAA Members & Friends

I hope you are not one of those who thought that BFAA disappeared from the face of the earth. Perhaps you have been wondering about BFAA and its presence in the fight for justice. I can assure you that we are here and we need you to renew your membership with the organization for just $40.00 for twelve months.

 I as president have not been communicating much of late.  I can assure you that BFAA and I both are very busy and very active in our righteous causes. Take a look at the following list:

1. BFAA Serves as a clearing house for those who call in needing guidance on how to save their land by being able to connect them with someone who can talk with them about the issues they are facing and make referrals for assistance.

2. BFAA continues to work with researchers to connect them with farmers, former farmers and landowners in order that the real story of the Black farmers struggle will be accurately documented.  While we know that it is painful in retelling the story, what we realize is that the story is going to be told and who better to tell it than those who actually lived it.

3.  We work with other groups like the Rural Coalition, based in Washington, DC to help impact policies that are being formulated by Congress so that the real issues are kept in front of the legislators in order that Farm Bills that are passed do not overlook the plight of Black farmers and our continued struggle.

4.  There are two major request that we continuously receive.  One is a requests for funds to ward off foreclosure.  The other is for a young person seeking to enter farming.  However, we never have had funds for these two major issues, and we know that the Black farmers still face the same major issues it did prior to Pigford -- access to capital.

5. Currently, BFAA is working with a documentary team that is covering those who got settlements prior to Pigford and just how their lives have been impacted.

6.  We are working with an adjunct professor at Ohio State who is documenting the economic impact of the loss of Black farmers, the impact Black land loss has on communities economically, and how the wealth of Black farming communities is on the downslide because of the disappearance of Black land ownership.

 7.  We worked with farm groups to get PIGFORD II established and assisted a number of farmers in going after their rightful share.

 8.  BFAA has been and is still a strong voice out there, but what we need now is to have memberships restored.

9.  BFAA is planning the 16^th National Black Land Summit for November 8 & 9, 2019.   However due to circumstances beyond our control, the Summit will take place in Roanoke Rapids, NC.  We certainly hope that you will be in attendance and will have renewed your membership with BFAA.  Hopefully we will be able to offer scholarships to cover some of the housing for this Summit.

One thing that all of us should have learned from the Pigford law suit and our struggle is that we cannot depend on anyone to save us except ourselves.

Please take a moment and complete the membership and Summit Registration forms that are enclosed and send  it to us in the enclosed return envelope with your $40.00 membership fee.  

WE NEED YOU AND YOUR MEMBERSHIP!!!!

Yours for the survival of Black Farmers and Landowners,

Gary R. Grant

BFAA President

Update: Black Farmer Documentary

We are currently in the "dogs days" of development of the Black farmer documentary. That simply means that there has been a huge transition going on. The first huge phase was creating contacts, schedules, and traveling on-site to interview the farmers and other principals for the documentary. Over the better part of two years, Shoun and I have traveled (oftentimes with our driver, Charla) to Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, DC, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. We interviewed in their homes and Shoun took "b-roll" footage of their farms and portraits of the farmers.

Since then, we have secured some amazing drone footage of two farms that show the up and the downs, the triumphs and the tragedies of farming while Black in America.

Shoun is now doing the creating and likely exhausting work of pulling sound bites from the myriad of interviews and hours that tell the stories of struggle and resilience of those brave farmers who went up against the USDA from 1997-1999 and won their cases. "Won" is a word we'll deconstruct in the film. The USDA and its power structure always has a way of winning despite loosing, thanks to the DOJ and OGC.

My role has been that of fact-checking, contacting specific people whose names came up repeatedly in the interviews, and providing Shoun with information and data as he works on the script.

While we did interview 9 of the 15 farmers/families, we were not able to contact three others as they have died since then. One adult child of a farmer who settled declined to participate with us. Two farmers who prevailed opted not to interview with us due to legal obligations of their own.

So, we are inching toward the 16th Black Land Loss Summit in Roanoke Rapids, NC, on November 8 and 9.

If you are reading this and know that your friends contributed to this effort, please forward to them and/or repost to your own FB page. Will update you all in another few weeks.