Summary of Injustices done to Matthew and Florenza

Admittedly, farming under the influence of the USDA is very complicated. Here is a brief summary of the injustices Matthew and Florenza Grant experienced at the hands of the USDA.

Originally the Grants were foreclosed upon in 1976 for the sum of $10,000 following three years of county-wide disasters with little to no support from the county office in restructuring loans or other benefits given to any other farmer.

In 1981 the Grants signed a “Consent Judgment” against their property such that the USDA would release farm equipment. This was, according to the USDA, a “settlement of sorts,” which allowed them to continue farming; however, the USDA refused to allow one son who was a farmer to assume their debt, but instead foreclosed on him as well. The USDA also refused to allow another son to assume the debt and would not work with the adult children on a monthly payment plan.

In March, 1998, Matthew Grant and the USDA Civil Rights Officers signed a “FINAL RESOLUTION AGREEMENT,” documented with photographs of Secretary Glickman, other USDA officials, and two Grant sons after the signing of the agreement. This action is further documented in a letter from the Director of the Office of Civil Rights dated March 27, 1998.

In 2000, under the leadership of another Director of the Office of Civil Rights, the USDA offered a settlement which was deemed an insult by the family. The USDA said that they wanted to settle with the family once and for all.

Later in 2000, when it appeared that the USDA was reneging on their agreement, the Grants entered a class action suit Wise etal v. Veneman in a case that is yet to be settled.

Upon Matthew and Florenza’s death, the family heirs attempted to settle once more with the USDA. The requirement by the Department of Justice was that the action would must be done “with prejudice,” a term signifying that charges could never be brought again. This would mean that all rights would be surrendered, something all black farmers have faced.

The USDA and DOJ are hiding behind technicalities such as no “similarly situated white farmer” was named. This is untrue. The family did point out a “similarly situated white farmer.” This claim is ludicrous.

Currently, the family heirs are paying a large sum of money to a local bank that has paid off the federal government so that the land cannot be foreclosed upon. This monthly payment is weighty and onerous for the family.

Justice is still left undone for Matthew and Florenza. This one final possibility through administrative procedures is the final opportunity for justice.

Please follow this link for more information and support:  https://www.gofundme.com/justice-for-matthew-florenza

New Deal Resettlement Community

Near the intersection of state highway 561 and Community Center Road in rural North Carolina, just off to the right, sits three buildings that are pivotal to the history of this community of people, and, yes, to all of us who care about justice.  Originally, 18,000 acres were offered during the 1930s and 1940s as a part of Roosevelt's New Deal. The Tillery Resettlement Farm, one of 113 rural communities across the country, was occupied by 150 African American families and approximately 110 white families. Located in the Roanoke River Flood Plain, fraught with constant threat of flooding in the early days, these new landowners were game-changers.  They impacted the social, political, and economic landscape of what was once a plantation region.

There is much more to this history of this beautiful place than these pages can describe. Check this reference for more detail and perspective. Check this one out as well. And this one. 

Three buildings at this site are now more than 85 years of age and are in need of shoring up and restoration. The Tillery Community Center, The Curin' House, and the Remembering Tillery History House Museum have all weathered the storms of time.  We need to raise $65,000.  That's right.  Just $65,000 to support this community's restoration efforts.

Several families of the original resettlement still own and manage approximately 6,000 acres of the original land.  It is truly a historical place.

On a personal level, this was the place where Charla and I first met Gary Grant, BFAA President, and planned our collaborative effort to interview farmers and families who had been battered and bruised by the USDA and DOJ.  It was this spot that Charla and I celebrated at least two anniversaries and a place in which we have shared meals, danced, lifted up our voices, and discussed matters of importance to the community and to us.  It is the place where I interviewed black farmers and family members, a place where we sang Amazing Grace and cried as the stories unfolded. It is also the location of several Black farmer land loss summits. Other times we have visited because these people are our friends and family.

Please read through these materials and offer your support for the fund raising effort.  Your contributions via the Concerned Citizens of Tillery are tax deductible.  You can help keep the story being told for generations to come.

The fund raising event and the farm mural converge on what will be an amazing day at the Tillery Community Center on Saturday, November 12, 2016. This is where our hearts will be on this historic day. The list of speakers is amazing:  Drs. Spencer Wood and Katherine Charron, Michael Stewart, Evangeline Grant Briley, Gary Grant, and others. The mural by noted local artist Napoleon Hill will be unveiled.

Yes, there is much to digest in this post.  Others will follow. Thanks for your patience in reading.  It will be well worth your time and an encouragement to this community in rural North Carolina that mean so much to Charla and me and to the cause of justice.

The short verse?  Please go to www.cct78.org and contribute via the paypal link.  Charla and I have already contributed and will be listed as "Harvesting the Crops." I hope you will do the same.