The Justice for Black Farmers Act of 2020

Yesterday was a good day in DC as far as my friends and I were concerned. Those of us who have been in the Black Farmer Movement were thrilled with what happened. Please allow me to weave a few threads for folks who follow my writings here.

I first entered the world of Black farmers in 1994 at the request of James Myart, Counselor at Law, who was representing Black farmers in their complaints against the USDA. I did so very much as a novice. That led to a number of things that shaped my personal and professional life. As cases were settled, and as I saw the inequities of the settlements, soon to be revealed in this documentary, other things became clear. Farmers needed debt relief, and few got it; farmers wanted the USDA to be reorganized such that discrimination would stop. They didn't get that either. 

Between 2018 and 2020 while Shoun and I were working on the documentary, some remarkable things happened. Several of us were invited into the arena of campaign policy by Elizabeth Warren. She had publicized an opinion that heirs property laws were the predominant factor in Black land loss. We disagreed and told her so. She listened. We were invited to connect with her policy team, one meeting of which she actually attended, and, thus, her policy on behalf of Black farmers was developed. I am very pleased to have had a modest hand in the development of that policy. Hit some of the hyperlinks and you'll see what I mean. 

Then, when she withdrew from the presidential race, we engaged with Senator Sanders, and then with Michael Bloomberg, and then with former Vice-President Joe Biden's campaign. The least satisfying, and the most frustrating was that of Joe Biden's policy team. I'll write more later, but for now, suffice it to say that they called our requests "unconstitutional" and actually ended the conversation long before we knew it, with a policy that we found inadequate. You can read it here. Scroll down until you see "Advance Racial Equity in Rural America." 

By comparison to Senator Warren's plan, the policy that Joe Biden's policy team developed was inadequate. We told them so. And, if you read both, you can see what we meant.

Then, during the presidential campaign, before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected by we the people, we got a call from the offices of Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Cory Booker. They were writing a plan that would lead to what is now called The Black Farmer Justice Act of 2020. We engaged them and met with them via teleconference on several occasions. We had the feeling that something big was going to happen. We were honored and excited to be at the table of development of the Bill. 

So, yesterday we thought that the Bill would be introduced in the Senate, but with the Thanksgiving holidays being upon us, the introduction will occur on November 30. In the meantime, Senator Booker released his press release about the Bill. You can read that here.  You can read the entirety of the Bill here. You can read a summary of the Bill here. You can read the endorsers of the Bill here. When you see the Black Farmer Documentary group, that's the folks Shoun and I interviewed. When you see USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, that's where I land as an "adviser." 

Or, if you want to read just one article that pulls together many of these things, try this one by Tom Philpott of Mother Jones. 

But what does the Bill contain? It contains many things that Elizabeth Warren included in her policy document. She did not forget us. You read that right. She....did.....not....forget....us. 

Within the Bill are a number of things: reorganization of key offices of the USDA and its Office of Civil Rights, debt relief, a moratorium on foreclosures, support for HBCUs, land purchase opportunities, a bank that would lend to farmers of color at reasonable interest rates, an equity commission, and processes that insure fairness and equality under the law. 

So, now we wait. It'll be rejected by this Congress. It will then be marked up and resubmitted before the new Congress in 2021. Then, we pray, and we will work, for it to be passed into law. 

In a conversation with Lawrence Lucas, as mentioned below, my comment was "I think this is the most compelling piece of legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964." While that sounds like an ostentatious thing for me to say, I was pleased to hear him say the same thing in his interview with Tom Philpott. Yes, friends, this is huge. 

That's the short verse to a long, long story, and it is only my story. There are more details and more people than could reasonably be mentioned in this short article. Let me mention two. Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, and Lloyd Wright, former Director, Office of Civil Rights, under President Clinton. I am honored to walk in the shadows of these two men, both of whom are legends in the fight for justice.