I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Honors and Opportunities

The documentary, "I'm Just a Layman in Pursuit of Justice: Black Farmers Fight Against USDA," has had some significant successes over the past few months, and for them, we are grateful and deeply honored and moved by the support that the film has garnered. Between 1997 and 1999, fifteen Black farmers went to battle as David versus Goliath, taking on the monstrous US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice. 

The list of festivals and honors includes the following: Denton Black Film Festival (People's Choice Award, Honorable  Mention Best Documentary); Seattle Black Film Festival, Impact Awards, La Jolla (Award of Recognition); Twin Cities Black Film Festival; Whistleblowers Summit and Film Festival (Semi-Finalist, Impact Award); Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival; and Ag & Art Festival, Vacaville, CA.

At each festival, attendees, whether virtual or on the premises, got to hear and see the impact of systemic racism on the lives of Black farmers and families. It is a hard documentary to watch, and it was a difficult documentary to make. Shoun and I listened to stories of pain and suffering. We saw the tears streaming down the faces of men and women. Knowing that employees of the "people's department" had turned it into the "last plantation" for these farmers. Here is the trailer which gives you some sense of the film. 

Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, has been a strong supporter of the documentary. He has shown the trailer on several occasions including Harold Bell's Black Men in America broadcast. Recently, Lawrence spoke to the California Reparations Task Force. Here are his spoken words in which he includes the trailer.  Look for Lawrence at the 15:20 mark. He also showed the trailer at a recent conference, The International Conference On Stolen Black Land, Desecrated Burial Grounds and Healing from MAAFA. Here is his presentation at the conference. You can find him at the 2:41:40 mark. You will find him to be informed, engaging, and provocative in his presentations. 

Several opportunities have presented themselves to us over the last year. Shoun discussed the film and it was shown before the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, an association birthed in 2015 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Shoun and I both were interviewed by Dr. Linda Mann of the African American Redress Network. Then, in conjunction with the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival, we were interviewed, along with Adrienne Grant Taylor, by Director Kara Walker. 

Shoun premiered the film and dialogued with students from Morgan State University. I was honored to show the film and discuss it as part of the Mississippi  Delta Experience with a number of students and others affiliated with the Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action at Abilene Christian University. Here is the documentary in which the documentary was situated. 

I was also honored to speak to an honors class under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Bryson. The class is a part of the criminal justice curriculum at Glenville State College in beautiful West Virginia. 

Also, during the past few months, I was also interviewed by my church around the theme of the diversity of the church. Here is a brief video of that interview. It provides some of the personal background for Charla and me and the making of the film. 

We have no idea how 2022 will roll out; however, I am pleased that we are in conversation with Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas to show the film and discuss it as part of Black History Month. 

If you have an interest in engaging Shoun and/or me, the documentary's webpage will give you contact information. 

We are grateful that people are being moved, oftentimes to tears, as the farmers and their loved ones share the stories in an up close and personal way. This is not a short term venture for us. It is a life time effort. We will not rest until Black farmers experience the same benefits under policies within the USDA as any white farmer. 

"Slow Walking?" Or, Why Has It Taken So Long, Mr. Secretary?

The wheels of justice grind slowly. The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. While the grind is slow and painful, people are dying, losing their land, percentages of their retirement funds and social security taken, and still we are told to wait. Wait, patience, your time will come, all equate to the disaster of never. 

Judge Friedman certified Black farmers as a class in 1999 and called it "The Pigford Class Action Suit." Check out my writings from 2008 and 2018 for more details. 

Some 22,551 applied for entry into Track A. Those who prevailed under this track numbered 16,281. Most of them found some sort of "justice," mostly a $50,000 payment, some with a check for taxes, and a few actually received debt relief. Those prevailing under Track B numbered 137. From both of these tracks, the paltry number of 371......let that sink in...........371 received debt relief. That's what Black farmers needed and wanted, not the pitiful amount of $50,000. 

There were two tracks. Track A promised $50K. Track B did not have a specified sum of money, but required more evidence. Debt relief was promised in both tracks. But then the attorneys for the class allowed "similarly situated white farmer," the death-knell for Black farmers, to be admitted into the system. The farmers assumed that discovery would bring forth white farmers with whom to compare their findings of discrimination. The largely white attorneys waived discovery, an unforgiveable sin in the court system. 

From 22,721 total eligible claimants, only 16,281 prevailed, and only 371 got debt relief. 

There are some significant dates: 

1) March 3, 2021, Senator Warnock succeeds in getting his "Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act" passed. 

2) March 11, 2021, President Biden signs into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Within this package is section 1005 which allowed $4 Billion to be granted to farmers of color for debt relief of their direct loans. It also included section 1006 to the tune of $1.01 Billion for outreach, training, education, technical assistance, grants and loans, and other things related to minority farmers, or Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers, a 2501 designation. The debt relief pack was shaped by Senator Warnock's legislation. 

3) The Miller v. Vilsack was filed in Texas on April 26, 2021. White farmers as a class are certified and the preliminary injunction signed by the judge. The white farmers claim reverse discrimination despite the fact that white farmers have received nearly all of the subsidies, coronavirus relief funds, and the funds from trump's failed war with China.

4) Faust etal v. Vilsack was filed on April 29, 2021 and the temporary restraining order granted on June 10, 2021. 

5) Winn v. Vilsack was filed on May 25, 2021. Defendants responded on June 4, a hearing was held June 16, and the judge issued the preliminary injunction on June 23, 2021. 

All of these cases look and sound alike. At the latest information, there are now 13 such cases across the country. 

In an email from an employee high up in the USDA, the secretary was defended against our accusation of "slow-walking" the process. There are also several quotes from Vilsack listed, all affirming that the white farmers' cases are frivolous. Our word, not his, but that the white farmers have been advantaged all along. 

So, when I look at March 3, 2021 when Senator Warnock's legislation passed (which ultimately made its way into the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 signed into law on March 11, 2021).

Then, the earliest judge's decision was signed on June 10, 2021, I cannot help but count the number of days. It looks to me like the gap is close to 100 days. Surely the Secretary of Agriculture knew what was going on in the halls of Congress, especially as things were related to the goings on at USDA. Surely. 

Secretary Vilsack is giving away taxpayers money left and right out of USDA and DC. The dollars are going to reputable issues: climate change, heirs property, and many others. 

Why, then, did Secretary Vilsack move so slowly on getting debt relief into the hands of minority farmers. Does it indeed take an extraordinary length of time? Does it require the courts' decisions? Does it require inclusion in the reconciliation bill? 

I assert that if Secretary Vilsack had wanted to move more quickly, he could have. If he wanted to provide debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, he could have. If he had wanted to provide debt relief, he could have done so and avoided the 13 white farmer cases. He could have avoided the intensity of the work to have debts relieved under the reconciliation bill. 

We don't know if the reconciliation bill is going to pass. If it does, there will be major dollars that farmers will receive, even the white ones who somehow or other are found meritorious under the current machinations. 

Do you know what is most offensive about this miserable waiting game? White farmers who have all of the advantages that the system gives to them will benefit off of Black suffering. Let that sink in. White farmers benefit from Black suffering. 

Sounds like the same principle upon which our country was built, including the economics of southern agriculture. 

Still..............the question.................WHY DID SECRETARY VILSACK MOVE SO SLOWLY WHEN HE COULD HAVE MOVED EXPEDITIOUSLY, SENT OUT DEBT RELIEF LETTERS, AND SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED FARMERS WOULD BE BREATHING EASIER RIGHT NOW......RIGHT NOW. 

RIGHT. NOW.