A Few Reflections on Summit #16 with BFAA

It has been well over a month since we all assembled at the Hilton Garden Inn in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina for BFAA's 16th National Black Land Loss Summit. After having attended several summits, it is always good to see old friends and to make new friends.  It has been my privilege to speak at several summits. The presentations have centered around the health and well-being of farmers and family members, a research project that I will return to someday soon. Thanks to Heather Hicks for her photography at this event. Here are also a few of her photos. 

Gary Grant, BFAA President, always presides quite ably, welcoming people and introducing speakers and generally keeping us on schedule. He is a legend in my book and in that of many others.

Omari Wilson, senior staff attorney with the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers' Land Loss Prevention Project in Durham, spoke on the challenging topic of wills and trusts.  Without a doubt the USDA has been responsible for much land loss, but the absence of a will has also been a significant problem.

Lawrence Lucas, president emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees was to have spoken on the panel with Lorette but due to a death in the family, he was unable to attend.  On Friday evening, Lawrence was presented with the "A Man Called Matthew Award," an award given on occasion to people who have made a significant contribution to Black farmers and the movement. Thanks to the wonders of technology, we were able to present the award to him via cyberspace and to congratulate him on this award and to thank him for his service.

Lorette Picciano, Executive Director of the RuralCoalition/Coalicion Rural, in Washington DC, and advocacy group that has been working for over 40 years to enhance opportunities for minority farmers. Lorette spoke on "Legal, Political, Legislative Issues Still Impacting Black Farmers." She is always inspiring with her massive knowledge of farm bills and all things congressional.

Shoun Hill and I presented the first half of the documentary and led a discussion around the title of the documentary: "I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: The Story of 15 Davids versus Goliath." This documentary was well received. The conversation about the effort was lively and informative. Fifteen farmers fought and prevailed administratively with the USDA and DOJ between 1997 and 1999. These are heroes and legends in my opinion. Without their sacrifices there would have been no Black Farmer Movement.

On Saturday, two speakers addressed "Creative Farming and Urban Gardening." Robert Jones provided useful and interesting information as to how to farm and to well on 17 acres of land. His niche farming effort was amazing and his use of visual aids and his power point showed that he is a teacher and a farmer. Jason Lindsey of Oxford, NC, a member of the Southeast African American Farming Organic Network, spoke on the challenges and opportunities of both organic farming and its advantages and that of teaching and bringing along the next generation of Black farmers.

Nathan Rosenberg and Bryce Stucki, an attorney and a statistician, spoke on the topic of "How the USDA Distorted Data to Conceal Decades of Discrimination Against Black Farmers." Speaking with more detail than allowed in their recent national publication in "New Food Economy," both provided the landscape, stories, statistics, and charts that illustrated how easy it was under Secretary Vilsac, Agriculture Secretary under President Obama, to distort the data to make things look better for Black farmers when things were actually continuing to deteriorate for farmers.

After Shoun and I showed the second half of the documentary and discussed it with the attendees, Michael Stewart, Jr., faculty member at Howard University, spoke on the topic of "What's Next?" His inspiring presentation, full of stories, challenges, and opportunities was more than interesting.  He was able to pull into the presentation information from his doctoral dissertation on the Black Farmer Movement as a movement. His perspective and our connected at several points including the fact that the 15 farmers were pivotal to the beginning of the movement.

Here are some of the folks who helped with details of the workshop.  These include the Board and other key persons.